PTA

UPARK community, you are amazing! Last week we launched this year’s Apple Campaign, and have already seen over $6,000 of donations come in. Nice job! 

Can you help us make this year’s Apple Campaign a slam dunk? If you make a donation between now and October 1st, you will be entered to win 4 tickets to a Nuggets game. The tickets are center court, row 2, and include one parking pass.The winner can choose one of the following games:

• November 6th vs New Orleans
• December 14th vs Brooklyn
• January 14th vs Indiana
• February 28th vs Sacramento

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

What is the Apple Campaign? 

The Apple Campaign is our PTA’s fall donation fundraiser that helps to fund the annual $130,000 grant the PTA provides UPARK. This grant helps fund things such as smaller class sizes, reading intervention, additional Gifted & Talented instruction time, full-time art, and paraprofessionals in younger classrooms.

We need donations of all sizes to reach our goal. Of the families who gave last year:

20% gave $15-$99 

28% gave $100-$200 

12% gave $201-$499 

24% gave $500-$999

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

5% gave $2,500-$5000

Questions? Email: uparkpta@gmail.com

*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. 

If you would like to learn more about the BESS, we are excited to announce we will have a parent info session surrounding the BESS on 9/27 at 8:30-9am in the University Park Library. This will be an in-depth look at the BESS and how we use it at UPark. 

Guardians of students in grades K-2

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

Hispanic Heritage Celebration and Field Day - September 21st

Please join us for Hispanic and Latino Heritage Parade and Field Day on Thursday, September 21st. We will start with an opening ceremony at 9:00 including a parade of Latin American countries around our track to help celebrate Hispanic Heritage month. Feel free to stay after morning drop off and watch the ceremony.   

Families are also welcome to watch their child participate in field day.  

• Session One for 3-5th graders will be 9:30-11:30
• Session Two for Kinder -2nd grade will be 1:30-3:30.  

We are asking that parents please stay outside and do not enter the building at this time.  

Volunteers Needed!

We are looking for volunteers to make this year a huge success. If you would like to volunteer to help run a station, you will need to complete the volunteer background check. It will take approximately 10 min the first time. You will also need to sign up for where you would like to volunteer on the following sign up genius link.  

If you sign up to volunteer, you will be required to pass a background check. You can complete the process now at https://equity.dpsk12.org/get-involved/volunteer-services/ (Click the purple box titled “DPS Volunteer Background Check Portal”) This process takes about 10 minutes to complete the first time.  

If you are interested in helping with field day, volunteers are welcome to sign up here.  

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0445A5A72BA1F94-field1

Look for updates and last minute changes in the newsletter.  

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you on September 21st!

For additional details and instructions to prepare your students for the day click here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JkKATyGAmw-AN8z3-Aj9VGYHqFNnTFaXgdRW8aGJ0l4/edit

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.

GT Testing Information

GT testing is coming up for all Kindergarten and Second grade students. The Second grade students will be taking the NGAT and the Kindergarten students will be taking the NNAT3. In the next few weeks letters will be sent home with students that will inform parents of these assessments. Ms. Turrettini will be administering it starting September 25th for Second grade and mid October for Kindergarten.

Cognitive testing for grades 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th, the CogAT, that parents can sign their child up for is also available. This application is due by Oct 13th and will be administered in November. Here’s the link to the application: https://studentequity.dpsk12.org/gifted-talented/. Once you are on the site, click the red cognitive testing application link.

Op-Ed by DPS Foundation President and CEO Richard Tagle

President and CEO of the Denver Public Schools Foundation, Richard Tagle, shared his thoughts on the importance of public school funding amidst a changing financial climate and social landscape. 

“Public education is the cornerstone of social equality and economic prosperity,” wrote Tagle. “We must bridge the funding gap. Denver’s future depends on it.”

In the article, Tagle describes Denver’s public funding shortcomings and the rising demands on schools and educators. With costs rising to meet demands, Tagle drives home the need to invest in public education sooner rather than later. Click here to read the article.