“I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity, and when there is a supposed conflict between human and national rights, it is safe to go to the side of humanity.”
-- Frederick Douglass
|
|
Standing Against Asian Hate |
|
Dear Team DPS,
In the year since the onset of the global pandemic, families across America mourn for over 500,000 loved ones lost to COVID-19. In this same timeframe, over 3,800 Asian Americans have reported being targets of physical assault, verbal harassment, and experiencing workplace harassment due to misinformation or ignorance about the virus and how it is spread. These racialized hate crimes against the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community are twice as likely targeting women compared to men.
The history of anti-Asian sentiment in America precedes the pandemic. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, hate crimes and incidents against the AAPI community have persisted. In the 200 years since the Naturalization Act prohibiting non-white people from becoming citizens, the Asian American community continues to suffer from the effects of the racism our country was founded upon.
To dismantle the racism we experience, we must stand in our allyship. In response to the ongoing anti-immigration sentiment targeting Chinese and Japanese in 1869, Frederick Douglass stated, “I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity, and when there is a supposed conflict between human and national rights, it is safe to go to the side of humanity.” On our Equity journey, the district’s actions reflect our united stand against hate and our condemnation against racialized hate towards Asian Americans.
We know that COVID-19’s impacts will be felt for many years to come and our Transition Priorities demonstrate our united commitment to overcome the trauma and impact of COVID-19. Our Interim Superintendent, Dwight Jones, has announced our three transition priorities:
- Equity to dismantle systemic racism
- Accelerate Learning
- Social-emotional and Mental Health
It is imperative through this transition that we are committed as a district to provide the social emotional supports for our AAPI students and staff in response to the rising hate rhetoric and violence. Anti-Asian hate festers and grows in silence -- the silence when we experience racialized hate and when we witness it. In response, it is incumbent for us to speak up and condemn anti-Asian hate. AAPI leaders such as myself condemn anti-Asian hate and stand with DPS leadership and our AAPI staff, students and families.
On today’s Virtual Day of Action and Healing to #StopAsianHate, I encourage you to seek and share the following resources to combat this scourge and advance the District’s Transition Equity Priority to dismantle systemic racism.
Sincerely,
June Taylor
Chief Human Resources Officer
|
|
Resources to Support Our Asian and Pacific Islander Community
Our Collection Development team curated a list of eBooks available in our DPS digital library that celebrate Asian/Pacific Islander identity and culture, and educator resources for teaching Asian American history and deconstructing Asian stereotypes. Click here to learn more.
|
|
|
|
Each month, we'll showcase celebrations big and small, and the work being done to create more equity for students and team members throughout DPS. Share what you and your team have been doing to make a change for a more equitable DPS here.
|
|
Moving Toward Equitable and Inclusive History Curriculum |
In alignment with the Know Justice Know Peace resolution, the DPS Academics team is conducting thorough reviews of social studies and history curriculum to continuously improve our curriculum and further ensure inclusive and accurate representation. The team’s aim is to insert the “missing pages of history” that have historically been omitted; we ultimately want to tell the comprehensive story of the contributions of all those who have been a part of this country’s history.
This is also representative of one of our CRE Educator Mindsets, “Global Context,” which states, “I work to dismantle systems of power and privilege that impact my students, myself, and my practice.” Turning this mindset into action means we intentionally identify opportunities in all planning that empowers students to understand, maintain, and honor their cultural identity and heritage; facilitate instruction that invites students to explore, consider, and analyze the ways in which their intersectional identities allow them access to or denial of power and privilege; and represent a diverse range of people thoroughly, complexly, and historically accurate.
Read more about how our teams are moving toward equitable and inclusive curriculum.
|
|
|
|
Food Bank at South Supports Families During COVID |
|
South High School’s food bank was featured on Rocky Mountain PBS for their work in serving kids and families from over 40 countries! The food bank has been established for over six years and serves the local community. Over the summer of 2020, they stayed open all year long for the first time due to COVID-19 job loss and food insecurity, serving about 500 people every week!
|
|
Students Can Use One Free Application to Apply to 60 Historically Black Colleges and Universities |
DPS students interested in applying to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) can now use the Common Black College Application (CBCA) — a single application for up to 60 HBCUs — at no cost, thanks to a partnership between DPS and the CBCA.
“The CBCA is deeply aligned to our district’s core value of equity, and we are thrilled to bring this opportunity to DPS students as they prepare for success beyond graduation,” said Bernard McCune, Senior Executive Director of Career and College Success for DPS. Visit www.commonblackcollegeapp.com to learn more.
|
|
|
|
Students Reflect on the Importance of Social-Emotional Learning |
|
“I think social-emotional learning (SEL) is an important topic to teach at schools today. SEL was able to help me calm my nerves and help me have a better understanding of the emotions I feel.”
-- Shaila C., Marie L. Greenwood eighth-grader
From morning meetings to daily character education classes, Marie L. Greenwood has worked to tailor their social-emotional learning strategies to resonate with all of their students – from kindergarten through eighth grade – in both remote and in-person settings. Read more about how Marie L. Greenwood has implemented social-emotional learning throughout the past year.
|
|
Partnership Focused on Coaching for Equitable Practice |
Coaching for Equitable Practice (CEP) are monthly training sessions provided to leaders across the district, supported by a cross-functional team of DPS employees who partner with the Leadership Academy, to provide monthly training to members of the DPS Academics, Schools, and Equity divisions throughout the school year to advance our collective capacity to coach, lead and take action for racial equity.
Our Coaching for Equitable Practice partnership supports leaders in:
- Reflecting on their behaviors, biases and their identities.
- Reflecting on the impact their identifies, biases and behaviors have on their ability to coach for equity.
- Advance their ability to coach for racial equity.
Sessions include opportunities to:
- Identify patterns in student and school data and target opportunities to improve conditions of learning for our students of color.
- Focus on coaching for equitable practice in support of our Black Excellence Plans.
By giving our leaders the tools to model and coach for Equity Leadership, we are expanding our capacity to lead for Equity throughout our district. Plans are underway to identify how we will offer CEP learning to additional district leaders during the 2021-22 school year.
|
|
|
|
Eliminating Finance Acronym for a More Responsible Workplace |
|
DPS' Finance team received news regarding an acronym we consistently use in accounting in reference to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. It was advised by GFOA that we no longer use the four letter acronym, as it is pronounced the same way as an offensive racial slur in South Africa.
Moving forward, we will refer to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report as the Annual Report.
We know how much this will affect what we already have implemented on our websites and filing systems. We are working on getting all the changes made as we embrace change and move toward a more responsible workplace and DPS. If you have further questions, please refer to the GFOA website.
|
|
 |
Asian Education Advisory Council Nominations and Awards
Directions: Record yourself in good light, and wear your traditional clothes if you’d like!
- Say hello in your native language and share your name.
- What school or department do you work for?
- What is your role?
The AEAC was established, under court order, in 1985 by the Denver Public Schools Board of Education. AEAC seeks to improve educational opportunities and to provide quality education for all students, particularly students of Asian/Pacific Island (AA/PI) heritage.
|
|
|
|
Fe Dillon
Assistant Principal, East High School
Equity
“Fe exemplifies Equity in everything she does, and she does a lot for the East High School community. She is responsible for ILT and professional learning, she oversees the math department and AP classes, and does countless other things to support us all. Every move she makes is well thought out and intentional to make sure the needs of every student at East is met. She is responsible for a major shift in the culture of our ILT in a short amount of time. Since Fe joined East, the ILT has focused on coaching teachers to get equitable outcomes for every student every day. She pushed the ILT to engage in two different book studies in two years and organized several trainings facilitated by a well-known author to engage evaluators in being better coaches for our teachers and students. Because of Fe, I have developed my skills as a coach and am confident in my abilities to support teachers on their path to achieving equity for all students!”
-- Angela Rivas, East High School
|
|
Calendar of Upcoming Events |
|
|
|
|
|
|
