Canyon Valley Connect

Happy New Year!

On Monday, January 5th, we will welcome students to school at Canyon Valley for the second semester of the 2025-2026 school. Welcome to all of our new students and welcome back to all of our returning students!

At Canyon Valley, we build relationships, inspire growth, and support every student in achieving their goals. We are committed to building strong, trusting relationships that form the foundation for meaningful learning. We inspire personal, academic, and social growth by honoring each student's unique strengths, challenges, and experiences. Through a supportive, inclusive, and restorative environment, we help every student discover their potential, re-engage with education, and create a path toward a successful and fulfilling future.

This newsletter contains a lot of information . All of it is important. Please take some to read the newsletter in it's entirety and, if you have any questions, please reach out. We are here to help.

Please be sure to review the bell schedule (included in the newsletter) as it is different than a typical high school or junior high bell schedule.

Temporary ID badges will be distributed the first week of school for new students. Your student will need to hold onto this badge until they receive their permanent ID badge.

Canyon Valley is excited to partner with you this semester as we work to support your students in meeting and exceeding their educational goals while also preparing them for their next steps in their college and career journeys.

Our door is always open. Please don't hesitate to reach out anytime you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Adam Strock

Principal

Sign up for district bus transportation with this link.
School resumes: Monday, January 5th

High School: Gates open at 7:15 AM, class starts at 7:30 AM
Junior High: Gates open at 8:15 AM, class starts at 8:30 AM

Gilbert Public Schools- district Health Dashboard
To stay up to date, please be sure to read District emails (link to all district emails here)
Calendar for the 25-26 school year, 26-27 school year

Gates open for high school students at 7:15 AM. First hour begins at 7:30 AM.

Gates open for junior high school students at 8:15 AM. First hour begins at 8:30 AM.

Students may not enter through the front office.

The student drop off entrance is indicated on the map below with the GREEN X.

The student bus entrance is indicated on the map below with the ORANGE X.

Weapons screening will be in process at both entrances.

For students who drive, the student parking lot is indicated in BLUE.

The faculty parking lot is indicated in RED.

The parent drop-off and pick-up flow is indicated in YELLOW.

Student drop-off and pick-up is always a little crazy the first few days. Please be patient as it will improve as families learn and become comfortable with the new processes and routines.

Students who arrive late to school will need to enter through the front office, sign-in, and get a pass to class. Weapons screening will be in effect within the office entrance.

All visitors to campus must check in through the front office and must present a valid ID card (drivers license or state issued ID card). Please be aware that Canyon Valley utilizes the Raptor Background Check system for guests needing to access campus. All guests must also pass through the weapons detector security checkpoint. These processes are standard at all GPS high schools.

Creating student schedules is a complicated task and, at Canyon Valley, we create each student's schedule individually, by hand, to ensure that each student is able to meet their academic needs and earn as much credit as possible each quarter. All students have schedules available in Infinite Campus (unless your student has enrolled in the last few days - those schedules will populate over the next day or two and before the first day of school).

High school schedules are created with two perspectives in mind: recovering credit and getting ahead in credit. The ultimate goal is for students to graduate on time and schedules are built for students intentionally to assist students in realizing this goal. Elective options are limited and students are placed into electives based on what classes fit in their schedule while also serving to meet their credit recovery or graduation goals.

Junior high school schedules are prescriptive. All students are placed in English, Math, Social Studies, History, PE, Reading Lab, and Advisory.

Almost every student can now see their schedule in Infinite Campus. If your student is not yet able to see their schedule, have them double check that they have toggled from their old campus to Canyon Valley to view their schedule. If they are toggled to the correct school and still don't see a schedule, don't stress. There are currently 12 students in this situation and our team is simply waiting on the enrollment line to change from their prior campus to Canyon Valley. Once that is done, we can build the schedule. If your student does not have their schedule tomorrow morning, simply have them report to the front office and we will get them taken care of. Thank you for your understanding.

Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board approved policies regarding student use of cell phones during the school day to promote student learning and well-being by reducing distractions and improving focus during the school day. All elementary schools and some of our junior highs have already been operating ‘Away for the Day,’ and our high schools have been operating ‘No Cell Bell to Bell’ during the 2024/25 school year. The policy will simply formalize these approaches.

Away for the Day Grades K-8: Once the school day begins, cell phones and wireless communication devices must be turned off or set to silent and stored out of sight (for example, in a backpack) for the entire school day, unless instructed otherwise by a staff member for educational purposes. This restriction includes earbuds and headphones as well.

No Cell Bell to Bell Grades 9-12: During instructional time, cell phones must be turned off or set to silent and stored out of sight (for example, in a backpack), unless instructed otherwise by a staff member for educational purposes. This restriction includes earbuds and headphones as well.

Please visit gilbertschools.net/families for more details.

To enhance safety measures that protect our students, staff, families, and the broader community, we continue to add to our wide range of safety and security tools, processes, and strategies. At the end of last school year, we implemented the use of weapons detectors at all of our high school campuses, and for the new school year, we will also be implementing a clear bag policy for athletic and other large events on our high school campuses.

If your student is attending a GPS high school for a school event (i.e. sports, carnivals, etc.), please visit gilbertschools.net/safety for more information about expectations and processes.

Students are expected to wear their student ID badges. Students are provided with their badge and lanyard during the first week of school.

Please work with your students to ensure they bring their ID badge with them to school every day.
Bus riders will use the barcode on their ID badge to get on and off the bus once they have received their ID badge from the school. Students will not be allowed to ride the bus without an ID badge.
Students use the barcode on their ID badges to access nutrition services (cafeteria).
Junior High and High School teachers use ID badges to take attendance each period. Students are required to wear their ID badge in a visible location that can easily be scanned on their way into each classroom.

If you haven’t already, please take a moment to complete the online ‘Annual Update’ for your student(s). In order to ensure we can communicate with you regarding your student, or in case of an emergency, it is important that we have your up-to-date contact details. Even if there are no changes, we ask you to please complete to confirm the information we have is accurate for this school year. Please log in to your Infinite Campus parent portal and complete your student’s Annual Update today.

For more details, visit gilbertschools.net/annualupdate.

As we begin the new school year, please review the updated bell schedule for 2025-2026 below. This bell schedule is significantly different than last year to accommodate state requirements for instructional minutes for each course each quarter.

Canyon Valley is excited to share that, over the summer, we added food services to our facility and will be serving lunch daily on campus. Students will have the choice between a hot lunch or cold lunch with a bi-weekly rotating menu (see below). With the addition of a cafeteria and served lunch this does mean a couple of logistical changes for Canyon Valley students:

1. Food deliveries (i.e. DoorDash, Uber Eats, etc.) will no longer be accepted and will be turned away. Lunch is a busy time for our front office and organizing and delivering student food orders is not something our office staff can manage during that time.

2. All students have a student lunch account. You can apply for free and reduced lunches and or add funds to your student's account by credit card through the LinQ app or by bringing in a check or cash to the front office at the beginning of the school day. Credit cards and Apple pay, etc. are not accepted to purchase lunch. Instructions for adding funds to your student's LinQ meal account can be found below.

3. Canyon Valley will remain a closed-campus. Students are not permitted to leave campus during the instructional day unless they have an early release on their schedule and are finished with their academics for the day. Students who leave campus are subject to disciplinary action including the search of both their personal belongings and their vehicle.

Adding money to your student's lunch account?

Every student has a lunch account, it is up to the parent to add funds to the lunch account or to complete the free and reduced application. If you would like to add money to your child's lunch account you can do so one of two ways: Adding funds via the LinQ Connect App, or by bringing in cash or a check to the office. If you would like to add money via the app you will create an account (you will need your child's student id number). By creating an account you can choose to be notified when your child is low on funds and you have the ability to see which days they purchased a meal.

Apply for free & reduce meals

To check your student's balance go online to www.gilbertschools.net/meals

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Meal Account Online Instructions with QR Code.pdf

Meal Account Online Instruction (Spanish) with QR code.pdf

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Sign up for district bus transportation

If your child needs to utilize district transportation please complete this Google Form in order for them to be registered.

Download the Here Comes the Bus App

Does your student ride the bus? if so, be sure to download the "Here Comes the Bus" App. This app will notify you when the bus is arriving, when your child has scanned on the bus and when they scan off the bus. ALL STUDENTS MUST HAVE THEIR STUDENT ID'S TO SCAN TO GET ON THE BUS.