May 2025- Parent Update

Graduation for the class of 2025 and the end of the school year are just days away! Thank you for continuing to stay informed throughout the school year by reading these monthly updates.

Graduations for our high school seniors and promotions for our DVUSD eighth graders headed to high school are just around the corner!

For more information on 8th Grade Promotions as well as a schedule of events, visit: dvusd.org/8thgrade

For more information on high school graduation, visit: dvusd.org/graduation

DVUSD's Superintendent, Dr. Finch, shares his end-of-year message with DVUSD families as we head into the summer of 2025.

Sandra Day O'Connor senior Maya Ysabella Bustos becomes Deer Valley Unified School District's fourth consecutive Flinn Scholar from one of the district’s five high schools. This year, the 20 winners were selected out of 1,100 applicants.

The Flinn Scholarship — valued at more than $135,000 — covers tuition, fees, housing, and meals at one of Arizona’s public universities, and at least two study-abroad experiences including a two-week group summer seminar following freshman year. Each year, about 20 top Arizona high-school seniors are chosen to learn from faculty, business leaders, and civic innovators.

The 20 Flinn Scholars will be attending Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona this fall.

Maya aims to use the award and her position as a Flinn scholar to inspire young girls of color and all youth to pursue their dreams, emphasizing that anything is possible with motivation and support. She is energized by the recognition and committed to honoring the Sandra Day O'Connor name in her future endeavors, hopefully with a career in international law.

Nicholas Solla, a Boulder Creek High School senior, competed at the Academic Decathlon National Competition and did incredibly!

He won a medal in every category except Math including seven gold medals and two silver medals. Nicholas earned his first-ever medal in speech and interview, and wrapped up the competition by winning the gold medal in all-around and a $1,000 scholarship!

Sandra Day O’Connor High School's Girls' Beach Volleyball earned the DI State Championship for the fourth consecutive season! After serving up a perfect 12-0 season, the O’Connor Girls Beach Volleyball team hoisted the gold trophy in the air for the fourth year in a row! The Eagles haven’t dropped a team match since March of 2022 with a win streak that now sits at 59 matches.

DVUSD will once again offer Summer Programming to our students. These opportunities include: Enrichment, Intervention, Credit/Grade Recovery, online coursework, community education programs, and more! Due to the most recent override failure, some of these programs are now fee-based. See the flyer below for the list of programs and additional details, including program contact and registration information.

In November, voters living within the DVUSD boundaries will have the opportunity to vote on an override continuation initiative passed by the DVUSD governing board for public authorization:

This override is a continuation of the existing 15% maintenance and operation (M&O) override. The 2019 voter-approved override has entered the phase-down period, and vital funds (approximately $33 million) will no longer be available.

Learn what the M&O Override funds on the Override FAQ page.

If the override is not reauthorized, the District would not be able to maintain the current level of programs and services and would have to continue to make reductions. The district would have to reduce investments in district and school programs by an estimated $11 million in each of the next two years (for a total of approximately $22 million), following initial cuts of $11 million due to the override not being reauthorized by district residents in November 2024.

This means the possible end of student and family programs such as free full-day kindergarten, cuts to athletics and arts programs, and the inability to attract and retain highly-qualified employees.

DVUSD formed a School Boundary Committee to review school attendance boundaries and make a recommendation of possible suggested changes to these school attendance boundaries for the 2026-27 school year. This committee will allow more stakeholder input in determining the options for our Governing Board to consider. The committee is comprised of various stakeholders, including a parent from each high school region, a representative from each of our recognized employee groups, various District staff, a representative from our parent organizations, a business partner, and a representative from our interfaith council.

The first committee meeting is planned for Tuesday, May 6, 2025 from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM, and it is anticipated there will likely be monthly meetings in August, September and October of 2025. The meetings will be public meetings and will be held at our District Office located at 20402 N. 15th Ave, Phoenix, AZ. If you are interested in serving on this committee, or if you have further questions about this committee, please contact Ms. Shelly Goettl, Administrative Assistant for Fiscal 7 Business Services at shelly.goettl@dvusd.org. Interested volunteers will need to complete the DVUSD Committee Volunteer Application Form and email that to Ms. Goettl.

Dr. Finch learns more about the DVUSD Mandarin Immersion program from a student, teacher, and a national champion speaker. You'll see how language immersion can open doors in the classroom and in a student's everyday life.

The Public Review for the 5th Grade Social Studies Update is open from March 13th – May 12th. It will be presented as a preview item to the Board on May 13th and as an action item on May 27th. All details can be found at DVUSD.org/socialstudiesreview

High school students have the opportunity to get ahead this summer by earning high school or college credits with Aspire- Deer Valley's Online Academy online summer courses! The program is open to all DVUSD and non-district high school students.

Learn more at DVUSD.org/aspiresummer

Registration for DVUSD's 2025-2026 Before & After Care programs opened on April 3! Designed for students ages 5–13, these high-quality programs are offered at 24 DVUSD school locations. Families can visit our website for rate details and more information. To register, create an account in the Eleyo system at https://deervalley.ce.eleyo.com, which you'll use to submit a contract for the upcoming school year. For additional details on attendance options, visit https://www.dvusd.org/communityed.

Community Education is currently planning our ‘Sun’sational summer camps for 2025. We will have K-8 camp at Gavilan Peak, Norterra Canyon, Paseo Hills & Legend Springs. Our preschool camps will be at Norterra Canyon and Mountain Ridge HS. We are looking for classified staff who would like to work with us over the summer. We need staff for Instructional Assistants, custodians, and front desk. If you are interested in working with Community Education over the summer, please click here! If you have questions, please reach out to Dina.Sands@dvusd.org

Registration for the 2025-2026 DVUSD Community Education Preschool/Pre-Kindergarten programs opened on January 31! With 16 programs across DVUSD, we are committed to supporting early learners' social, emotional, and educational growth. We’re also thrilled to announce the addition of a second classroom at Sandra Day O’Connor High School as well as a PS/PreK at West Wing! To register, create an account in the Eleyo system at https://deervalley.ce.eleyo.com and use it to submit a Preschool contract.

For more information about locations and details, visit www.dvusd.org/preschool or contact Traci Piccoli at Traci.Piccoli@dvusd.org or 623-376-3979.

We look forward to another amazing year of learning and growth with your family!