Green Ornament Challenge

All UPark Students are invited to create an ornament with the theme of a UPark Owl, Tree, Earth, or "Doing Good" by reusing or repurposing recyclable, compostable materials between December 7th and 15th.

Bring your creating to the lobby near the office so hand up. Label your art with you name and room number or use a label from the green box in the lobby.

Prizes will be awarded for creativity, themes and materials used!

Sponsored by the Student Green Team. uparkgreenteam@gmail.com

December Spirit Fridays!

Join us for some fun Friday spirit days in December. Students can wear items that fit the themes below. Participation is not required, but is encouraged.

• December 15th: Pajama day- wear your cozy clothes, but you must wear shoes, no slippers :)

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. 

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.

Complete the You Benefit Form Now!

If you have not already completed this You Benefit! form through MySchoolApps (formerly referred to as the Meals Application) please do so as soon as possible! It is important that every family in DPS complete this annually.

All students in DPS have access to free healthy, nutritious school meals thanks to the Healthy School Meals for All program approved by Colorado voters! While meals are provided for free to all DPS students through Healthy School Meals for All, families will still need to complete a form to ensure DPS and our school get full access to available federal funding.

Cognitive Testing Sign Up

The spring window for Cognitive testing with the CogAT opens Friday, December 1st for grades 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th. If you would like your child to take this test, please sign them up at this link: https://studentequity.dpsk12.org/gifted-talented/. Once you are on the site, click the red cognitive testing application link. The testing will take place in March. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Turrettini.

Buy Holiday Cards and Gifts from Minted to Support UPark!

Order holiday cards and gifts from Minted! You save 20% and Minted Donates 15% to UPark! Code FUNDRAISEUPESDENVER is valid year round! 

Guidelines for Students to Stay Home From School



As we get into cold and flu season, we want to remind families of when to keep your student home from school due to illness. We always want to encourage students to stay in school, however according to CDPHE guidelines if students vomit, have diarrhea (frequent, loose, or watery stools compared to normal ones), or fever (100.4 or greater) they must stay home from school (including Discovery Link) for 24 hours after their last symptom or episode. For fever this means the fever has been resolved for 24 hours without fever reducing medications. Please this How Sick is Too Sick document for additional information. Please don't hesitate to contact the UPark health office if you have questions.

Lost and Found 

Are you missing a sweatshirt? A jacket? Maybe a lunchbox or water bottle? Have your child check out the Lost and Found in the UPark cafeteria or stop by before or after school to head down and take a look. All items not claimed by this Friday 12/15 will be donated. Throughout the year, when we find lost items around the school, we always put them in the lost and found, so be sure to check back often! 

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.

• Friday, December 8th at 9:30am
• Wednesday, December 13th at 2pm
• Tuesday, January 16th at 9:30am
• Wednesday, January 17th at 2pm
• Friday, January 19th at 9:30am
• Tuesday, January 23rd at 9:30am
• Wednesday, January 24th at 2pm
• Friday, January 26th at 9:30am
• OPEN HOUSE Saturday, January 27th 10am-noon
• Monday, February 12th at 9:30am

UPark Owl Ticket Students

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