Hello Dolphin Community,

As we close out our second week of school, it has been a great start to the school year. The weather has been largely cooperative with nice sunshine, and temperatures that have been warm, but not too humid and sticky. Last week, it was so great to see all the students being welcomed back to school across the district. Each school had its own unique way of warmly welcoming students back including the Intermediate School pictured here which had ambassador students as well as staff greeting students with high-fives, fist-bumps, and balloons! As I traveled around to each school on that morning, it was great to see our district's Core Value of Dignity in action, specifically the portion that states, " We are committed to fostering a culture of safety, respect, and inclusivity—one in which every individual feels genuinely seen, heard, valued, and protected." It was evident in the way each school was present and actively welcoming their students back into a new school year.

I wanted to provide the community with a quick update on a couple of large construction projects going on in the district. The DYIMS turf field rebuild hit a couple delays this summer, but is on track to be fully completed at the end of this month. The lower field finished with installation this week and will be turned back to the school for use next week. Also, construction for the new Station Avenue Elementary School Playground is in full force. That project is scheduled to complete by Thanksgiving.

Finally, a couple of reminders. First, families please take a few minutes to complete the Annual Student Information Verification Form. This form replaces the old process of paper forms that used to be sent home by the school previously. It is important for families to complete this process so that we have the most up to date contact, safety, and health information for your child. Second, as we start the new school year I want to remind families that we adopted a new Standard Response Protocol (SRP) last year to respond to incidents at the schools. For information about the SRP, please visit our SRO's website here.

Thank you for your continued support,

Marc J. Smith, Ed.D.

If you are looking to stay up to date on the DYIMS field project, please visit our web page dedicated to this specific project.

For any families with an uncertain immigration status and that may be concerned about the care and custody of their children in the event of a sudden detention or deportation by immigration officials, please see this resource created by the Office of the Attorney General that provides guides and legal options. The guides are provided in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Haitian Creole.