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FAQ from Our Superintendent-Parent Forum
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"We want to hear from you because we know your questions, your perspectives, your experiences and, most importantly, your dreams of a brighter future for our kids will result in a stronger Denver Public Schools."
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Dear Team DPS,
Tuesday was one of my favorite days of the school year so far -- we kicked off our first Superintendent-Parent Forum of 2016-17!
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Supt.Tom Boasberg |
Hundreds of our families joined district and school leaders for a morning of activities designed to inform and spark discussion about how we're working toward our vision of
Every Child Succeeds. This week's focus was the no. 1 goal of our Denver Plan 2020, how to ensure we have
Great Schools in Every Neighborhood.
Our
Superintendent-Parent Forums are a great chance to share open engagement and dialogue with our parents, and I greatly enjoy the opportunity to have face-to-face conversations about issues impacting our children and our future. A popular topic on Tuesday was our
bond and mill levy proposals, which are 3A and 3B on the Nov. 8 ballot. I wanted to share some of those questions, and our answers, with you:
- How do I know what my child's school would receive under the bond and mill? Answer: We have prepared a school-by-school list of projects on our bond.dpsk12.org website.
- If approved, how would mill levy funds be distributed to schools? Answer: On a per-pupil basis. All schools would receive the funds. And, in keeping with our core value of equity, we will give more dollars to schools serving more of our highest-needs students, such as those living in poverty or learning English, so their schools can afford to provide the additional supports their kids need.
- Would schools with higher ratings still receive mill levy funds? Answer: All schools would receive mill levy funding. Funds would be allocated based on student needs, not on school performance rating, so schools with higher performance would not see less mill levy funding based on performance or ratings.
- How quickly would air-cooling projects listed in the bond proposal be completed? Answer: If voters approve the bond, 80% of the cooling projects would be completed in the first half of the bond, in summer 2017 or summer 2018. We are prioritizing the air-cooling projects for schools with the most significant challenges with classroom temperatures. Because of the narrow two and a half-month summer window we have each year for major construction/renovation projects in our schools, we are not able to complete all cooling projects in the first year of the four-year bond.
- Did the district or schools decide which bond projects would be completed at each school? Answer: School leaders were surveyed about their needs while the district's facilities team also weighed in. A 75-member community group then ranked bond priorities. A key feature of this year's bond is a pool of flexible funding that will go to each school, which the school community will decide how to prioritize based on the needs of the school. See a list of proposed bond projects by school.
This week's forum was just the first of five
Superintendent-Parent Forums we'll hold throughout this year, each focused on one of our
Denver Plan goals. We invite you to participate and we encourage you to keep asking questions. Please
check here for dates and times. We want to hear from you because we know your questions, your perspectives, your experiences and, most importantly, your dreams of a brighter future for our kids will result in a stronger Denver Public Schools.
Best,
Tom
Pictured above: Tom speaks with participants at the year's first Superintendent-Parent Forum.
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What is the School Performance Framework (SPF)?
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Watch this video to find out more about the School Performance Framework.
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You've likely heard about the color-coded stoplight associated with the School Performance Framework or SPF for short. And now we've created a parent-friendly video explaining how it works and why we use it in DPS.
Simply put, the SPF is like a report card for your school, rating how well a school supports student growth and achievement, and how well it serves students and families. It helps schools focus on their strengths and areas where improvement is needed.
This year's SPF reports are expected to be released Oct. 20. Get a better sense of how it works by watching our DPS Features animated video on
Vimeo and
YouTube.
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Welcome Our New Executive Director of Early Education
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Lisa Roy
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One of the five goals in the Denver Plan 2020 is creating a foundation for success in school for every child. We believe an emphasis on preparedness in early childhood education builds an essential foundation that sets the course for a student's entire academic experience. Two important components of this work include our focus on early literacy and the Birth to Eight Roadmap created with civic and community partners.
So we're excited to announce the hiring of Dr. Lisa Roy as our executive director of early education, a pivotal role in this work. Dr. Roy has a long history of public service, including an emphasis on early childhood education at the city, state and national levels. She also holds a doctorate in executive leadership in educational equity from the University of Colorado at Denver.
In Denver, Dr. Roy has served at the Daniels Fund and at the Piton Foundation, where she supervised a program linking quality early childhood experiences for low-income children, birth to age 5, to DPS. More recently, she served as executive director of the Timothy and Bernadette Marquez Foundation and as an equity and policy consultant for Grantmakers for Education.
Our next Superintendent-Parent Forum is focused on this Denver Plan goal, ensuring a foundation for success in school. Please
learn more about the forum and join us!
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Two DPS Schools Earn Top National Designation
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Students at Cory Elementary celebrate.
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On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. announced two DPS schools were among the 2016 National Blue Ribbon Schools. Cory Elementary and DSST:
Green Valley Ranch High School received an Exemplary High Performing School designation, and were two of 329 schools recognized nationally. The award is given based on a school's overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. On
Nov. 7 and 8, respectively, Cory and DSST: GVR will be recognized at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.
"Our intentional collaboration and focus has resulted in this award," said Cory Principal Jennifer Harris. "And I could not be more proud of our team, students and parents in their efforts to ensure that Every Child Succeeds."
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New Grant Strengthens Support at Swansea Elementary and Garden Place Academy
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Denver leaders announce grant funding school support staff.
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On Monday, DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg joined Denver Mayor Michael Hancock to celebrate a $120,000 grant from Mile High United Way and the North Denver Cornerstone Collaborative to Swansea Elementary and Garden Place Academy.
"The link between our schools and our communities are essential," Boasberg said. "Garden Place Academy and Swansea are at the heart of the community."
The money will support the Globeville, Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods by funding a position at each school to further community engagement and student support. These new staff members will work to coordinate services such as behavioral health support, youth development activities, resident leadership opportunities and after-school programs on their respective campuses.
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