As you may have heard, the DCSD School Leadership team has been in conversation with DCSD high school principals since last winter to adopt a unified schedule across all high schools in Douglas County. By having a common schedule, we can provide more equitable access and opportunity to expanded programming so all DCSD students, including Sabercats, can remediate, accelerate, and explore their passions in a variety of pathways. We are taking this challenge on together, as a unified DCSD high school community.

The major components of a common schedule would include:

• Maintaining our current start and end time.

• Four block classes at just over 90 minutes per period, Monday through Thursday.

• Alternating classes on block days, similar to our current 2A/2B schedule, with some classes meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays and the others meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

• Seven 45 minute periods each Friday.

• Protected time each Friday for teachers to engage in Professional Learning Communities, where they collaborate to improve student learning.

• Protected time for Pride Advisement and structured academic support within the school day.

This new schedule structure will allow us to preserve some of what we love most about our current schedule, as we will work to prioritize what is most important to our students, families, and staff members.

In order for us to do this work well, we need your feedback and engagement. Please join me at one of these in-person conversations with our Executive Director of Schools, Erin McDonald, and our Assistant Superintendent, Danny Winsor, on either of the following days and times.

• Thursday, September 15 at 5:30pm in the CV Library

• Tuesday, September 20 at 6:30pm in the CV Library

After these community forums, I will send a survey to gather feedback from those of you who aren’t able to attend in person.

Students will also have an opportunity to see the new schedule, complete a survey, and engage in a conversation with their Advisement teacher and classmates in the next couple of weeks. Please talk with them about their academic plans and what they might want to advocate for through those avenues.

After gathering feedback, the CV administrative team will work through the fall to craft a master schedule that meets prioritized needs and share back with you our proposed solutions. We know that we need to give our students and counselors time to create individualized coursework plans that allow them to have the high school experience they hope for.

I am grateful to have had the chance to talk with some of you about your questions and concerns about this process. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like the opportunity to discuss this one-on-one.

As always, thank you for sharing your kids with us. It is our honor to serve them.

J

Jeena Templeton, Ed.D.

Principal, Castle View High School

720-762-8132

etempleton@dcsdk12.org