2300 S. St. Paul St., Denver, CO 80210
720-424-3410
Principal
At University Park we celebrate Black History always, but as we prepare for Black History Month in February I want to highlight what UPark is doing to continue the work that's outlined in our school's Black Excellence Plan. Several years ago DPS asked schools to develop Black Excellence Plans to highlight what we need to do to celebrate the contributions of and ensure that we are meeting the needs of our Black students. Since then we, as a staff, have been regularly engaging in discussions about race and have been putting race, equity, and inclusion at the forefront of what we do. This year, our entire staff has been engaging in year one of The Equity Experience, which is 9 installments of in-depth professional development on topics of equity, identity, and race in our schools and community. The equity work we are doing also includes highlighting important events and people during Native American History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Women's History Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In a few weeks all students will be engaging in researching an inspirational Black American in preparation for our second annual school wide Black History Living Museum. As we continue engaging in the work of providing equitable and meaningful educational opportunities to all of the students at University Park we encourage you to check out the DPS Equity and Inclusion website for more information on the work that the district is doing as a whole and for ways you and your families can also engage in this work. Thank you so much for all of your support this school year and beyond.
Examples of last year's Black History Living Museum presentations
Eric Atonna
UPark Principal, Team UPark
Call for Yearbook Photos!
The yearbook committee needs your photos! Please submit pictures from school events, playground shots, or any great pictures you may have of our owls about town to yearbookupark@gmail.com. 
2023-24 School Year Bell Times
Last school year Denver Public Schools determined that, in alignment with the Board of Education's Healthy Start Times resolution, many school bell times would be changed beginning in the 2023-24 school year. This was communicated in newsletters last year, but we wanted to bring it back to your attention so that you can be sure to plan for next year's schedule. Denver Public School's determined that University Park's bell times would be changed to 8:50 and 3:50. This means that, starting next school year (2023-24) UPark classes will begin at 8:50am instead of 8:20 and will end at 3:50pm instead of 3:20.

For more information on the Healthy Start Times resolution and DPS' process for determining school schedules please click here.

DPS also released the 2023-24 school calendar which you can view here. We will keep you updated on any additional planning days that are specific to UPark.
Discovery Link Summer Camps
1.) Discovery Link Summer Camp Registration opens on Monday, 1/23, at 6:00 am.


Families who have never been enrolled in one of our programs or don't already have an SchoolCareWorks account are encouraged to create an account before the link for Summer Camp Registration opens. Creating an account before registration opens will significantly reduce the time required to register.

Discovery Link created a pre-registration checklist detailing the documents parents should have on-hand when creating accounts.

3.) Calendar day selection for all Discovery Link Summer Camps opens on Monday, 5/1, at 6:00 am.

As a reminder, registration and calendar day selection are two different processes. Registration is where caregivers enter demographic, health, and contact information into SchoolCare Works. The operations team then reviews the application and either approves or disapproves it.

4.) Enrichment Exploration Summer Camp @ Cory - Registration and Weekly Class Selection opens on Monday, 1/30, at 6:00 am.

Please review the Summer Enrichment Exploration Camp Brochure and Class Descriptions. Parents have until 6:00pm the Monday of the week prior to register for a block.
i-Ready Assessments
i-Ready is being administered. This assessment helps us better understand how our students are performing and how we are performing as a whole school in both math and literacy. This, in addition to our regular classroom assessments, helps us know how to tailor our teaching to meet the needs of all of our students. Please note that teachers will be sending home i-Ready growth reports on January 20th. These reports will show you where your student started the year and where they are now. Look for more information in the next two weeks.
SchoolChoice Window Opens January 13
Is your child transitioning to kindergarten, sixth or ninth grade? The SchoolChoice window is open from January 13 - February 14.

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 13th! 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 2023-2024 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.
Prospective Family School Tours
Our amazing PTA has begun giving prospective families tours of UPark. If you have friends or neighbors that are looking for an outstanding school for their kiddos let them know about our school tours. See the dates below and visit the UPark Tour webpage for more details.
  • Tuesday, January 17th at 9am and 2pm
  • Thursday, January 19th at 9am and 2pm
  • Tuesday, January 24th at 9am and 2pm
  • OPEN HOUSE Saturday, January 28th 10am-noon
  • Monday, February 13th at 9am
UPark is Hiring!
UPark is currently hiring for Paraprofessionals! If you or anyone you know might be interested in working at UPark, check out the job descriptions on the DPS Job Board here. To find our specific position descriptions and applications you can search for University Park in the "School or Building" field. Please let us know if you plan to apply or if have any questions!
UPark Owl Ticket Students
Congratulations to this week's Owl Ticket students! They were recognized by their teachers for above and beyond positive behavior.
Owl Tickets are given to students for going above and beyond in one of our five core values: caring, cooperation, responsibility, respect and joy. Owl Tickets focus on the school's trait of the month, give students a chance to participate in the weekly "Owl Tickets" photo and will be posted on the "UPARK" letters in our main hallway.
University Park Elementary Calendar

To access additional calendar information click here or visit the calendar link on the University Park Website.
Thursday Extras

This is where you will find a list of flyers that DPS or approved organizations have asked we pass out to our community. Simply click on the flyer name to view in its entirety. Please ask our office staff if you need a paper copy.
Looking Ahead

January 19: School Tours
January 24: School Tours
January 28: School Tours-Open House

February 9: 4th & 5th Field Trip
February 10: Black History Living Museum
February 13: School Tour
February 14: 2nd Grade Field Trip
February 14: CSC Meeting
February 14: PTA Meeting
February 20: NO SCHOOL-President's Day
February 21: NO SCHOOL-DPS Planning
February 23: 3rd Grade Field Trip