diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_release.yml b/.github/workflows/build_release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d954f56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+name: Build/Release
+
+on:
+  push:
+    # takes muliple branch names
+    branches: 
+      - main
+      - '[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9].[0-9][0-9].*' # 2021.01.x
+    tags:
+      - '[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9].[0-9][0-9].[0-9][0-9]' # 2021.01.01
+
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      version:
+        description: 'Version'
+        required: true
+        default: 'YYYY.MINOR.MICRO'
+env:
+  REPO_URL: ${{ github.repository }}
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    # to test a feature, change the repo name to your github id
+    if: github.repository_owner == 'pushyamig' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+
+      - name: Checkout code 
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Extract branch name
+        id: extract_branch
+        run: echo "BRANCH_NAME=$(basename ${{ github.ref }})" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: build Docker image
+        run: |
+          docker build -f Dockerfile . --tag ghcr.io/${{ env.REPO_URL }}:${BRANCH_NAME}
+      
+      - name: Login to GitHub Container Registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+            registry: ghcr.io
+            username: ${{ github.actor }}
+            password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Push Docker image to GitHub Container Registry
+        run: |
+          docker push ghcr.io/${{ env.REPO_URL }}:${BRANCH_NAME}
+    
+  release: 
+     # Making sure that release only runs for tag pushes
+    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+    needs: build # This ensures the build job finishes successfully before starting this job
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Draft Release
+        id: create_release
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
+        with:
+          draft: true
+          prerelease: true
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index bf1cdaa..9286732 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ venv/
 ENV/
 env.bak/
 venv.bak/
+venv_*
 
 # Spyder project settings
 .spyderproject
@@ -261,6 +262,7 @@ dist
 
 # Stores VSCode versions used for testing VSCode extensions
 .vscode-test
+.history
 
 # yarn v2
 .yarn/cache
diff --git a/dockerfiles/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
similarity index 71%
rename from dockerfiles/Dockerfile
rename to Dockerfile
index f5f1ad3..233586f 100644
--- a/dockerfiles/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
-# FROM directive instructing base image to build upon
-# This could be used as a base instead: 
-# https://hub.docker.com/r/nikolaik/python-nodejs
+# node-build stage
+
+FROM node:20-slim AS node-build
+WORKDIR /build/
+
+COPY frontend .
+RUN npm install
+
+RUN npm run build:frontend
+
 FROM python:3.10-slim
 
 # NOTE: requirements.txt not likely to change between dev builds
@@ -27,19 +34,26 @@ apt install -y --no-install-recommends libmariadb-dev
 
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
-WORKDIR /code/frontend
-
 RUN curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | bash - && \
-    apt install -y nodejs
-
-COPY /frontend/package*.json /code/frontend
-RUN npm install
+apt install -y nodejs
 
 WORKDIR /code
 
+# Copy only what is needed into /code/
+COPY backend ./backend
+COPY templates ./templates
+COPY manage.py start_backend.sh ./
+
+COPY --from=node-build /build/bundles ./frontend/bundles 
+COPY --from=node-build /build/webpack-stats.json ./frontend/
+COPY --from=node-build /build/node_modules ./frontend/node_modules
+
+
+
 # Sets the local timezone of the docker image
 ARG TZ
 ENV TZ ${TZ:-America/Detroit}
+ENV RUN_FRONTEND ${RUN_FRONTEND:-false} 
 RUN ln -snf /usr/share/zoneinfo/$TZ /etc/localtime && echo $TZ > /etc/timezone
 
 # EXPOSE port 5000 to allow communication to/from server
diff --git a/deploy/supervisor_docker.conf b/deploy/supervisor_docker.conf
index 2f1f0fe..5905501 100644
--- a/deploy/supervisor_docker.conf
+++ b/deploy/supervisor_docker.conf
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ startsecs=5
 startretries=2
 
 [program:frontend]
-command=npm run watch
+command=bash -c "if [ \"$RUN_FRONTEND\" = \"true\" ]; then npm run watch; else tail -f /dev/null; fi"
 directory=/code/frontend
 stdout_logfile=/dev/stdout
 stdout_logfile_maxbytes=0
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 5aacffb..25e1362 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ services:
   web:
     build:
       context: .
-      dockerfile: dockerfiles/Dockerfile
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
       args:
         TZ: ${TZ}
     volumes:
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ services:
       - .env
     environment:
       - DEBUG=True
+      - RUN_FRONTEND=true
   redis:
     image: redis:7
     volumes: