It feels like it has been spring for a few weeks, but today is the first official day of spring.  With the beautiful weather comes the spring fever for all of us, especially those students moving to a new school next year. It can feel to them that the school year is ending tomorrow.

It is essential that we buckle down and focus the next nine weeks on making sure all of us - students, parents and staff - get the most out of each day remaining.

With the good weather, construction has also heated up on the elementary school campus with demolition on what will be the new TK/K complex and elementary office. 

See attached pictures!

DES (from Samantha Brown)
This week at DES, students in grades 1-5 had an opportunity to spend their Tiger Bucks when they visited the Tiger Store, and the 5th grade classes held their evening VAPA Performances of "Dancing Through The Decades" in the DES MPR with Ms.Harvey/Ms. Luce's class performing on Monday, March 16th; Mrs. Johannessen's (Ms. Haus) class performing on Wednesday, March 18th; and,  Mrs. Corrales's/Mrs. Gomes's class performing on Thursday, March 19th. Our Kindergarten classes took walking field trips to the Durham Volunteer Fire Station, one class per day, Tuesday-Thursday. Our probationary teachers will meet after school on Tuesday to discuss what is going well and share challenges they may be experiencing paired with solutions. We had a Butte County Sheriff's Department K-9 Dog Demonstration for our 2nd grade classes on Wednesday afternoon We will wrap up the week welcoming Spring and celebrating February students of the month with Popsicles with the Principal, and staff enjoying a Taco Bar in the Staff Lounge hosted by our TK-1st grade Sunshine Group. 

Next week, our ASB Student Council Leadership will host a coin drive for Coins for Cancer. With parent permission, students may bring in coins (or dollars) to contribute to the tubs in their classrooms for this good cause. Chess Club will meet in the Library after school on Monday. We will hold our monthly safety drill on Tuesday afternoon. The PBIS Leadership Team will provide a breakfast bar in the Staff Lounge on Wednesday morning as part of our staff March Madness. School Site Council will meet after school on Wednesday. Our Technology Committee will meet after school and we will have our last DELAC meeting of the school year with dinner provided by Ms. Dayna. Friday, March 27th is the final day to complete Summative ELPAC testing with our ELD students, and our 4th grade classes will be taking an all day field trip to the Shasta Caverns.

DIS (From Josh Rowe)
PEG Presentation Highlights

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported our 8th grade students throughout their PEG Projects. Your time, guidance, and encouragement played an important role in making this experience so meaningful and successful for our students.

We were able to capture a few photos of some of our presenters and are excited to share them with you. While these images offer just a small glimpse, they reflect the hard work, growth, and pride shown by all of our 8th grade students.

Pickleball in PE

Pickleball is officially underway in PE at Durham Intermediate, and our students are loving the opportunity to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather while expanding their “classroom” outdoors.

Students are learning the fundamentals of serving, scoring, court positioning, and teamwork while staying active and engaged. Beyond the sport itself, this unit reinforces sportsmanship, communication, and perseverance—values we prioritize at DIS.

It has been great to see students encouraging one another, celebrating success, and enjoying time being active outside!

DIS Bands Earn Superior Ratings

Durham Intermediate School bands performed at the annual CMEA Music Festival last Thursday, and we are proud to share that both our 6th grade band and our 7th/8th grade band earned the highest rating possible: Superior.

This is an outstanding accomplishment, and our student musicians should be very proud of their hard work and performance. They represented Durham Intermediate and DUSD exceptionally well.

A special thank you to Mr. Plummer for his dedication, leadership, and commitment to excellence.

Campus Reminder: Gum & Drinks

We have recently seen an increase in students chewing gum on campus. As a reminder, gum, soda, energy drinks, and other caffeinated or sugary drinks are not allowed at school at any time.

We are also noticing an increase in gum being discarded improperly around campus. This creates extra work for our custodial staff and can damage school property.

Thank you for your support in helping us keep our campus clean, safe, and focused on learning.

Important Dates

• April 3: Minimum Day

• April 6–10: No School – Spring Break

• April 15: 8th Grade Promotion Pictures

DHS (From Marty Wilkes)
CSF did a great job with their blood drive on Thursday they had a full schedule.

This week in Advisory we did the Character Strong curriculum. This week’s 'To Be Challenge' is to be Reflective. Is there a moment when you’ve said or done something you regret? Take a step toward making it right by giving someone a sincere apology. “I’ve been thinking about ______, and I realize that what I did was hurtful. I’m really sorry for _____.” Good practice for all of us!

This is a stressful time of year for seniors who have some big decisions to make regarding where they plan to attend college in the fall. While we don’t know where everyone will choose to go yet, we were thrilled to have 9 students accepted to Cal Poly SLO this year, with more still to come possibly. 

Seniors are working diligently on their Durham Common Scholarship application. All seniors should plan to apply for this important scholarship, which is due April 3rd. 

SAT is coming up on April 15th. Students should have already signed up for this.

Athletics:
Baseball: The team is playing at the Fort Bragg Tournament  this weekend.  The Boys are currently 7-0 after winning a tournament last week and getting a big win over Las Plumas on Tuesday and taking down Weed yesterday to advance to the winners bracket.

Softball: The ladies are 6-2 after winning 5 games in a tournament last week and going 1 and 1 this week dropping Monday's game to West Valley 18-13 then taking down Quincy 9-8 on Wednesday.

Track is at the PV invite today.

Golf was off this week 

AG:
State Conference:  They left this morning!

Student Services and Supports (from Marilyn Bertolucci)
The 2026 World Happiness Report was just released on 3/19/2026. For the ninth consecutive year, Finland has claimed the top spot. A surprise this year was Costa Rica, which jumped to 4th place, the highest ranking ever for a Latin American nation. Researchers attribute this rise to "social capital," or the strength of community and family bonds, proving that how people show up for one another is a better predictor of joy than economic status alone.

The report details a continuing decline in happiness among young people (under 25) in English-speaking nations, including the U.S., Canada, and the UK. For the second year in a row none of these countries even made it to the top 10. 

The data specifically points to a "digital-age struggle," identifying prolonged social media use as a primary factor in the plummeting wellbeing of the younger generation. The report did identify a "sweet spot" for digital engagement, about one hour a day, and noted that most young people are far exceeding that, leading to increased feelings of isolation. 

The California Health Interview Survey(CHIS) managed by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that approximately 27.6% of California adolescents, (ages 12–17), report using social media "almost constantly”. Pew's2025/2026 data shows that 46% of U.S. teens say they are online "almost constantly"a figure that has nearly doubled since 2015.

Weekly Update Archive