"Their commitment to providing healthy, delicious and diverse options has truly made a difference in the lives of many, many students and staff here at North High.” -- Graciela Guevara, Denver North High School. Celebrate more school lunch heroes in our Top 5 below and here.

Open Enrollment is happening now! You must log in and either elect or waive your benefits by Friday, May 5! Open Enrollment is the one time per year that employees can change or enroll their benefits without a Qualifying Life Event. This is an active enrollment year, which means you must take action and enroll today. If you do not elect or waive your benefits, you will be auto-enrolled in the MotivHealth plan option with a Health Savings Account (HSA). Visit the Open Enrollment page on The Commons to learn more about available coverage. 

The final “Your Voice/Tu Voz” Survey of the 2022-23 school year is open now through Sunday, May 14! Check your DPS inbox for an email from Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero containing your link to complete the survey. 

Please also encourage your students and families to share their voices by completing their surveys. Student surveys were sent to students’ DPS email addresses. Families can access the survey link via email, the Parent Portal or at dpsk12.org/survey.

Tomorrow, May 5 is School Lunch Hero Day! Thank you to all Team DPS members who shared how great their school lunch heroes are to celebrate!

1. “I would like to shout out Mr. Rojelio Hernandez, our cafeteria manager. Mr. Hernandez is friendly, helpful and able to seamlessly move service around to meet changing schedules. He graciously took time out of his day to meet with a team of Destination Imagination students who were putting together a skit to bust myths about school lunches. He was a wealth of information and helped the team come in second place! Thank you Mr. Hernandez, we are lucky to have you!” -- Becky Middleton, McAuliffe International School

National School Nurse Day is next Wednesday, May 10! Our school nurses do so much to keep our students healthy and focused on learning, and we’d like to celebrate them! If you’d like to thank a school nurse and have them featured in next week’s edition, fill out this form.

For Mental Health Awareness Month, the Employee Wellness Department wants to remind everyone that this is a time to educate each other about mental illness, raise awareness surrounding research and treatments, reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and celebrate recovery. 

Reach out if you or someone you know needs help. To access care, contact your health insurance or primary care doctor, or contact the NAMI HelpLine to find services and support that are available in your community. DPS employees and their dependents can also access the confidential, no-cost Employee Assistance Program for more support.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

This month's live Nutritional Awareness webinar, brought to you by the Employee Wellness department, is Wednesday, May 10 from 4:30-5:15 p.m. Register for the webinar here. Robin Bresnahan, DPS Teacher, Wellness Champ and Holistic Health Coach at Swigert International School, is our special guest and co-host. During this 45-minute webinar, participants will learn easy and affordable tips on how to make healthy recipes at home and for lunch, as well as other creative ways to increase fruit and vegetable intake. Herbs and spices, visually appealing dishes and delicious savory snacks will be presented.

In an effort to understand how well your experience has been learning financial processes in the New Employee Space, we are seeking feedback from financial system users. If you or your team members use the New Employee Space for financial transactions such as creating requisitions, creating expense reports or reconciling Pcard transactions, we'd love to hear from you regarding your use of the "Need Help Tool" and what additional feedback you have regarding system training. Please complete this form by Friday, May 5 to help inform how we can improve your experience within the New Employee Space when completing day-to-day financial tasks.

Discovery Education’s STEM Newsletter includes a variety of instructional activities for all grades! This month's newsletter covers investigations at STEM camp, explores game-changing technology with gold medal Olympians and features podcasts of women who have made historical impacts in the world of STEM! Log in via Clever or Schoology to access, and click here for assistance.

Review the Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Services Year-End Deadline Memo for upcoming important dates regarding year-end close. Failing to complete these year-end processes by Friday, June 30 could have budget implications for the 2023-24 fiscal year. If you have any questions, contact your Financial Partner.

"Abigail Sprau is Barnum's Literacy Interventionist. However, she does so much more! Abigail impresses daily with all she does. A huge task she has taken on is the role of Attendance Interventionist as well! She monitors the entire school's attendance. She tracks student attendance data, reaches out to families and creates success plans, holds personal conversations with students, holds teachers accountable with incentives to call home after student absences, awards students each month with certificates at our Excellence Assembly, and works closely with DU on studying attendance issues. Her Accountability to student attendance is immeasurable!"

Denver Public Schools sends all district newsletters and critical employee communications through Constant Contact. Please do not unsubscribe your dpsk12.org email address from any message; if you unsubscribe from one newsletter or one communication, you will be removed from all other district-managed email lists in Constant Contact. If you have any questions, please email newsletters@dpsk12.org.