The Denver Public Schools enrollment season is in full swing, with applications coming in at a fast pace!

Families who are looking for a new school for 2017-18, make sure to list your preferences on the SchoolChoice form by 4 p.m. on Jan. 31. The best way to fill out the form is online, but paper forms are also available in every DPS school. Whichever way families choose to apply, all forms submitted by the deadline will receive the same consideration.

Visit schoolchoice.dpsk12.org for access to information on SchoolChoice, the paper forms and submission information. Families can also call 720-423-3493 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday thru Friday.

El período de inscripciones de DPS está en plena marcha ¡y estamos recibiendo los formularios a un paso acelerado!

Si busca una nueva escuela para el año escolar 2017-18, asegúrese de indicar sus preferencias en el formulario EscojoMiEscuela antes de las 4 p. m. del 31 de enero. La mejor forma de llenar el formulario es en línea, pero también se puede presentar un formulario impreso. Independientemente de la manera en que decida llenarlo, no se preocupe: todos los formularios que se reciban antes del plazo límite contarán con el mismo grado de consideración.

Haga clic aquí para acceder a EscojoMiEscuela en línea, imprimir los formularios y obtener información de cómo presentarlos. También puede llamar al 720-423-3493 a 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., de lunes a viernes.

Congratulations to Jake Downing and Avi Love for being selected to the Citywide Concert Band.  The group will perform February 25, 2017 at the Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy.

Don't put it off - recognitions ads are due soon!

Yearbook recognition ads are a great way for parents, families and friends to commemorate student achievements and important milestones. In addition, revenues from recognition ads help our school to create a better yearbook. Jostens is managing your school's yearbook ad sales so please do not contact or send materials to the school.

Please take into account our school's ad content guidelines on the bottom of this form during the creation of your ad online.  Because these recognition ads can take some time to design and create, we wanted to give families plenty of notice.

All ad orders must be placed online by 2/16/2017.

Click here to purchase!

On Saturday, February 4, CYL is hosting its first ever Youth Advisory Board Conference. We're calling it Base Camp: Empowerment . High schoolers just like YOU within CYL have created, planned and executed everything needed to host you and your friends as an introduction to CYL and to serving others.  

What: a full day learning, leading & serving with other high schoolers from Colorado!
Where: East High School in Denver
When: Saturday, February 4 9am-4:30pm
Why: to empower all high school students to lead and serve

The details.
Learn about different nonprofit organizations in Denver. Sign up for a breakout session topic that interests you: Native American rights, food justice, social justice & art and environmental conservation. Pick your fave! Meet other high school students who care about issues like homelessness, hunger, art and the environment. An afternoon serving in City Park with The Greenway Foundation. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are included in this FREE event.

Make awesome friends! Click here to register!

The next PTO meeting has been moved to Monday, February 13 at 6 pm in room 111. Please join us to find one way you can plug in to the many needs we have! We will be discussing TJ's first online auction to be held this spring, Mr. TJ, a screening of the documentary Screenagers and committee updates. Hope to see you there! Questions?  Email us at  TJHSPTO@gmail.com

Screenagers: Growing up in the Digital Age

Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.

TJ Auditorium

Free and open to the public

Run time 68 minutes

Directed by Delany Ruston, M.D.

Reserve your seats

Screenagers is about the impact of the digital age on teens/kids and how to help them minimize harmful effects and find balance. After seeing the film, people comment that they feel more confident and better equipped to establish balance in their families around screen time.

We've all been there--arguing with our families about putting phones away during dinner or socializing on Snapchat when homework isn't finished. Or maybe you've had discussions about the appropriateness of social media posts or photo sharing. What rules are fair? Online bullying, sexting, or simply the belief that "if it's on the internet it must be true"... these are just a few of the trials our teens face in the digital world that didn't exist much more than a decade ago.

Screenagers probes into the effects of too much screen time and how families can approach some of these digital challenges. This hour-long documentary covers the messy struggles we face over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. Through surprising insights from authors,psychologists and brain scientists, solutions emerge on how we can be empowered to best navigate the digital world. Screenagers is appropriate for adults and kids 10 and older. However, many parents with kids younger than 10 have reported they were happy they did. However, it's not recommended for age 7 or younger.

Watch the trailer and read the movie review. Invite your friends, family and neighbors. Free and open to the public.

Popcorn and refreshments will be available for purchase.

Reserve your seats!

P.S. The film is not being made available through theaters, Netflix or YouTube. The producers' intent is to make it available exclusively through community forums such as schools in order to spark conversation. Hope to see you there!

Dear GT, HGT and 2e Parents and Guardians of Thomas Jefferson High School,

Through a series of rigorous proposals, submissions, formal and informal reviews and interdepartmental approvals, our GT department, school and university collaboration has once more proved progressive and fruitful. 

We will start collecting money for students who are taking AP tests this month. Every test is $93. Please know that if your student cannot make the test date, it will be $45 more to change the test date per College Board.

We're excited to announce TJ's Inaugural Online Auction to be held April 16-20, 2017. Proceeds from this effort directly benefit our staff and students by helping to pay for valuable programs such as classroom grants and much-needed upgrades for improved working and learning environments. We want this to become TJ's biggest fundraiser on an annual basis.

We need your help to make this fundraiser a success! Here's what you can do:

1. Reach out to businesses and request donations such as restaurant certificates, merchandise, vacation and travel opportunities, spa packages, professional services, and tickets to entertainment, cultural and sporting events. Donation information can be submitted directly at https://tjhs.ptapal.com. Ask at the places you already know, love and frequent...they rarely say no to a donation for a public school! Let them know we give lots of recognition to businesses that support us. Plus, donations to TJ are tax-deductible! The TJHS 2017 Auction Letter provides additional information on the Auction and has the TJ Tax ID #. This can be printed out and given to businesses when requesting a donation.

2.  When the auction goes live on April 16th, share the link with friends, families, neighbors, co-workers--anyone in the SE Denver community and beyond--who would enjoy supporting our neighborhood high school and walking away with some pretty awesome stuff as a result. When you bid and win, so does TJ! 

We need an army of families contributing each in their way to make this successful. It's an online process and we've streamlined to the extent possible. Will you please help?

Please email Megan Perkins for more information at megandperkins@gmail.com and see the attachment for more information.

As cold weather approaches, many families need extra assistance and sheltering options. Please click here to see the comprehensive guide. 

Ms. Janczak has a student teacher this semester who would like to facilitate a French Club meeting Thursday after school and also during lunch on Tuesdays.

Challenge Day promotes a sense of community within the school. It unites people and demonstrates we are more alike than we are different. Community starts within the home. Here are a few tips on how to build a community in your neighborhood. This can also translate to how to help your child build a better sense of community in the school environment. 

Building strong communities is critical, hard work. I feel it's one of the most courageous, important things each of us can do every day. 

We can speed up the realization of good community building ideas if we live our lives consistent with community priorities. The good news: practically every activity and every moment grants us the opportunity to practice community-minded behavior. 

Here are 10 ways you can start the courageous work of building community today. 

1. Take interest in other people's passions as much as you want them to be interested in yours. We all have ideas for how life should be. The thing is that, unless we are unsurpassed geniuses, we only see a small part of the picture. Asking others what they see can only enhance understanding. 

2. Become a mentor to others less involved in their community. In every community there is a small, overworked group of leaders who try to figure out everything for everyone. They go to all the meetings and take on huge loads of work while others are silent-until it is time for them to complain. This will not do. If you are such a leader, mentor someone with less experience. If you are not, approach someone and ask them to mentor you. 

3. Support a cause with no direct personal benefit. We are involved with things we care about the most. That's natural. My experience tells me, however, that the most interesting and possibly most important discoveries happen in the spaces between interests and disciplines and ideologies. Step outside your natural zone-it's necessary for uncovering new solutions. 

4. Invite "them" to your meeting. It is convenient to show our importance by pitting "us" against "them." But "they" may have insights that will help us better understand the problem and appreciate the marvelous tensions that form a healthy community. 

5. Reject the tendency to blame. Everyone plays a role in the problem and everyone must participate in the solution. Practice compassion towards those who, like ourselves, unwittingly contribute to the problem they wish to solve. 

6. Confront internal contradictions. Claiming that the problem is someone else's doing conveniently absolves us from doing our part. If I drive my car to a transportation meeting and complain about traffic jams, it's necessary that I acknowledge my contribution to that traffic. At the very least, acknowledge the irony of the situation. 

7. Practice industrial-strength listening. Do not react until you've received. 

8. Render unto community... Shrink your home to what is necessary and conduct the rest of your life in the community. For example, resist a "theater" room and visit your local theater instead. Anytime you bump into others you make your community a bit stronger.  

9. Clarify your image of the future. I find that most decisions we make are shaped by impulses so deeply ingrained we fail to be aware of them. Unexamined impulse is prejudice. Examined impulse, once confirmed, is guidance that leads to something better. Examine your embedded assumptions, embrace the relevant ones, and discard the rest. What remains is a clear intuition, an image of a possible future. Then engage with others to make it a reality. 

10. Resist the temptation to choose between the ideal and the reality. Hold them both in your awareness. Learn to enjoy the creativity and humor this tension offers. It can be quite funny.