Schools

Drew Passmonick, a seventh-grader at Kyrene Digital Academy, is the 2021 Kyrene School District Spelling Bee champion.

The Arizona Interscholastic Association, the governing body of high school sports in the state, on Friday announced that it has canceled the winter sports season after twice moving back the starting date due to increasing cases of COVID-19.

Parents in Tempe's three public-school districts have grown weary of campuses being shut down in favor of virtual-only learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Laura Toenjes, who has been an administrator in the Kyrene School District since 2016, must manage the COVID-19 pandemic when she becomes district superintendent on Jan. 1.

After Corona del Sol High finished the regular-season a perfect 8-0, the Aztecs were among eight teams awarded berths in the Arizona Open Division football playoffs.

Undefeated Corona del Sol can celebrate a likely Open Division or 6A high school football playoff berth, while Marcos de Niza (4A) and Valley Christian (3A) already have made their respective play-in brackets in a banner year for South Tempe-West Chandler teams.

Football has united the families of four Marcos de Niza High senior football players, who've played together on the same teams for 11 years.

CHASSE Building Team recently partnered with Tempe Elementary School District to assemble and launch Little Free Libraries at Laird, Thew, Nevitt and Scales elementary schools.