2300 S. St. Paul St., Denver, CO 80210
720-424-3410

 

  

Picture Day is Tuesday, October 7
 
LOTS OF IMPORTANT INFORMATION THIS WEEK! 
 
Table of Contents
 
 
principal
 
Principal Update
  

We have great news to share with you this week.  It is my pleasure to announce that UPark has once again earned BLUE status!  Congratulations to everyone for this wonderful accomplishment!!!!  Below you will find the historical data for the past 5 years.  Click here to find the current School Performance Framework (SPF) summary and here for the historical SPF summary.  I will review these attachments in more detail at our next CSC & PTA meetings on Tuesday, October 7th.

 

Meets Expectations

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

78.6%

82.8%

87.9%

83.7%

81.2%

 

Thanks to all our families and friends who came out to support our 9th Annual Fun Run!  It was truly inspiring to see our University Park & Neighborhood Community come together to enjoy a day of fitness and fun.  A big thanks to all our volunteers who made this such a successful event!


pta 
PTA News
 

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Fun Run and Carnival and to Sara Carpenter, Julie Tremont, and Brooke Bolinske for planning such a great event!

 

Would you like to be a part of Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students) with Principal Varveris?  He would like as many dads (or anyone who would like to participate) as possible to join this group, which will provide support to UPark by reading with kids, working at events, and attending to the building's "honey-do" list, with a little socializing, too!  Please email grant_varveris@dpsk12.org to get involved.

 

Do you have any gently used games you could donate to UPark to be used on indoor days?  Sometimes the kids aren't able to go outside for recess due to the weather.  It would be great if we had some more games (with a limited number of pieces), whiteboards, and markers to help with indoor recess.  Donations can be dropped off in the office.

 


calendar  
University Park Elementary Calendar

Snapshot of upcoming dates below.  To access more detail or future dates, please go to the University Park Website and click on the google calendar, or click on the calendar picture to the right.  Once your google calendar pops up, hit the "agenda" button to see it in list form like it is below.
 
  
  
 
walk 

Join children and adults around the world in celebrating International Walk to School Day on October 8th.

 

Walking to school is a great way to be a part of a global event and to promote health, to identify safer routes for walking and to improve air quality. 

 

If you would like to help out with this event, please contact Tracy Hartin at tracy_hartin@dpsk12.org or call (720)424-3427.

 

More information to come next week or visit http://www.walkbiketoschool.org

wizard 
5 Star Wizard Hat Students:
  

Congratulations to last week's 5 Star Wizard Hat students! They were recognized by their teachers for positive behavior. 

 

Last week's students include: Ella Babeon, Adrian Beach, Ben Bignell, Pamela Cardenas, Aspen Chaidez, Peyton Green, Leona Guerra, Alex Guerriero, Noah Johnson, Jacob Lahlou,Estrella Matute-Villatoro, Olivia McDaniel, Grace McFarland, Max Grimes-Medina, Nola Lake, Cooper Morton, Ada Niu, Gabriella Santaella, Elizabeth Sliter, Carson Smith, Alina Scrivner, Grace Treusein, Elna Uliss, Maggie Wolf

 

   

gifted 

**REMINDER**

Applications for the DPS CogAT (Highly Gifted and Talented) test are due downtown to the GT department by FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3rd - anyone can apply for their child/children to sit for it (grades k through 5) and it is free to all in-district families. To download a copy, please visit my website(http://upark-wise.weebly.com) and click on the "Updates and Current Events" tab to obtain the document or fill it out online OR visit the UPark office and ask for the "HGT Test Application". If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thank you!

Heather Wise, GT Teacher, University Park Elementary

720-424-3448/heather_wise@dpsk12.org

 

omid 

THE NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER AT
 
University Park Elementary

The place where students are inspired, engaged, and having fun!

 

I hope everyone has had a great first week of enrichment. We are offering a new enrichment course, French Club, starting October 7th. Please click here for additional information.

  

Questions about After School programs or KC?

Call Omid Amini at 303-241-7938

volunteer  
Volunteer Background Checks:

Please remember when you sign the background check form you agree and acknowledge to preserve the confidentiality of all proprietary and confidential information belonging to Denver Public Schools or its employees and students, including but not limited to employee personnel files or student records, both while providing services to Denver Public Schools and afterwards, and you will not take or misuse any confidential information at any time.  You may sure your comments or concerns, in confidentiality, with your classroom teacher.

green 
Green Team News

 

 

For the 3rd year in a row UPark has formed yet another Green Team of students!  We met on September 8th and talked about our many goals for the upcoming year.  One of these goals is to reduce waste!  Accomplishing this task is one of the Green Team students roles. In each classroom the students perform a "Trash Inspection" (there are 2 Green Team students per classroom).  Every Thursday, wearing gloves provided, Green Team students take the trash in the classroom and sort through it and count how many items could have been A.)Recycled, B.)Composted.  A form is filled out by the students and returned to the office.  The data collected will help UPark further its efforts to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Compost!  Your help in the classroom would be a great asset!  If you can, please get in touch with your child's teacher and ask how you can be of assistance, or email Judy Cardenas at Judith_Cardenas@dpsk12.org or Erin Coyne Kammerzell at erin.eileen@comcast.net.  During our 1st meeting we made a video of how to Recycle and Compost, which will be shared with the UPark staff.  We also took photos of Jessica Brown (GreenUPOurSchools) and UPark Green Team students with a big fat $500 grant check we earned as a school participating in their program! 

 

Don't forget the Red Apple Recycling challenge this fall.  Bring your used clothing and household items to the little red school house on the parking lot.  Red Apple Recycling is different than donating to the Good Will or the Salvation Army.  Red Apple repurposes the used clothing into rags so nothing ends up in the landfill.  What a way to be environmentally conscious!  See the clothing drive challenge attachment under Thursday Extras.

 

bread 
  

Please join the Great Harvest Bread Co. of Denver (owned by DPS parents) and the Denver Public Schools' Educational Outreach Program for their ninth annual Whole Grains for Growing Brains fundraiser.  On Saturday, October 18th, the Great Harvest Bread Co. located in the Belcaro Center at 765 South Colorado Boulevard will donate 100% of our sales to the DPS Educational Outreach Program to support their efforts to support homeless students in our school system.  This is not a donation of profit, nor is it a donation of a percentage of sales.  Every cent taken in on this special day will go directly to this important program that helps our community's children face their many challenges with food, clothing, transportation, and other necessities so many of us take for granted.  Customers on October 18th will also have the opportunity to buy bread and donate it back to this cause.  Donated bread will be distributed to families in Denver homeless shelters.  Please help us spread the word about Whole Grains for Growing Brains 2014, and please consider shopping at our bakery from 6:00am to 6:30pm on this day for the children in our school district that need us the most.

 

Thursday Extras
This is where you will find a list of flyers that DPS or approved organizations have asked we pass out to our community.  Simply click on the flyer name to view in it's entirety.  Please check outside the office if you need a hard copy.
   
  
  

"Instruction ends in the school-room, but education ends only with life."

- Frederick W. Robertson