By DVUSD Superintendent Dr. Curtis Finch
Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD) has been around for decades with its birth in New River in the 1930s. Today, DVUSD is one of the best unified school districts in all of Arizona with 92% of its 42 schools as A or B rated, 23 A+ School of Excellence designations, and the highest Forbes ranked K-12 mid-size system in which to work in the entire nation. On top of all of that, DVUSD is internationally recognized as one of only 11 K-12 model Professional Learning Community districts in the world. If there is an educational award of excellence available, DVUSD is likely in the running.
Currently, DVUSD has several schools who intensely focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), STEAM (plus STEM plus Arts), language immersion (Spanish and Mandarin Chinese), traditional education at the Traditional Academy at Bellair, Career and Technical Education for high school students, and online learning at Aspire, Deer Valley’s K-12 Online Academy.
This coming school year, DVUSD will continue to expand its programming by providing a robust continuum of school-wide gifted services at Las Brisas Elementary School. Bright Beginnings, a pre-Kindergarten through 2nd grade program, provides hands-on learning opportunities for early childhood students, immersing them in a literacy-rich classroom while engaging in an inquiry-based learning environment and adding exposure to world languages. Las Brisas offers additional options, such as a gifted cluster model, content replacement for English Language Arts and Math, and Walk-Up to Math for grades three through six. All students at Las Brisas will benefit from the gifted approach to learning as the teachers at Las Brisas are certified in gifted education.
Deer Valley is opening its third Renaissance Highly Gifted Academy this fall for 3rd through 6th grade students, also at Las Brisas. The specialty focus of this academy will be Global Studies. Students will regularly engage in problem-based and project-based learning in an advanced and enriching curriculum that includes a focus on learning about cultures and languages from around the world. All students in Renaissance participate in STEAM learning, in addition to physical education, music, art, and band.
DVUSD is anticipating many open enrollment students coming to Las Brisas, so begin the process as soon as possible to make sure you get your seat. If you are interested in gifted education, Las Brisas Elementary is the place to be next year. To learn more, visit dvusd.org.
Dr. Finch is the Superintendent of DVUSD and can be reached at [email protected].
