Durham Unified School District - Small Schools BIG Education

DHS Course Selection for 8th Grade Students
Eighth grade students will be selecting their courses for Durham High School next year. Students will bring home their course selection sheets on Tuesday. Please be sure these forms are completed and returned by Friday with a parent/guardian signature.

For families who were unable to attend the A–G Night last week, the Durham High School counselor will be uploading the presentation to the DHS website early next week.

Thank you for your support as we help our students prepare for a smooth transition to high school.

If you have any questions about course selection you can contact Ms. Spade at DHS.

DIS Week at a Glance

Personal Electronic Devices
We are starting to see an increase in Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) being out on campus. As a reminder, per our school handbook, PEDs must be off and put away when students arrive on campus. Students may use their PEDs after the last bell rings at the end of the school day.
Please review this expectation with your students. If PEDs are seen during the school day or go off during class time, they will be confiscated and handled according to the discipline matrix outlined in our handbook.
Thank you for helping us limit distractions and support a focused learning environment by reinforcing our school expectations with your students.

Tiger Spotlight of the Week: Mrs. Diana Corrales, 5th Grade Teacher

Tiger Spotlight of the Week: Miss Jessica Dean, TK/Intervention Teacher

Happy School Board Appreciation Month. We want to give a big thank you to our amazing school board members for their leadership, hard work, and dedication. Our staff, students, and the entire community are grateful for your commitment to making our schools the best they can be. Thank you for always putting our kids first and guiding us toward a bright future.

Durham community.
We’re excited to announce that we have a few job openings available.
Bilingual Paraprofessional
Van Driver
JV Softball Coach
If you or someone you know is interested in joining our team, please apply at https://www.edjoin.org/durhamunified or reach out to Chloe at cbartel@durham. We look forward to welcoming new members to our amazing team.

Hello Durham Community!
We wish you a Merry Christmas. We hope you’re enjoying a wonderful holiday with your family. We look forward to seeing everyone back at school on January 5th, 2026.

Tiger Spotlight of the Week: Mr. Brian Glover, Physical Education Teacher

Yesterday was a special day for one of our Durham High School students! Congratulations to Carter Schmid, who received a college Marine ROTC scholarship in exchange for a service commitment as an officer after graduation. We are incredibly proud of Carter and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. We are also deeply thankful for his dedication and future service to our country.

Tiger Spotlight of the Week: Ms. Maria Montante, Reading Discovery Instructional Paraprofessional/Yard Duty Supervisor

DIS Week at a Glance

DIS Winter Dance
We’re excited to announce our next school dance on Thursday, December 18th! This event is for DIS students only. Join us for a fun evening featuring a DJ, photo booth, pizza, dessert, and games.

Students are required to wear school-appropriate attire and are encouraged to dress in semi-formal clothing.

Come celebrate and close out the second quarter in style at our Winter Wonderland Dance!

The cost of the dance is $10.00. If cost is an issue for your student, please have them speak with Mr. Rowe, Ms. Holly or Mr. Halsey—a limited number of scholarships are available.

This week, we got to celebrate one of Durham’s best traditions, the Durham Elementary School Christmas Boutique. It was such a fun time, and our students loved browsing, shopping, and soaking up all the holiday spirit. Huge thanks to everyone who made it extra special for the kids!

December's Student of the Month is Ava Bunch. Ms. Bunch has a 4.24 GPA, plays on the basketball team and is on the track team. Ava will be applying to several colleges this year, including Cal Poly, Chico State, UCLA, Pepperdine, and San Diego State. Ava would like to major in Nursing. She is currently taking Butte Spanish 3, SOU English, Stats and Government, She is also taking Physics and Ag Floral.

November's Student of the Month is Joshua Harding. Josh has a 4.22 GPA and plays football and basketball and runs on the track team. Mr. Harding will be applying to several colleges this year, including Cal Poly, Chico State, Notre Dame, and Colorado State. Josh would like to major in Civil Engineering. He is currently taking Calculus, Butte Spanish 3, SOU English and Government, Advanced Bio, Graph Design and Strength and Conditioning.

If you're interested in joining the Durham High Shooting Club and want to learn more. Come to our informational meeting on Thursday, December 11th in the library at 6 pm.

Durham Community

This week, we're back with more basketball action. This time, it's our Lady Trojans in the spotlight. The tournament tips off this Thursday, and our team is ready to give it their all. Let's pack the stands and show our support. Come cheer on our Lady Trojans as they go for the win!

Go Trojans!

DIS
December Student of the Month
This month, we are proud to recognize Hunter Krenek as our December Student of the Month!
Hunter was nominated by Ms. Skelly, who shared the following:

"I recommend Hunter Krenek for this month's Student of the Month! Hunter is incredibly respectful and kind, especially when he greets teachers each morning and says goodbye each afternoon. He is also a great friend to his peers. Best of all, he is funny! He is such a joy for all of us to have in class. Hunter shows great purpose with his work—he responds to prompts in complete sentences and shares his great ideas with the class! Way to go, Hunter, on being such a cool dude!"

Congratulations, Hunter! We are so proud of you!

Tiger Spotlight of the Week: Mrs. Christina Dwyer, Second Grade Teacher