Update to the Community 8-15-2022
Good Afternoon, I’m Jeff Harris, Superintendent of Schools for Del Norte County, and it's been a while since our last update. We are quickly approaching the end of summer and are looking forward to the beginning of a new school year. Today, I have a few back-to-school reminders for families.
Dates to Remember
First, and most importantly, the first day of school is August 29th. School secretaries are back today. So, if you have any questions, please call or stop by your child’s school. I also want to remind you that there will be no school on Monday, September 5th in observance of Labor day. Lastly, this Friday, we will be posting a podcast with the principals of Del Norte High, Crescent Elk Middle, Mountain Elementary and our Long Term Independent Study program discussing what families can do to prepare their children for the first days of school.
School Registration
With secretaries returning and school offices reopening, if you have not registered your child for school, registration packets for the 2022-23 school year are available for pickup at all DNUSD schools, as well as the District Office, which is located at 301 W. Washington Blvd. Staff in any office can provide you with all the forms and information required to enroll your child. To find a list of registration requirements, visit our enrollment website at dnusd.org/enrollment. Remember, too, that we are still accepting registration for preschool. The District runs an Early Head Start program, state preschool programs, and a district preschool program. To find out more about these programs and to get additional information on registration, you can go to dnusd.org/ece. Also this year, we are adding a transitional kindergarten, or TK, classroom. If you have a child turning 5 between September 2 and February 2, they are eligible for TK. For more information on TK classes and enrollment, please contact your local school or the District Office.
LTIS Information Nights
For those of you interested in our long-term independent study program, or LTIS,, we invite you to join us for our LTIS Information Nights. Our Del Norte High School LTIS information night will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, 8/16 at 5:30 PM. Our TK-8th grade information night will be on Wednesday, 8/17 at 5:30 PM. These events will be held in person in the District Office boardroom, as well as over Zoom. Those links are available on the front page of dnusd.org. In order to gauge interest in the LTIS program, we would also ask interested families to complete the LTIS survey located on the front page of the website.
Educational Benefit Form
Continuing this year, all Del Norte Unified School District students will be able to receive free meals during the school year thanks to the Community Eligibility Provision program. The program is funded through a combination of federal and state sources. In order to guarantee that the district continues to qualify for the program in the coming years, we are reminding parents to turn in the Educational Benefits Form that you will receive either through registration process or with your child’s permissions packet at the beginning of school. Again, the form can be found in the students’ back-to-school packets or accessed online by visiting dnusd.org/food and clicking on the “Meal Applications” button.
Transportation Registration
We understand how critical bus services are for our students, and it’s important that the district continue to offer home-to-school transportation for all eligible students. To receive bus services for the 2022-23 school year, families must complete the “Bus Service Application” form and live a qualifying distance from their school. You can access the application form and learn more about qualifications and about our Transportation Department by visiting dnusd.org/transportation.
Attendance
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to remind families about the importance of attendance at school. Good attendance helps to ensure that a student can be successful in school and helps to set them up for success in their future. With this year being “back to normal,” we are urging families to help students be successful by making sure that they are getting to school. While we understand that there are times when students must miss school, missing school days for any reason, whether excused or unexcused, has the same effect on the learning experience. One way to help is to keep track of your child’s attendance by using the Aeries Portal, which can be found by clicking the “Attendance & Grades” button on the “Students” page of your school’s website. Another way to ensure that your child has access to learning is to request an independent study packet if your child will be out of school for an extended period of time. For more information and tips on how you can help your child, please visit our Attendance Guide at dnusd.org/attendance.
That’s the end of this week's update. Sorry it was a long one, but it’s been a while. I hope you have a great week, and I hope that you’ll take a look at our next update next Monday.
Thank you
