Dear Families,

I hope you have been enjoying your summer!

It may seem hard to believe, but we are preparing for the start of the 2022-23 school year! Our first day of school this year is August 1st. Students may arrive between 7:45 and 8:30 am and we will have the morning assembly in the gym at 8:30 am.

Pick up and drop off: Pick up and drop off will operate as usual. Junior high has an open dismissal. For students in the elementary school, we will line up cars at the sports complex and Red Rock Security will send groups of cars to the elementary dismissal line.

After school clubs and fitness: We will continue offer free afterschool options. Families will need to register for all options, including fitness (click here). No student may stay after school in a program without being registered. We will offer after school fitness beginning August 1. Other clubs will start at various times in the year. Reminder: All students must be picked up from after school activities between 4:45 and 5pm. Tardy pickups will result in students losing the privilege to participate in after school activities.

New Student Applications: All families have been contacted via email regarding new student applications for the 2022-23 school year and notified whether their students are admitted or are on the waitlist. If your student applied and you have not heard from us, we may have incorrect contact information for you. Please contact the school at 505-722-8922.

Open house: We will have an open house on Friday, July 29 from 11:30am-1 pm. Please come by to meet teachers and staff!

Upper School/Lower School: We are adding our first high school grade level this year! To help distinguish between announcements for elementary school and junior high and high school, we will refer to elementary school (grades k-6) as “Lower School” and junior high and high school (grades 7 and up) as “Upper School”.

Electives for Upper School Students: Please click on this link to choose your elective.

Sports Physicals: Please see the flyer below for schedule information.

School Supplies: Parents do not need to buy any school supplies, but we are asking each family to buy a binder with folders and a planner for $10 for each of their students in all grades. We will have these available during the open house. I know that in the past, not all teachers used the planner consistently. We are improving this practice for the upcoming year.

Schedules: We are adding modulars for our co-curricular classes of art and music so we may not start specials for the first couple of weeks of school. In the Upper School, schedules for August may be different than the schedules for the rest of the year.

Uniforms: Junior high and high school (Upper School) students may opt for a black or gray polo shirt. All other uniform options will remain the same. Please make an appointment at Sportsworld (505) 863-8819 to try on sizes. Uniform compliance will be strictly enforced. Students must be in full uniform to attend classes. If you need financial assistance with purchasing uniforms, please come by the front office. If you have a rental uniform from last year that still fits, keep it. If it no longer fits, please return it to the school’s front office. Shoes are part of the uniform. Students must be in athletic closed toe shoes and ready for PE every day. Sandals and boots, etc. are too dangerous for PE.

Attendance is critical: We are expecting students to attend every day. I know there has been some flexibility during the pandemic, but beginning August 1, students must attend every day unless administration has made an arrangement, in very limited circumstances, for remote learning. For junior high and high school students, we are also strictly enforcing prompt attendance to class. Any tardy to class will be addressed. Please note that attendance can impact enrollment. If students miss 10 days in a row, they are considered disenrolled.

Detention and Saturday school: We are setting high expectations for student behavior. We want to encourage the behaviors that will promote success in school and after graduation. If a student makes a poor choice, we will address the behaviors as usual but in some cases of repeated infractions, particularly in the upper school we will implement detention at lunchtime and afterschool and a Saturday school option.

Meals: All meals are free to students. Breakfast and lunch will be provided daily.

Transportation: We have a few limited options for transportation with Gallup Express. Any current student who used transportation in the past will be added to the transportation roster from last year. Any new student requiring transportation should contact Gallup Express at (505) 722-0777.

Please refer to our online handbook for information regarding parties and outside food and more details on many other policies and procedures.

If you have questions, please reach out to our front office at (505) 722-8922.