Kindergarten Showcase
Do you have or know a child who will be ready for Kindergarten next year? Dysart invites prospective kindergarten families to learn more about our Kindergarten programs by watching virtual video tours and scheduling in-person tours at Dysart.org/KinderShowcase. Registration may also be done online at Dysart.org/Registration.

Dysart’s kindergarten program is one of the few full-day programs in the area that is offered at no cost to the community. Curriculum follows Arizona state standards, and offers hands-on, real-life activities in the areas of cognitive, social, emotional and physical development. Before and after school program opportunities are available as well. Extensive protocols are in place to keep our campuses clean, safe and healthy. 


AZM2 Testing
As AZM2 testing approaches, we want to make sure you are aware that this is a requirement by the State of Arizona. There is not an opt-out option for state testing, and it must be done in-person during the testing window.  Schools will be in touch with further details on the specific dates and times the testing will take place.

Parent Survey
Please remember to complete the Dysart Parent Survey if you haven’t yet done so. We want to know what our district and schools are doing well and how we can improve in the future. The survey may be found in English at www.dysart.org/survey and in Spanish at www.dysart.org/encuesta, and will be open until March 7. 
Thank you in advance for your survey input and diligence in helping us meet state testing requirements. Have a great weekend!

Hello 8th grade parents and guardians,

The Dysart Unified School District is excited to offer you continued online course options for iSchool Summer School, and registration begins on Tuesday, February 16. iSchool Summer School is offered from April 12 - June 24, 2021 and 8th graders have the opportunity to earn 1.0 credit (2 courses) or 0.5 credit (1 course) before they enter the 9th grade. Classes are taught at an accelerated pace.

Course options available:
Math Options (1.0 Credit) April 12 - June 24, 2021
Algebra 1 and 2 or Algebra Honors 1 and 2 
Geometry 1 and 2 or Geometry Honors 1 and 2 (Prerequisite: Algebra 1 and 2)
Physical Education 1 and 2 (1.0 Credit) April 12 - June 24, 2021
Spanish 1 and 2  (1.0 Credit) April 12 - June 24, 2021
American Sign Language 1 and 2 (1.0 Credit) April 12 - June 24, 2021
0.5 credit elective course  - June 1 - June 24, 2021

Please understand that these courses are considered high school level classes and therefore, the grades earned in the classes will also appear on your child’s high school transcript. 
iSchool classes are administered entirely online, and are taught by a teacher certified to instruct high school level courses.  Your interactions with an iSchool teacher will primarily be electronic. Face-to-face tutoring is available after school during the school year and in the mornings and evenings during the month of June for those that need it. 

In order to enroll for iSchool Summer School courses, please register with the iSchool office by calling 623.876.7872 or emailing [email protected]. There is no cost for summer school this year.

We also want to let you know that limited in-person Summer School opportunities will also be available for K-12 students. Specific details will be shared soon by schools for students that qualify. All iSchool and in-person classes are offered contingent upon sufficient enrollment and teacher availability. Further details may be found at dysart.org/summerschool.
We hope that you will take advantage of one of these exciting opportunities!

The Dysart Unified School District will be launching four middle school options in the 2021-2022 school year for 5-8 graders. Middle schools will be located at the following sites: Ashton Ranch Elementary School, Cimarron Springs Elementary School, Dysart Elementary School and Sonoran Heights Elementary School. 

The middle school model will allow Dysart to provide unique academic, elective and extracurricular opportunities for 5-8 grade students, and better prepare them for the high school experience. Students attending Dysart middle schools will be able to select from several elective class options, including Career and Technical Education (CTE) introductory courses as well as PE, art, music and band. Additionally, a Spanish course will be included in each student’s schedule. Students will also have opportunities to earn high school credit, giving them a head start when they begin high school.

In conjunction with the middle school changes, paired schools that will be shifted to K-4 schools include Countryside Elementary School, El Mirage Elementary School, Rancho Gabriela Elementary School, and Western Peaks Elementary School. The Governing Board approved the change at the December 9, 2020 meeting, along with the accompanying boundary and name changes for the middle schools. 

Parents that do not live within a middle school attendance boundary but would like their student(s) to attend a Dysart middle school or other school of choice may apply for Open Enrollment at Dysart.org/OE. The priority Open Enrollment period ends January 10, 2021, but applications will continue to be accepted after this date, and approved based on space availability. Information on Dysart middle schools is available at Dysart.org/MiddleSchool.

Hello El Mirage Families, 
We will be hosting our monthly Coffee Talk with the Principal on Friday, December 11th at 8:30 a.m. Teen Lifeline will be the guest speaker and will talk about the topics of depression, warning signs, and resources to help your children. We encourage you to join, especially since the past year has been so emotionally difficult for everyone. You will use this link to join: 
meet.google.com/xgw-hrsw-qyd We hope to see you there! Please be patient with any technical issues that may occur. 

Hello Dysart parents and guardians,
With just a couple more weeks until Winter Break we have a few updates and reminders for you regarding our COVID-19 protocols.

CDC Updates Quarantine Options
On December 2, 2020 the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) approved revised options for quarantine.  In order to align with these new CDC quarantine options, Dysart has revised our protocols for quarantine and isolation when there is a positive case or direct contact to 10 days, after which students may return to school as long as they are symptom free without any medication. 

Quarantine Expectations
As a reminder, “Quarantine” means the student should not go to school or work, hang out with friends, go to social events, or come into close contact with another person, even if they have no symptoms, until the 10-day period of quarantine has passed. 

Active Cases Website
Our Active Cases website at Dysart.org/Cases is updated each Friday with currently active and confirmed cases as of that day. An active case is noted when the following criteria are met:
An individual that attends school or works on a campus/site has tested positive for COVID-19 and is in isolation.
The positive case has been reported to us. 
We have reported it to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. 

Although the Active Cases website is updated weekly, please know that we are sending immediate communications to direct and indirect contacts as soon as the information is verified. This means that you may receive a notification regarding an active case that is not yet reflected on the website, but would be included in the numbers on the next Friday update. 

Please remember that our Dysart.org/Coronavirus website is a resource for you and always has our latest COVID updates on it, as well as helpful links and frequently asked questions. Parents/guardians may notify us if their student has tested positive on our COVID Reporting Form. 
We appreciate your continued partnership in keeping our campuses safe and healthy. Your patience and understanding during this challenging time are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Dysart to begin open enrollment Dec. 11
DYSART SCHOOLS - The Dysart Unified School District is proud to offer our community a choice in school enrollment. Dysart will begin accepting open enrollment applications for the 2021-2022 school year on Friday, December 11, 2020.  Parents or guardians who would like their child to attend a school outside of their residential attendance boundary for the 2021-2022 school year, must apply for open enrollment online at www.dysart.org/oe.
 
Parents whose students are currently open enrolled at the school of their choice will not need to reapply. However, open enrollment status is evaluated annually based on capacity, student’s grades, discipline, and attendance.
 
Open enrollment allows parents the opportunity to request that their children attend a Dysart school outside of their residential boundary area. This includes all 20 Dysart elementary schools, including Freedom Traditional Academy, and four high schools. Information on K-8 signature programs and academies may be found by visiting www.dysart.org/signature. Details about high school focuses and Career and Technical Education programs offered are available at www.Dysart.org/highschool. 
 
The priority open enrollment period ends January 10, 2021. After this priority period, submitted applications will continue to be accepted and will be reviewed on a monthly basis as capacity becomes available.
 
Parents needing access to a computer to complete the open enrollment application may visit any district school or the front lobby of the Dysart District Office, located at 15802 N Parkview Place, Surprise, AZ 85374, during regular business hours.

Good afternoon Dysart parents and guardians,

In a press conference yesterday, Governor Ducey reiterated the importance of wearing masks on school campuses. Today, the Arizona Department of Health Services issued an emergency mandate requiring that masks be worn on school campuses, on school buses and during school-associated activities by all students, faculty, staff, contractors, and visitors.  

As you know, Dysart has already been requiring the use of face coverings as part of our COVID health and safety protocols. We have had great cooperation from our students, staff and community members, and appreciate your continued efforts moving forward. Thank you for doing your part to keep our campuses safe and healthy.  

Please remember that the latest updates regarding Dysart’s Coronavirus efforts can always be found at Dysart.org/Coronavirus. 

DUSD COVID-19 FACTS 
We know that most students learn best in an in person learning model and Dysart is taking precautions to provide and maintain safe learning and working environments for students and staff. Many questions are being asked about our decision to remain open and the following information explains our district-specific data and the processes we use in our efforts to keep our schools open.

CRITERIA FOR OPENING / CLOSING SCHOOLS
Each school district determines the criteria for opening or closing schools or a district. Dysart Unified School District follows the guidance from the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (Listed under FAQs for Re-Opening and Re-Closing Schools) which states:

“Similar to determining when to reopen schools for in person learning, the decision of when to quarantine a group of students, or a class, or a school should be made in close coordination with Public Health. This may take into account a number of factors, including but not limited to:

1. The level of community transmission
2. Whether cases have been identified among students and staff
3. If cases are identified, how many classrooms are affected
4. Percent absenteeism at the school
5. Population being affected: age, location, classrooms affected, etc.
6. The model of instructional delivery and mitigation plans in place.
7. The importance of in person education to the social, emotional, and academic growth and well-being of the student population.”

DYSART DATA 

• Dysart-specific Active Cases data is updated weekly at Dysart.org/Cases
• Current Dysart COVID data (11-13-2020):
  • 0.14% positivity rate among 26,703 students and staff.
  • Less than 4% of our student and staff population have been in quarantine at any time since our sites reopened for in person classes.
  • Less than 1% of those in quarantine test positive or become symptomatic within the 14-day quarantine period.
• While the broader community data is in the red according to county dashboard data, individual school data show very low counts of active cases with very limited spread. Most schools have zero or one or two cases with no spread.

POSITIVE CASES
When a positive case is reported to the school the health office staff and administration begin the process of collecting information from the parent regarding symptom onset, testing dates, and previous exposure. Staff will begin to collect direct contact information and they will remain in isolation for 14 calendar days from symptom onset or the date of test if asymptomatic. Every positive case is reported to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

QUARANTINE VERSUS ACTIVE CASES

• Quarantine numbers do not indicate an outbreak and the number of those in quarantine do not reflect active cases. Sometimes one positive individual can place 40 or more people in quarantine. Placing someone in quarantine is done as a precaution after someone has potentially been in direct contact with someone who tested positive (i.e., direct contact is being within 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period OR had physical contact with a person, as defined by CDC,state and county health services.) 
• Currently less than one percent of those who have been quarantined have later tested positive. 
• There are many situations in which individuals are quarantined, including:
• direct contact with someone that tested positive (using seating charts, eating at lunch, classroom interaction, transportation, etc);  
• student-to-student physical contact (such as clubs, teams, outside school interactions at work, club sports, church, etc);   
• residing in a household with someone who has tested positive; or
• direct contact due to attendance at social gatherings with friends, family, etc.

DAILY SAFETY PRACTICES

• The safety and health of our students and staff remains a top priority in every decision we make. 
• Here are some of the things we are doing to keep our campuses safe:
• Disinfecting high touch areas on campus 3x a day, and again each night and disinfecting buses between each run and again each night. 
• Daily temperature checks for students and staff
• Wearing face coverings
• Providing hand sanitizer stations and reminding students to wash hands frequently.
• Serving meals in closed containers and providing touchless checkout.
• Students are sent home when they exhibit symptoms through the symptom referral process in place.
• Parents are asked to screen their child(ren) for symptoms before sending them to school and keep them home if they are ill.
• Any time there is a confirmed positive case on campus, contact tracing is done and anyone with direct contact is required to quarantine and monitor for symptoms for 14 days as a precaution.
• Dysart carefully monitors several sources of data to provide the best, safest learning methods for our students. 
• Full-time in person and full-time iSchool remain options for all students
• If needed, 
• K-8 students should contact their campus to make a shift in formats.
• High school students can change their format at the end of each semester in order to retain credit.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
https://www.dysart.org/Sites/Default.aspx?pgID=6718

Good afternoon Dysart parents and guardians,

We know there are many questions regarding the proposed middle school and boundary changes. In an effort to provide more details, we have added a Frequently Asked Questions page to our Dysart.org/Updates website. If you have questions, we encourage you to review this information at your convenience. 

Additionally, we will be hosting a Virtual Boundary Change and Middle School Meeting on Tuesday, November 17 at 6pm via Facebook Live on Facebook.com/DysartUSD. Participants will be able to comment with their questions and have them answered live.

Lastly, the Governing Board is seeking input from parents and the community regarding the proposed changes. There are two ways that you may provide input:
Use this online form to share your comments. Comments must be submitted by November 18 at 6:00 p.m. We will review and share these with the Governing Board.
Attend a public hearing on November 18 at 5:00 p.m. at Dysart Governing Board room, 15802 N Parkview Pl., Surprise, AZ 85374. 

The public hearing shall not exceed sixty (60) minutes. Time shall be granted for public comments regarding the proposed attendance boundary changes and speakers will be limited to three minutes. Please note that space is limited to 50 people, which includes Governing Board members, administration, presenters and members of the public, per Governor's Executive Order 2020-43.

We value the input of our community on these proposed changes, and hope that you will take the time to read the details at Dysart.org/Updates and share your input. Thank you!