CHANDLER, Ariz. — The Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) is set to begin the new academic year on Wednesday.
The district is the second largest in the state and this year's student enrollment is 43,000.
Jennifer Kahler, a teacher and parent in the district, said she and her three daughters have already finished their shopping for clothes and school supplies.
"We're getting back into our morning routine, setting our alarms a little earlier," Kahler said.
Kahler noted her daughters look forward to their respective activities, including dance team, choir, and fourth grade.
Dr. Mike De La Torre, Assistant Superintendent of K-12 grades, said their enrollment is down slightly and mentioned they have a 90% teacher retention rate.
When it comes to bus drivers, De La Torre said they're always in need of more but noted they're are prepared for the new school year.
"Teachers are connecting with the students that are coming in, and that's really the way you make any big school feel small, or any big district feel small, is you really have to think about those community connections," De La Torre said.
And with so many students, De La Torre said CUSD is implementing various initiatives to support its students including a new platform called Lightspeed Tipline where parents and students can share concerns about classmates or school safety.
In addition, nine schools in the district received a federal grant through the Community Eligibility Program to get free meals at school:
- Frye Elementary
- San Marcos Elementary
- Galveston Elementary
- Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary
- Conley Elementary School
- Sanborn Elementary School
- Andersen Elementary School
- Shumway Leadership Academy
- Bologna Elementary School
"We're going to have breakfast and lunch that are going to be at no cost for families at nine of our schools that we're excited about for then they're going to be ready to go for tomorrow with our food nutrition program," De La Torre said.
A district representative emphasized the importance of all families filling out the free and reduced lunch application, regardless of whether they think they qualify, explaining it could lead to benefits such as reduced internet, cell phone, testing fees and other school-related expenses.
De La Torre said one of their top goals is to be able to connect with students and parents to make the school year better so they've implemented something called Parent Square to be able to connect.
"We're parents ourselves of students in our own school district, and so we're always interested to be able to find opportunities to collaborate and partner with parents to help support their students," De La Torre said.
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