PTA

PTA Meeting - Meet the District 1 DPS Board of Education Candidates 

Please join us on October 10th at 6pm when both District 1 School Board candidates, Scott Baldermann and Kimberlee Sia, will be attending at the beginning of the monthly PTA meeting to give our community the opportunity to hear from them personally. This position will be making decisions that affect every family in our district so we hope to see as many parents and caregivers there as possible. 

After they each speak about their candidacy, we will have a brief time for a few questions. We invite everyone to submit a question by Friday, October 6th using this form. 

In addition, we will discuss the two Statewide Propositions on the 2023 ballot. We want to ensure that all voters can make informed choices in November so we encourage everyone to join and learn more about our district's school board candidates and the election. As with all UPark PTA meetings, this forum is open to the entire UPark community and you do not need to be a PTA member to attend.

Last chance to enter to win Nuggets tickets!

Hurry - don’t miss your chance to win Nuggets tickets! October 1st is just 3 days away! All donations made to the Apple Campaign by October 1st will be entered to win four tickets to a Nuggets game. The tickets are center court, row 2, and include one parking pass. 

To enter, donate at http://bit.ly/apple-upark, venmo @uparkpta, or mail or drop off a check to the main office Attn: PTA Apple Campaign. 

Donating to the Apple Campaign isn’t just a way to enter to win tickets. To make UPARK the special place it is, we depend on the generosity and support of our community. State funding from tax dollars only goes so far - and it’s not far enough for what we want for our community and our kids. The money you donate to the Apple Campaign allows us to provide smaller class sizes, reading intervention, additional gifted & talented instruction time, full-time art, and paraprofessionals in younger classrooms. It’s things like these that set our school apart and give our kids the educational experience they deserve. 

When it comes to deciding your donation amount, consider what families gave last year: 

5% gave $2,500-$5000

11% gave $1,000-$2,499

24% gave $500-$999

12% gave $201-$499 

28% gave $100-$200 

20% gave $15-$99 

*Special thanks to the Stallworthy Family for sponsoring the Nuggets tickets prize. Donations made earlier in the campaign will be automatically entered to win. For alternative methods of entry, please email uparkpta@gmail.com. 

BESS Social Emotional Student Screening

Hello UPark Families,

It is hard to believe that these first weeks have flown by and it is already time for the school-wide social emotional wellness screener; the BESS! 

BESS stands for Behavioral and Emotional Screening System and it is ~20 questions long aiming to assess our student’s behavioral and emotional wellness at school. Students in 3-5th grade will fill out a self-report form. Their teachers will also fill out a teacher rating form. Parents are also welcome to also fill out the parent rating form. Students K-2 will have their teachers fill out a form for them and we ask that parents also fill out a form for them. This is because K-2 students are too young to participate in a self-report of the BESS. 

Please use this link to fill out the parent form - when you follow this link it will bring you to Review 360 and ask you for your students DPS ID number and date of birth.

All parent rating forms are due before October 13th. Teacher forms will be completed by teachers before this date as well. Student rating forms will be completed in your child’s classroom on October 3-5. 

Guardians of students in grades 3-5

When you registered your child for this school year, there was a passive consent option with opt-out capabilities for the BESS self-report form. If you believe that you meant to opt your student out and are not sure you did, please contact Alexis Matter in the front office. 

If you have any questions please contact jordan_mcelligott@dpsk12.net

DPS Count Day Monday, October 2nd - Attendance Important!

The Colorado Department of Education completes an official student count day for all Colorado school districts. This day determines the amount of funding each district receives from the state and is scheduled this year for Monday, October 2nd. Please do your best to have students at school on Monday as this is the easiest way to get an accurate count of the students attending Denver Public Schools for these important funding purposes. If you have any questions, please contact the main office at 720-424-3410.

Get Ready for a Doubleheader at Modern Market - Cherry Hills and Little Man - Kent Place on October 4th!



On Wednesday, October 4th, from 11am-9pm, Modern Market - Cherry Hills (3475 S University Blvd) will be donating 30% of UPark sales back to our school. For dine-in or phone orders, please mention "University Park Elementary PTA". For online orders, please use promo code "giveback005".

From 4-8pm, Little Man - Kent Place (3455 S University Blvd) will be donating 20% of sales at the shop back to UPark. No need to mention any codes, they are simply basing their donation on ALL sales during the time period.

Please note that this is only for the Modern Market and Little Man locations at Kent Place (at the northwest corner of University and Hampden).

Directory Opt-Out

We are in the process of compiling the 23-24 UPark Family directory. If you would not like your Student’s information included in the directory, please complete the Directory Opt-Out form by October 6th here.

Need Access to Low Cost of Free Internet?

If you are in need of access to internet you may qualify for Internet Essentials or Internet Essentials Plus through Comcast. Qualified households can get internet access with speeds of up to 100Mbps for free when combined with the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP program can be applied to service with most internet and telecom providers. Click here for the flier in English/Spanish, if you need other translated versions, we can get those. You can apply for this program directly by calling 1-855-846-8376 or visiting InternetEssentials.com.

Review the Attendance Policy and Submit Absence Requests Online!

Save time by letting us know that your student is going to be absent or arriving late through the Parent Portal! Starting this year, DPS families will be able to use their computers or smartphones to know about absences or late arrivals so they can focus on taking care of their children. Guardians of DPS students must have an active DPS Parent Portal account to use this new feature. Visit myportal.dpsk12.org to sign up, or to check that your account is active and ready. Directions are available in English or Spanish. Visit the Attendance webpage for more information.

The UPark and DPS attendance policy follows the Colorado School Attendance Law. Based on this law only the absence reasons listed below will be marked as excused:

• Temporary illness or injury (doctor’s note is not required until chronic)
• COVID Quarantine
• Physical, mental, or emotional disability
• Legal custody by public agency
• Religious holiday or observance
• Death in the family

PLEASE NOTE: Under the Colorado School Attendance Law, family days and vacations taken while school is in session are not an excusable absence and are therefore recorded as unexcused.

For full attendance information visit our 2023-24 Student & Family Handbook here.

University Park Community Council Meeting

Please join the University Park Community Council (UPCC) for their annual Fall General Meeting on Wednesday, October 4 from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm at the University Park Elementary School Auditorium (2300 S St Paul St, Denver, CO 80210) to learn more about recent news and events happening in the University Park neighborhood.