First day of school for students in Del Valle ISD

First day of school for Del Valle ISD students

There's a lot of changes for kids starting classes today in Del Valle ISD. FOX 7 Austin's Kelly Saberi has more from Smith Elementary, the district's newest school.

DEL VALLE, Texas - Summer break is officially over for Del Valle Independent School District students and there are a lot of changes this new school year.

One big change for the district is a new school, Smith Elementary. The brand-new building was part of a 2019 bond.

Another is that every middle and high schooler will be required to wear a clear backpack for safety and security reasons. Initially, only high school students were required to have them last year.

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As families look ahead to the first day, school officials are assuring them school is safe with clear backpacks now a part of security requirements for some Del Valle ISD students.

Del Valle ISD officials say they've been regularly following safety procedures, even before the release of new requirements by the state in the wake of the massacre in Uvalde. Procedures include checking exterior doors on a weekly basis and summer training for staff.

There's also a new program called Pathway in Technology Early College High School also known as P-Tech. Del Valle ISD has partnered with Austin Community College to allow students to get their associate degree at the same time as their high school diploma.

Del Valle ISD has partnered with Tesla, Infineon, Cisco, and GTS Technologies to create areas of study including manufacturing and cybersecurity.