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Dean: Middle schools expand school choice in DUSD

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In the Dysart Unified School District, we have been and continue to be dedicated to providing extraordinary experiences to our students.

Part of that experience includes offering a wide variety of options for our families to choose from that help meet their educational needs. 

School choice is in high demand across the state, and our local Dysart schools proudly offer a plethora of choices from school formats, to unique programs and extracurricular opportunities.

To further expand the choices we offer, and in response to community requests, Dysart is launching four middle school options beginning in the 2021-2022 school year. 

This change transitions two of our existing elementary schools within each high school boundary — adjusting one to be a grade 5 through 8 middle school and one to be a K through 4 elementary school. Other elementary schools in the district will remain K through 8 schools in order to continue providing that option for those that prefer it to a middle school model. 

The middle-school model will allow Dysart to provide unique academic, elective and extracurricular opportunities for fifth- through eighth-grade students at Ashton Ranch, Cimarron Springs, Dysart Elementary and Sonoran Heights.

Many families prefer middle schools in an effort to better prepare students for high school by placing them in an environment that more closely resembles secondary schools and providing more choices and opportunities.

Students attending Dysart middle schools would be able to select from several elective class options, study a foreign language, take introductory Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses and earn high school credit. 

We proudly offer our community school choice so each family can make the best decision possible. Our Dysart parents have the opportunity to choose the grade configuration that they believe is best for their family and child(ren), or select a school for a specific program or focus.

We are currently accepting open enrollment applications and invite anyone in our community who would like to attend a school outside of their regular attendance zone to apply to the school of their choice.

Learn more about all of our options at Dysart.org, or open enroll today at Dysart.org/OE. In Dysart, education is what we do, and we want to do it in extraordinary ways to offer the very best choices for our Dysart community. 

Editor’s Note: Jim Dean is the DUSD assistant superintendent for support services.