Desert Peak High School principal outlines learning plan, daily "pie time" for interventions and enrichment

Principal Parker presented the board with a progress update on Desert Peak High School and described the school’s instructional approach, schedule design and early enrollment and staffing numbers.

Parker said the school’s purpose statement is "all students learn at high levels to be choice ready," and described a daily block the staff has labeled "pie time" (prevention, intervention and enrichment). "Pie time" will be a scheduled daily period during which students receive reteaching, targeted interventions or higher-level extension work based on classroom formative assessments. The school’s tentative bell schedule reduces individual class minutes slightly and reallocates that time to the daily intervention/enrichment window.

Parker also described the school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) plan and a proposed recognition program for students who meet behavioral and academic expectations. The principal reported steady enrollment interest after the district posted boundaries and said athletics sign-ups show early participation (for example, football signups were noted despite no senior class yet).

Nut graf: With the new building finishing early this year, leadership presented a schedule designed to build formative-assessment cycles into daily operations and to provide dedicated support time for students who need catch-up help or more advanced work; staff said the plan aims to pair high standards with daily instructional time devoted to intervention and enrichment.

Details and next steps

- Instructional focus: Teachers were working on grade‑level curricular priorities and common formative assessments to guide what students need during "pie time." The school will use the time to provide targeted instruction for students who do not meet formative-assessment benchmarks and enrichment for students who exceed them.

- PBIS and culture: The school is developing a monthly recognition program tied to positive choices, citizenship and academic growth; administrators plan to publicize expectations and social-emotional supports districtwide.

- Operational items: Staffing searches were underway for several CTE areas and the performing-arts teacher; counselors are coordinating arena scheduling and registration. Parkers said more students have requested boundary transfers and that a number of applicants have been accepted.

Ending

The principal said work will continue this spring and summer on staffing, curricular materials and finalizing the schedule; staff emphasized that formative-assessment cycles and the daily intervention/enrichment period will be central to classroom practice when the school opens.