How will high school finals week be impacted?

The days scheduled for high school finals will be half-day releases (different than the professional early release time). Please see the 21-22 calendar for those at the end of each semester.

Will Parent/Teacher Conferences remain the same as in the past?

Yes, DVUSD will continue the practice of half-day parent-teacher conferences on Thursday and Fridays on October 21-22, 2021 (PreK-12) and February 17-18, 2022 (PreK-8).  

Are there any other schedule or calendar changes for DVUSD in the 21-22 school year? Yes.  There will be 2 additional early release days, which have a Monday holiday.  These additional early release Fridays are  January 21, 2022, and  February 25, 2022.  

How will this (early release Fridays) impact high school and middle school athletics and activities?

There will be no middle school competitions scheduled on early release Fridays and no middle school practice may start before the end of the regularly scheduled school day so that on-campus coaches may participate in teacher collaboration activities and off-campus coaches do not start practices at times that will conflict with Community School activities. Middle school activities will not be scheduled that conflict with teacher collaboration time on early release Fridays.

No on-campus high school coach may schedule a practice on an early release Friday prior to what would have been the end of the regular school day so that they may participate in teacher collaboration activities and off-campus coaches may not start practice early on early release Fridays so that students may be able to participate in academic support options. High School competitions are scheduled by the AIA and on-campus high school coaches may occasionally be required to miss teacher collaboration activity on an early release Friday to travel to an away contest. High school activities will not be scheduled during teacher collaboration time on early release Fridays. Activities not scheduled by the district, like JROTC or band competitions, that require an on-campus sponsor or director to miss teacher collaboration time may be approved on a case-by-case basis.

What are the Essential Standards and what do they mean for my student? Essential Standards are defined as the state standards that are critical for student success. Through the identification of Essential Standards, teachers teach the most critical standards in order of priority. Essential Standards identify the guaranteed curriculum and standards that will be taught for each student, regardless of which classroom they are in. 

Who monitors the professional learning process to ensure that 100% of the meeting time is used for teacher collaboration and not used for unrelated business? 

Principals at each school maintain the agendas and minutes from each of the teacher collaboration teams within their schools. These documents are also monitored at the district level and the school district has a system for measuring progress.

What will be done to assist parents with remembering the weekly Early Release?

For the 21-22 school year of implementation, weekly reminders will be sent to parents regarding the Friday schedule via SchoolMessenger.

Will students receive lunch prior to dismissal on Fridays?

Yes. It may be at a different time than other days of the week. Each school will determine its lunch schedule.  

Will K-5 students receive recess prior to dismissal on early release Fridays?

K-5 students will receive a 15-minute recess on early release days determined by the campus schedule.

Will the buses still take my child home? 

Yes. School buses will drop off students at their regular bus stops, ninety minutes earlier than their regular schedule on early release Fridays. Students who remain on campus for childcare reasons will follow the process by reporting directly to the designated Comm Ed program location. If they are enrolled in an Enrichment class or Board Game Club, students will report to the designated room on campus which is published in our marketing materials and/or via registration information. Kinder students are picked up in the kinder area of each school that hosts our licensed childcare programs and escorted to the room.