Welcome to the 2020 - 2021 school year at Desert Foothills Junior High School!
Each Desert Foothills student will follow the individual class schedule of the five academic classes and one elective class each day of online learning. All students will begin in our Homeroom Period from 8:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. for attendance and social emotional learning. At 9:00 a.m., the students will start with their first period class and continue through the class schedule with a lunch period from 12:08-12:38 p.m. for all students. All students will have 30 minutes of direct online instruction in reading, math, intervention (Writing) and the elective class. Science and social studies are provided every other day for 30 minutes. We are dividing each class up in half for the virtual learning to be taught in small groups. Students are to begin their day by logging on their WESD Student Account and go to Google.com and click on the waffle on the upper right corner. Then click on the Google Calendar. From there, students will see that their individual Google Calendar have been filled with the specific classes and times throughout the week. When students click on their class in the Google Calendar, they will have access to the Google Meet and the Google Classroom Code for each class. It’s like a personal student planner as it’s unique to each student. If a student is not using a WESD Chromebook device, please log on Google.com and login using their WESD Student Acct. Desert Foothills offers a true middle school experience in
which students are placed on an academic team consisting of five core teachers
providing a school-within-a-school atmosphere. This environment provides
purposeful interventions where needed and improves communication and
integration. Each team of teachers builds camaraderie and infuses the DF team
spirit while watching out for the students’ well-being and promoting positive
youth development during the impressionable 7th and 8th grade years. All
academic teams offer advanced classes in math, reading and science. In addition,
an outstanding group of special education teachers works with each team to meet
the needs of students with learning disabilities in reading, writing and math.
We offer an ELA Intervention and Title I math for regular education students
struggling with those concepts. Our great variety of elective classes helps our
students find their interests leading them to select courses later in high
school that ultimately will enhance their careers in the future. Desert
Foothills offers music, choir, orchestra, band, guitar, keyboarding/piano, PE,
art, technology, multi-media and leadership as elective classes. It is an honor to serve as the principal of Desert Foothills. Mr. Steve Whynott, AP, and I are committed to creating a whole school of excellence for Desert Foothills that promotes the academic and social growth of every student. Please know that we are here for your child’s success at Desert Foothills. You are always welcome to call or email with any questions or concerns. The Desert Foothills staff and I welcome you to our unique school year with distance learning and look forward to a wonderful school year.
Susan P. Smith |