Resources to Support Students and Families Over Break |
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Dear Educators,
With winter break upon us, community resources become increasingly more valuable as we continue to serve our students and families while school is out of session. Some of our families and students may encounter additional challenges during breaks. We must be vigilant in connecting them to organizations and resources that can best serve them. Below are some local community resources such as food banks, counseling services, hotlines, energy assistance and more ways in which we can best support our families:
- DPS’ Family and Community Engagement (FACE) team has compiled a comprehensive list of resources to share with students and families in English and Spanish.
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Meals: In addition to the food banks listed in the FACE resource guide, the City and County's Office of Children Affairs is offering a free supper and/or snack at any Tasty Food site for youth (ages 5-18) across Denver during the holiday break! No registration or ID is required -- students can simply drop by and enjoy a nutritious meal! Check the schedule flier (in English and Spanish) for more information. Details on holiday schedule changes and planned holiday closures will be available on the Tasty Food website.
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Supporting our Newcomers: Our Multilingual Education department organized a New Arrivals Toolkit supporting our new-to-country and newcomer students.
We are thankful for your constant and continued support of our students' well-being, and hope that you can also take this time to focus on your own well-being during this well-deserved break. Thank you for all you do for our students!
Respectfully,
Dr. Tony Smith
Deputy Superintendent
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Now Hiring: AEA Teachers, Affinity Community Partners and Other Support Roles
The Achieving Excellence Academy (AEA) is a cultural summer program that highlights the experiences of Black/African-American, Latinx, Asian-American/Pacific Islander and Native American/Indigenous families, students and educators. The program serves as one district initiative specifically for the support, encouragement, and development of students of marginalized identities. All incoming 9th through 11th graders are welcome to apply.
Are you a knowledgeable, passionate and culturally-responsive educator? Are you skilled at safely supporting young adult learners through racial, ethnic and/or culture-based conversations? Are you intentionally collaborative and a lifelong learner? If this sounds like an AEA teaching, community partner, or support role of interest, learn more here and apply by Jan. 12, 2024.
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This Week's Top 5 Things to Know |
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New Canva Team Structure Coming After Winter Break
DPS is migrating to a new Canva structure over break. Please note: Content will not be lost during the migration and there is no action to take at this time. As part of the migration, school-based team members will be added to one or more new Canva teams corresponding to the school(s) they support. Team members who are not school-based will be added to the “Default District Office” team.
What to expect:
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We will re-label our existing district team to “Archive: Denver Public Schools.” You can always access this content by toggling between the existing team and your new school team(s).
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After break, copy your content from the Archive team to your new school team(s).
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Coming Soon: Populate Assignment Score Comments with Student Names |
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Infinite Campus has added an option to populate assignment score comments with student names when filling in comments. To add student names to comments, click “Score” for an assignment, enter comment text in the “Comments” column header, click the smile icon to add {Name} into the comment, and click the fill icon to indicate which students should receive the comment. Once the comment is filled for students, each student's first name is added to the comment. This option will be available beginning in January. For more information about this feature, access this guide. If you have questions, contact Marc Long.
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DPS Academics Vision for High-Quality Instructional Materials Draft Review |
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The Academics department would like feedback on the draft vision for High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) across DPS. We invite teachers to provide insights to strengthen the DPS vision, ensuring access to high-quality instructional materials and enhancing the Student Experience. The survey is open now until Friday, Dec. 15.
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Plan for LEAP Mid-Year Conversations |
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The LEAP mid-year conversation window is Dec. 11-Feb. 23. Please refer to the Teacher Mid-Year and End-of-Year Checklist to help you plan for mid-year conversations. Teachers must have had two formal observations recorded in SchoolMint Grow with coaching cycles and feedback conversations for each before their mid-year conversation takes place.
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Review the 2023-24 Leap Fairness Guide |
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The 2023-24 LEAP Fairness Guide has been formally approved by the LEAP Collaborative Committee (LCC) as of Nov. 15. Review the guide before mid-year conversations to ensure fidelity to the process. Please note that the minimum amount of time for a formal observation has been increased from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. This expectation will begin after winter break starting on Wednesday, Jan. 3.
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Additional Resources and Information |
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Additional resources and opportunities can be found here. |
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- Paid Opportunity for Title 1 School Staff
- Important Date for Teachers Retiring, Taking Leave of Absence
- Spring 2024 Professional Development Units
- Join the High School English Unit Design and Review Project
- Engage in MLE Resource Allocations and Appeals Process by Jan. 9
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Denver Public Schools sends all district newsletters and critical employee communications through Constant Contact. Please do not unsubscribe your DPS 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.
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