Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016
Team DPS Weekly Top 5 Thanksgiving Break photos.
Top 5 Thanksgiving Break Photos
From Big Sur to the Great Wall to right here at home in Colorado, you sent in photos from your Thanksgiving break adventures. We chose the Top 5 (featured above). Congratulations to this week's giveaway winner, Alison O'Connell at Cory Elementary!
  1. "My three children are now in their 20s but they came hiking with my husband and I in the Big Sur area of California. Here they are jumping rope with sea kelp we found on the beach, showing off that they are still kids at heart. All three of them are products of Denver Public Schools and went on to college." - Alison O'Connell, Cory Elementary
  2. "I was fortunate enough to travel to Chicago over Thanksgiving break to spend time with my boyfriend and his family/friends. While there, we enjoyed seeing the incomparable musical 'Hamilton.' After the show, we were able to snap a picture with one of the leading actors, Joshua Henry (center), who gave an absolutely flawless performance as Aaron Burr! - Amy Polete, Cory Elementary
  3. "Hunter Kovalski (physical education at Sandoval) and I at the Great Wall (Mutianyu section) in China." - Margo Mertaugh, Department of Elementary Language and Literacy 
  4. "This is a picture of my husband and I. We are both DPS teachers; he is a first grade teacher at Barnum and I am the art teacher at Ashley. We deep fried a turkey for the first time ever. He was quite the chef while I was ready to put out a fire. It turned out great!" - Allison Pickett, Ashley Elementary
  5. "I went hiking at St. Mary's Glacier and in Dillon, Colo. My dad captured this photo of me!" - Shayla Fountain, Goldrick Elementary
186 Teams Have Completed CollaboRATE -- Have you?
Have you CollaboRATEd and filled out the survey? You have until midnight tomorrow to make your voice heard using this important tool.  Complete CollaboRATE now!  Remember, all responses are anonymous and held by a separate third party. Teams with 100% participation will be entered to win awesome prizes!  Questions? Visit celt.dpsk12.org/collaborate. Still need support? Contact your team's HR partner. 
Register for Tonight's "ED Talk" with Principal Baruti Kafele
Principal Baruti Kafele
Register for tonight's "ED Talk" with Principal Baruti Kafele, a teacher and principal who led urban school turnarounds before becoming a nationally-known speaker, writer and consultant. Principal Kafele will speak on Culturally Responsive Education from 5 to 7:30 p.m tonight at Manual High School. Read his bio here and register for the event here. 

The Culture, Equity and Leadership Team's (CELT) "ED Talks" are designed to bring educators and community together to discuss issues affecting our schools and to help us learn from each other in pursuit of our district vision, Every Child Succeeds. The series was created following the recent report by Dr. Sharon Bailey documenting race and equity issues in our schools.
Changes to Password Policies Coming Soon
DoTS will be launching account lockout policies on Jan. 10 based on the following settings:
  • Account lockout threshold set to eight (8): This security setting will lock your DPS account after eight (8) failed logon attempts.
  • Account lockout duration set to 30 minutes: This security setting will automatically unlock a locked account after 30 minutes.
  • Reset account lockout counter set to 30 minutes: This security setting determines the number of minutes that must elapse after a failed logon attempt counter is reset to zero (0) bad logon attempts.
Please note: After Jan. 10, if you change your password, please make sure to also update your password on any other devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.). Forgot your Password? Please register with the DPS self-service password management tool. The instructions can be found here. Click on the Training tab and choose Self Service Password Management to access the quick reference guide.
Win a $750 United Airlines Voucher ... But You Have to Participate by Friday at 1 p.m.!
Nadia Madan Morrow won tickets to Sing It To Me Santa and Decadence.
If you participate in the DPS Foundation's annual employee giving campaign, I Give for Team DPS, by 1 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 9, you could win a $750 United Airlines voucher, courtesy of United Airlines. The DPS Foundation, DPS' fundraising partner, works to support all schools and to benefit all students. The foundation generates resources, builds relationships and champions public education to impact system-wide achievement. It also provides classroom grants for teachers each semester.
 
Congratulations to  Nadia Madan Morrow, in English Language Acquisition, who won tickets to  the sold out Sing It To Me Santa concert featuring Michael Franti on Dec. 10, and Decadence on Dec. 30. No contribution is necessary to win. For more information, click here . 
Win a Giveaway! Top 5 Photo Call-out: Favorite First-Semester Memory
It's hard to believe that the 2016-17 school year is almost half over. We're nearly finished with this semester, and we'd love for you to share your favorite first-semester memory with us. Share your silly stories, your celebrations and your breakthroughs. 

Email  [email protected]  and we'll choose the Top 5 responses. Then, we'll select one winner to receive a giveaway!
Visit The Commons to Access New Internal Resources
We updated the homepage of The Commons with a resources section to keep you informed about new internal resources on DPS' intranet! 

Visit our homepage each week to find out what new internal resources are being added to the site, including  department services, organization charts, document libraries, toolkits and more. 

Would you like to add a resource to The Commons? Send us an email .
Help Recruit Great Teachers and Specialized Service Providers, and Qualify to Earn a Referral Bonus!
DPS is committed to hiring high-quality team members that represent the students and communities we serve. We are looking for great teachers,  nurses, social workers, psychologists, speech language pathologists, occupational/physical therapists and counselors.  If you know someone who would be a great fit for DPS for the 2017-18 school year, please read this flier on referring candidates and learn how you can earn a referral bonus. 
Congratulations to Peter Douglas, the Final Benefits Terms Jeopardy Winner!
Congratulations to the final Benefits Terms Jeopardy winner, Peter Douglas, an Educational Technology Specialist at the DPS Acoma Campus. Peter has won a  $15 gift card  from one of the following vendors:  Amazon, iTunes, REI, Target  and more! Thank you all for playing Benefits Terms Jeopardy!
Congratulations to the Passport Challenge Winners
During the past six-weeks, 554 members of Team DPS have been virtually traveling the world through the Passport Challenge. While traveling they earned points for exercising, sleeping at least seven hours, and eating fruits and vegetables. Eight lucky DPS team members won a mountain getaway!  Click here to learn more about the competition and meet the prize winners! Congratulations to everyone who participated!
Living Our DPS Honoree:
Josh Allen
Director of Architecture, Department of Technology Services (DoTS)
Integrity

Josh Allen in the Department of Technology Services (DoTS) lives our Shared Core Value of Integrity.
Even though he works behind the scenes, Josh Allen in the Department of Technology Services (DoTS) acts with authenticity, honesty and transparency. He is professional and keeps his promises when working with other DPS departments and schools. 

Nominate  one of your colleagues to be featured as a Living Our DPS honoree, and read more about Josh Allen's commitment to Integrity. 

"Josh Allen is the epitome of Students First, Collaboration and especially Integrity! As a member of the Department of Technology Services, much of the magic and work that Josh does is behind the scenes, just like the Great Oz. Anyone who has had the pleasure to work with Josh can attest to the fact that he is a true professional, is always available and ready to help, and will always go the extra mile to ensure that Team DPS educators, family and student needs are met in a timely manner.
 
Josh was instrumental in all aspects of successfully launching (and recovering) both the new dpsk12.org external website, and the DPS intranet The Commons. His partnership is invaluable because not only has he been in DPS for more than 15 years, but also his knowledge and expertise has helped the district move forward as a leader in technology. Under his leadership, his team helped Denver Public Schools become one of only seven school districts nationwide to receive the Trusted Learning Environment (TLE) Seal for carrying out their commitment to ensure the privacy and security of student data.
 
Team DPS is very fortunate to have a trailblazer and teammate like Josh Allen to help ensure we reach our vision, and to be a shining example to all of us of what exceptional customer service and Integrity looks like!"
- Adriana Lopez and Felicia Michael, Communications Team
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