Lion Country News

On Tuesday, July 22nd, we will welcome students to school at Canyon Valley for 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 new information and a lot repeat information from the last newsletter that was shared on July 8th. 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 significantly different than last year.

On Monday, July 21st, from 9:00AM-12:00PM, campus will be open for students to walk their schedule and become familiar with the campus. We would encourage your student to take advantage of this time (especially if they are new to Canyon Valley).

Temporary ID badges will be distributed the first week of school. Our photography company will be here on campus to take your student's 2025-2026 school photo and print their permanent ID badge for the 2025-2026 school year.

Meet the teacher/curriculum night is on Thursday, August 7th. Please save the date and we look forward to meeting you that night.

Canyon Valley is excited to partner with you this year 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.
• First Day of School: July 22nd
• 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
• Open House/Curriculum Night: August 7th
• 6:00-7:30 PM
• 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

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).

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 at Canyon Valley are limited. Student electives are determined through a combination of student interest, schedule availability, and student credit need. It is highly unlikely that we will be able to adjust student elective classes and still meet student credit needs.

EVIT is a wonderful option for our students but it can be difficult for students to fit into their schedule. In order for a student to be allowed to attend EVIT they must have a minimum 2.0 unweighted GPA, have a minimum of 6.0 credits, AND be able to satisfy their core course requirements in order to graduate on time.

Students who have a concern with their schedule need to submit the Canyon Valley Schedule Concern Form below. Please be aware that students may only submit this form using their school email address.

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 few weeks 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 use the barcode on their ID badges to access nutrition services (cafeteria), the library, and the bookstore.
• Junior High and High School teachers will now be using 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.

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

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

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.

Have you created your parent portal account? If not click here for directions on how to. The parent portal gives you access to your child's grades and attendance, as well as teacher contact information. Click here for directions on how to download the Infinite Campus Parent Portal app to your smart phone.

Email: canyonvalleyinfo@gilbertschools.net
Website: https://canyonvalleyhigh.gilbertschools.net/
Location: 7007 E Guadalupe Rd, Mesa, AZ 85212
Phone: 480.507.0519