Therapy Dogs Coming to UPark!

UPark has an exciting opportunity for your student(s) to interact with licensed therapy dogs through “Go Team Therapy Dogs.” The dogs will be coming into the school and will stay in one location (the library) and all students will get to visit the dogs. The dogs will be coming the week of January 8th. Your student may interact with them Tuesday (1/9), Wednesday (1/10), or Thursday (1/11) that week. Again, students will NOT be leaving campus, the dogs will come to us. 

If you have any questions please reach out to Jordan McElligott at jordan_mcelligott@dpsk12.net

New Nurse Introduction and Immunization Compliance Update

Hello and Happy New Year from the Health Office!  

First, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Katie Hamilton, your new School Nurse. I’ll be joining Diana Bell, your full time Health Tech, in the Health Office on Wednesdays and Fridays. I look forward to meeting you all and getting to know your kids. I’m a parent to 3 DPS kids in Kindergarten, 4th and 6th grades. This is my first year in school nursing; I’ve been at Children’s Hospital for 21 years. 

We are in the process of finishing the immunization records for the UPark Students; they are due to DPS by next week. If you have already turned in your kids immunization records, thank you! We strongly recommend following the standard immunization schedule to protect your child and the whole community. If you received a reminder of non-compliant immunizations on your child's record or if you are new to DPS, we need your help. By Wednesday January 10, please:

1. Provide immunization records OR
2. Provide a non-medical or medical exemption to be compliant for the above immunizations. Non-medical exemptions need to be done annually and expire every June 30, while medical exemptions are permanent.

You can fax forms to 720-424-3410, email them to me, or turn them into the office.

Medical exemptions are determined by your child’s pediatrician. If you would like to complete a non-medical exemption for these vaccinations, you can either:

1. watch this video: https://www.dcphrapps.dphe.state.co.us/storyline360/story.html and turn in the certificate you get at the end OR
2. have your provider sign a non-medical exemption

Links to this form in multiple languages here: https://cdphe.colorado.gov/vaccine-exemptions

Thank you!

Katie Hamilton, RN, BSN

katie_hamilton1@dpsk12.net

Get ready for our first restaurant night of 2024! 

On Thursday, January 11th, from 5-8pm, Sweetgreen University Hills (2770 S. Colorado Blvd., will be donating 20% of associated sales back to UPark. Orders must be placed in-store (for dine-in or takeout), and you must present a digital or hardcopy version of this flyer when placing your order. 

Scripps National Spelling Bee Is Returning to UPark  



UPark will be participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee! This is completely optional for students, but ANY UPark student is welcome to participate. Students will be given a study guide and then participate in a grade level spelling bee the week of January 29th, and then a school spelling bee the week of February 5th. The top two students will be entered into the Regional Denver Spelling Bee! If your child is interested in participating, please fill out this form by Tuesday, January 16th. 

BESS Social Emotional Student Screening

The window for families to fill out the BESS screener opens on December 16th and closes January 19th! We strongly suggest that parents/guardians complete the BESS Screener for their child; this helps us to get a clear picture of what supports students may need. 

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 encouraged 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 January 19th. Teacher forms will be completed by teachers before this date as well. Student rating forms will be completed in your child’s classroom in early January. If you have any questions please contact jordan_mcelligott@dpsk12.net. 

SchoolChoice Window Opens January 11th

Is your child transitioning to kindergarten, sixth or ninth grade? The SchoolChoice window is open from January 11 - February 12.

If you know of a family that is interested in attending our great neighborhood school let them know that we are accepting new students for next school year starting January 11th! All interested new families are encouraged to join one of our upcoming school tours here to learn more about our great school and community!

For all students that will be new to UPark for the 2024-2025 school year, please complete the online Choice Process. This includes siblings of current UPark students that will be new to the school next year. If your student currently attends UPark you DO NOT need to complete the choice process for next school year.

Visit schoolchoice.dpsk12.org once the Choice window opens to fill out your application.

Discovery Link Summer Camp Registration Coming Soon

Discovery Lin Summer Camp Registration Opens January 23rd. The camps will not be located at UPark this summer, but there are multiple other locations available. The UPark staff will be working at the Swigert camp and the closest camp is likely Slavens. See the fliers below for details.

• English
• Spanish

Save the Date for CMAS Testing 

Please save the date for CMAS (Colorado Measure of Academic Success) Testing for Grades 3-5. Please be mindful of these dates when scheduling appointments, as we want all students to be at school all day on these important testing days. We do know that these dates overlap with Eid al-Fitr and we will make arrangements for our students celebrating this holiday to test at a different time. 

• Literacy April 9, 10, 11
• Math and Science (5th Grade) April 16, 17, 18

Food and Nutrition Menu Changes for DPS Schools

For many years UPark has been a pork free school because we know that many of our families do not include pork as part of their diet. The district has given schools new guidelines and will no longer have schools opt out of these menu items. There are only a few items that include pork (pulled pork and ham sandwich) that will be added to our menu occasionally. Because we know that it may be difficult for some of our youngest learners to identify which items they should not take, our cafeteria staff will also be able to flag students that should not take pork menu items and will support them with choosing from the other options. Just as we do with students that have food allergies or other dietary restrictions, please let us know if your student does not eat pork and we will be sure to assist them with choosing lunch options as needed.

UPark Owl Ticket Students

Congratulations to this week's Owl Ticket students! They were recognized by their teachers for above and beyond positive behavior.