The first day of the 2008-2009 school year in Deer Park is Wednesday, August 27th.  In preparation for the 2008 -2009 school year, Deer Park's P-12 instructional staff met Monday, August 25th while all district employees met on Tuesday, August 26th for the annual "staff orientation" meeting at Arcadia Elementary.  As is the case every year, we sincerely appreciate the efforts of staff members who worked throughout the summer to prepare our schools for another great year.

We're excited to announce that families can now add money to their child's food service account online through Deer Park's Skyward Family Access website.  Parents can make payments while on their home or work computer, at any time of day.

Prior to this year, if a student’s food service account balance was low, students were expected to bring money to school or parents had to make a visit to the main office in order to deposit money.  While these options will continue to be available, it can now take just minutes to add money using a VISA/MasterCard or debit card from any computer with an internet connection.  Parents who have never accessed their student's Skyward Family Access account can call the school's main office in order to obtain account login information. 

After logging into Skyward Family Access, food service payments are processed by RevTrak.  Payment processing with RevTrak is secured by VeriSign. RevTrak is also PCI certified, following strict industry guidelines set forth by the PCI Security Standards Council, a credit card standards consortium promoted by American Express, Discover Financial Services, MasterCard Worldwide, and Visa Inc.  When transactions within Skyward Family Access are completed and approved, a printable receipt is made available and the money is deposited in the student's food service account within seconds.  Additionally, from within the Skyward Family Access interface, parents can choose to receive a convenient low balance alert message via e-mail.

For more informatin regarding this process, click on the following link which provides a screenshot demonstration for using Skyward Family Access and RevTrak:  Family Access/RevTrak Demo

As the new school year approaches, many students are preparing to participate in a fall sport.  First and foremost, we remind all athletes that they will not be allowed to participate without turning in a current physical form and associated medical paperwork.  Additionally, DPHS does not recognize "two year physicals;" with this in mind, it is important that athletes who've not had a physical in the last year make sure to schedule an appointment soon.  The necessary paperwork and physical form can be downloaded using the following link: DPHS PHYSICAL FORM.   Additionally, athletes are reminded that they must pay an ASB fee in order to participate in school athletics.

Questions regarding athletics should be directed to DPHS Athletic Director, Scott Carlson (464-5900).  Athletic paperwork will be collected at the following times in the DPHS main office:

• Monday, August 18th:  10:00am to 2:00pm
• Tuesday, August 19th:  10:00am to 2:00pm  &  6:00 to 8:00pm
• Wednesday, August 20th:  8:00am to 12:00pm
• Monday, August 25th:  7:00am - 12:00pm
• Tuesday, August 26th:  7:00am - 12:00pm

Link Crew is a high school transition program established to increase freshman success.  The Link Crew concept was developed by The Boomerang Project , a company whose goal is to help create schools that not only teach students, but reach them as well; the program has been successful at high schools throughout the nation and is getting its start this year in Deer Park.  Members of the junior and senior class are trained to be "Link Leaders" who act as positive role models, motivators, and mentors helping guide incoming freshmen to discover what it takes to be successful during their transition to high school.  The cornerstone belief of the program is that as freshmen success increases, the benefits to the school culture and climate become immediately apparent; Link Crew schools report having greater connection, increased extracurricular participation, fewer discipline issues, and greater pride and spirit.

Link Crew orientation for all freshmen will be on Tuesday, August 19th at 9 a.m. in the Deer Park High School gymnasium. The orientation is for students only as they will be doing small group activities with their Link Crew Leaders in the opening session; then, beginning at 1:00, there will be a BBQ for the students and their parents to cover the schedule and other logistical information regarding the Link Crew program.

Students need to wear comfortable clothing in order to participate in the various activities; also, students are encouraged to bring very little (if anything) as it will be difficult to keep track of bags, purses, and extra clothing throughout the day.

The first day of the 2008-2009 school year in Deer Park is quickly approaching (Wednesday, August 27th).  We hope that everyone has been able to enjoy some sunshine and has also found time to "recharge the batteries" during the summer break.  It has certainly been a busy time for those working throughout the school district over the summer as crews take care of large projects in the absence of student traffic and prep the buildings for the upcoming school year.  We sincerely appreciate the efforts of our maintenance and IT staff as they prepare our schools for another great year.

As you may have noticed, "preparatory" renovation projects at DPHS are well underway.  Please visit the renovation update page to see a few new pictures of summer projects as crews work to prepare for the arrival of the general contractor this fall.  The DPHS renovation page also has a few updates regarding overall progress and construction timelines.  As major construction begins this fall with school in session, we want to remind everyone that your safety is our first concern.  Please make sure to observe all construction barriers and please be patient with the increased traffic load that will come with construction crews on site. We know that we'll experience many inconveniences in the coming months, yet the final product will be very worth it!

Finally, "Back to School" lists and reminders can be accessed on this page (these checklists can also be accessed via the main menu, by following the "Parent Resources" and "Back to School" links)  Additionally, updated school calendars for the 2008-2009 year as well as the 2009-2010 have been posted (school calendars can always be found at the "District Information" link in the Main Menu); while a few dates still need to be formalized and added, the calendars should give folks important information regarding many important dates and school break periods.

We're looking forward to a great year...see you soon!

The August 2008 WASL is here!  In order to be eligible for testing, students must have registered for each subject test prior to June 27th.  Test administration will be at Deer Park's Administration Building (also the site of the Home Link program), located at N. 428 Main.  Check-in will begin at 8:00am; please wait in the main lobby area of the administration building for the test coordinator to begin check-in at 8:00.  The testing schedule for this year's summer administration is as follows:

Students are reminded to bring the following items to the WASL testing site: official school or government picture ID (required), spring 2008 WASL Score Reports (if available), pre-registration confirmation (if available), calculator for mathematics testing.  if students do not have a calculator one will be provided.  Also, as some students will finish particular test sections quicker than others, all students are encouraged to bring a book or magazine to pass the time between sections 1 and 2 of the reading and math tests.  Students are reminded that they are not permitted to use headphones (personal music device) or cell phones during the testing period.  If you have questions, please call Travis Hanson at 464-5509.

Summer school in the Deer Park School District ended on Thursday, July 10.  It was a very successful and positive experience for all involved.  Given that the the Olympic Games are set to begin in Beijing, China later this summer, an Olympic theme was chosen for this summer's learning camp.  The kids truly learned a great deal and thoroughly enjoyed themselves in the process!!

We want to make sure that we put forth a sincere thank you to the students and staff that made up the largest summer school in our district's history.  Don't forget, fall term begins on August 27th.  See you soon!

In honor of our nation's Independence Day, our district office will close on noon on July 3 and re-open at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, July 7.

Have a great 4th!!

LEXINGTON, KY – Heather McLagan, agricultural educator at Deer Park High School has been selected as the 2008 state winner of the Outstanding Young Member Award given by the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE).

Outstanding Young Member award winners are agricultural educators who have been teaching for no more than six years and who have demonstrated significant progress toward establishing a successful agriculture education program.  Applicants are judged on a variety of criteria, including teaching philosophy, effective classroom and experiential instruction, development of partnerships, and professional growth.

The Outstanding Young Member award was created to encourage early career agriculture teachers to both remain in the profession and become active members in their professional association.  McLagan will compete against Outstanding Young Member winners from surrounding states for the opportunity to be named the 2008 NAAE Outstanding Young Member for Region I.  Regional winners will receive a cash award and expense paid trip to attend the 2008 NAAE conference in Charlotte, N.C.

The NAAE Outstanding Young Member Award program is sponsored by John Deere, as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.  NAAE is the professional association for agricultural educators.  The mission of NAAE is “professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership, advocacy and service.”  The NAAE office is located on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, KY.

From approximately 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 19 to 9:30 a.m. on Friday, June 20, all phone and email communication was down at the Deer Park School District Administrative Offices. A buried line that carried these services to and from the A. G. Hegre Building was severed and it took almost 24 hours to have the lines repaired.

We apologize for any inconvenience that was caused by our being "off line" yesterday.  Also, we thank the crews who worked diligently to get us up and running today.