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Dear d.tech families,
I’ve always felt that schools have two "New Years". First in August when we start the new school year, and then again in January when we start a new calendar year. As we start this new calendar year - and I know that I’ve said this before - this one is going to be exciting for our school. Not only will we become fully grown, so to speak, because we will have our first senior class this fall, but this is also our last year in a temporary facility. The Oracle building is still on track to be completed January 2, 2018.
Of course there are many other things happening between now and January 2018. There are so many that it’s easy to get excited about all of the possibilities and lose focus. I’m sure that many of us do this in our personal lives as well. A new year can bring a fresh start, and it’s easy to take on too many things as we are spurred on by the burst of energy associated with starting something new. That’s why it’s important to use some of that energy toward narrowing down possibilities, and determining our focus.
For 2017, d.tech is going to focus on improving student attendance, supporting our soon-to-be seniors through the college application process, building the technology infrastructure needed to help parents, students, and teachers - which may mean abandoning Buzz and School Pathways in favor of a new approach - and accomplishing the smoothest moves among campuses in the history of schools. If that sounds as if we’re entering a dance contest, I’m really talking about how we handle a possible fall semester move, and then a mid-year move onto the Oracle campus.
We are going to pay special attention to student attendance, as we had a 93% attendance rate the first half of the year. Our budget assumes a 96% attendance rate, which means that we may receive approximately $90,000 less revenue from the state than anticipated. There is still time to improve attendance, so that we do not lose the full amount, but we need students to attend school. We also know that students are more successful when they attend school regularly.
Our instructional focus will be on student feedback for learning, and making sure that all students have the appropriate level of challenge in all of their courses. These are areas identified as high need areas in the student and parent survey that was reviewed at the most recent town hall.
The advantage of focus is that it allows you to target resources and improve implementation. The disadvantage is that it may mean that other things do not get addressed. We appreciate your understanding during this extraordinary year and as we prioritize our focus your support will help us stay focused and on track.
Happy New Year,
Ken
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Bunco Party 
Gentlemen’s Hold ‘Em Poker Party at Jeffrey’s Burgers & Fries
Design Tech Family Bowling Night
Panel Discussion of College Students with Learning & Attention Differences, featuring alumni of SAFE (Student Advisors for Education). Topics include whether/how to disclose a learning difference, how they determined best fit/scope of support for their college choice, what they found when they arrived, and how to navigate and manage college life - academically and socially.
