Durango 9-R's Shared School program is currently taking students for the 2021-2022 school year. The Shared School program is designed for homeschool families and offers classes such as art, music, drama, PE, yoga, Spanish and homeroom enrichment.

The Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado (SWCF) has a long-standing commitment from donors for educational opportunities in the region. In the past 10 years, total donations from one anonymous family for Durango School District 9-R (9-R) through the SWCF have now reached $2M, with the most recent donation of $200,000 to support the future Career Technical Education (CTE) Building that is being funded by the recent 4A Bond dollars.

The Board of Education and Bond Oversight Committee are seeking community feedback regarding sustainability related to capital projects and our new bond. Listening sessions will be held on June 1st and 2nd to get further clarification on thoughts, concepts, ideas, and definitions surrounding sustainability and how the bond program could best address those.

Health insurance provides for coverage of essential health benefits and provides protections for consumers accessing mental/behavioral health services — requiring health insurance companies to cover these services like they cover other medical conditions, like diabetes or heart disease — this is called “parity.”

Between May 11 and May 19, 2021, 9-R was notified by San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH) that individuals in three cohorts at Durango High School, individuals on two bus routes, two club organizations, a cohort at Miller Middle School, and a cohort at Needham Elementary School went into quarantine due to exposure to a positive COVID-19 case. The schools and the district are working proactively with the SJBPH to make the appropriate notifications and next steps for those who may have been in close contact with those individuals.

9-R held its Public Budget Hearing on May 13, 2021 via Zoom. Please click Read More to access a recording of the Zoom meeting as well as the link for the survey/feedback form. The slideshow is also available in both English and Spanish.

Our district continues to engage in various conversations and work related to improving opportunities for each learner in our schools. The Culture and Equity Design team hosted its final meeting in May. The team provided feedback and recommendations for district leadership which will provide leaders with insight into the most critical actions steps in our schools.

This week, the district responded to two positive cases of COVID-19, causing three (3) cohorts to quarantine at Durango High School and Sunnyside Elementary. We remain optimistic that these numbers will continue to decline as more and more residents are vaccinated.

Mark your calendars for May 18, 2021 at 4:30pm to join 9-R Board Members to share your ideas and suggestions to support the ongoing work at the district. The meeting with be on Zoom and translation services are available.

We continue to be grateful for and humbled by the ongoing support from our community, which passed the 4A Bond measure last November with more than 70% of residents in favor. We are excited to get going on all the work this measure is funding.