DCIS Connect Newsletter (January 23-29, 2020)

Weekly Newsletter for Parents, Staff and Students January 23-29, 2020 (Leer en Español usar el traductor de Google aquí.) PRINCIPAL SELECTION FORUM Please join us for a chance to meet and hear from the new principal candidates at DCIS TONIGHT, Thursday, Jan. 23, in the Auditorium.  Registration at 5:45, meeting 6-7:30 pm. Childcare, refreshments and interpretation will be provided. Find more information here, including bios for both candidates.   During the forum, members of the community will have an opportunity to share their personal, 60-second DCIS story. The intent is for the principal candidates to understand how and why DCIS is — and has been — special to so many people over the better part of four decades. This opportunity is open to students, parents/guardians, alumni, staff, community members, etc. If you are interested in participating, please sign up here. You can also sign up in person at the start of the event. HAPPENING THIS WEEK ... Open House for Prospective Students: Thursday, Jan. 23, 7:50 am DCIS Principal Candidate Community Forum: Thursday, Jan. 23, Registration 5:45, Meeting 6-7:30, Auditorium MARK YOUR CALENDAR ... Drama Club One-Acts: Friday, Jan. 31, 6 pm Drama Club One-Acts: Saturday, Feb. 1, 6 pm Open House for Prospective Students: Thursday, Feb. 6, 7:50 am Drama Club Cinderella Auditions: Monday, Feb. 10, and Tuesday, Feb. 11, 3-4:30 pm NO SCHOOL: Friday, Feb. 14, and Monday, Feb. 17 CSC Meeting: Thursday, Feb. 20, 4:30-6:30 pm, Community Room FROM THE PRINCIPAL ... Greetings DCIS Community,   I just wanted to write a short note of gratitude and recognize our fab Social Studies and Passages teacher, Patrick Garvey. As many of you know, this past Tuesday was Passages Day here at DCIS, and what a great day it was!     Our 11th graders, full of nerves and knowledge, presented to the rest of the school on a topic of interest to them. I personally was able to enjoy presentations on the need to have spacesuits that fit women, the disappearance of indigenous women, LGBT representation in the media, legalizing sex work, misogyny and ruling women in southern Africa, and racial conflict in the U.S. Wow!    While there are days when DCIS can look and feel like any other school, Passages Day was a unique, very cool day where DCIS shined. Thanks, Mr. Garvey, for your leadership, and kudos to all our juniors for sharing all that you learned!   Cheers, Dr. Gamba Family communication is essential to our students' achievement, and we're working hard to improve our communication. The Flyer app will deliver essential information, accept your feedback and be the center of our school's resources. If you haven't already downloaded it, please follow the steps below to set up your app correctly: Search "Flyer School" in the Apple or Google Play store, or visit https://www.flyerconnect.org/app. Once you've installed the Flyer School app, tap the "+" button and search for DCIS at Baker High School and/or DCIS at Baker Middle School and select "add". Families can tap the Language button on the bottom left of the screen to select their preferred language. Tap our school to view school content and add your groups. That's it! You are now connected to our school app and will receive all schoolwide communication. Tap the Groups icon to add yourself to relevant groups to receive grade-level or activity-based messaging. If you have problems with downloading or using the app, please contact our support team. KUDOS TO DCIS! Our school ranks SECOND in DPS for four-year graduation rate, at 96.2% (behind DSA at 98.7%). Congratulations to all our amazing students, and thanks to our teachers for achieving this academic success! The Denver Public Schools' Class of 2019 posted the district's highest on-time graduation rate yet and grew by more than 300 students over the previous year's graduating class. According to data released last week by the Colorado Department of Education, DPS's on-time graduation rate, or the percentage of students who graduate in four years, climbed from 70.2% in 2018 to 70.9% in 2019. Five years ago, the district's four-year graduation rate stood at 62.8%. TRAVEL CENTER NEWS ...  SUMMER LANGUAGE PROGRAMS  For students who can't or don't want to travel outside the U.S. but want a culturally and linguistically immersive experience, Concordia Language Villages are a great option. Costs are $2,000 for the two-week program and $4,000 for one month and high school credit. These programs are eligible for DCIS Foundation scholarships. Check them out!  Do you have a motivated 9th grader who aspires to be a global leader? Former DCIS student and superstar Ana Gutierrez is an alumna of Camp Rising Sun and is looking to recommend 15-year-olds from our school to attend this FREE month-long camp this summer. Applicants should demonstrate leadership potential, character, individuality and intellect; be able to learn from experience; and represent one's local or regional culture. For more information, check out their website. CONGRATULATIONS  The following students were accepted to CIEE month-long language and culture programs for next summer! Each year the process becomes increasingly competitive, so kudos to these kiddos who made the cut. Between them, they earned more than $17,000 in CIEE scholarships! With apologies for misspelled/incorrect names in last week's newsletter. Skylar Veazey - Chinese Language & Culture in Nanjing, China Ned Keyse - Intensive Spanish Language & Culture in Palma de Mallorca, Spain Fahiima Abdullahi - Arabic Language & Moroccan Culture in Rabat, Morocco Alex Grundy - Japanese Language & Culture in Kyoto, Japan Christian Rios-Aburto - Japanese Language & Culture in Kyoto, Japan If you or your child is still interested in applying for any of the CIEE programs, IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO APPLY! February 14 is the second application deadline for CIEE programs and scholarships. Students may apply for scholarships based on merit or merit and need. Discover their high-quality, intensive programs. DCIS FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS ROUND 2 The Winter Scholarship Application portal is OPEN. The hard deadline for all applications (group and individual) is Friday, Jan. 31. All information and forms can be found on the foundation's website.  Big News for Teachers: No more teacher recommendation "letters" for student applications! Instead, there is a new RECOMMENDATION FORM (super simple and fast) that is now online and privately sent to the DCIS Foundation. Woo-hoo!  ATTENTION 8TH GRADE FAMILIES: CHANGE IN SCHOOL CHOICE POLICY All 8th graders at DCIS will automatically be enrolled in 9th grade at DCIS unless they fill out the choice form indicating another choice (or choices). For the past several years, the reverse has been true — 8th graders were automatically enrolled in their neighborhood school and had to fill out a choice form with DCIS as their first choice in order to remain at DCIS for high school.  RAISE YOUR HAND...  PTSA Looking for a volunteer opportunity where you can make an impact in the DCIS community? Consider joining the PTSA Board of Directors for a two-year term, beginning next fall with the 2020-21 school year. We are recruiting individuals who are interested in running for the following officer positions: President, Vice President and Secretary. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Lucy Rosas or call 602-315-6257. Elections will be held in March 2020. TEACHER WISH LISTS We're still looking to fulfill the wishes of our teachers. Check out the wish list here. Please don't forget to go to smile.amazon.com before checkout and select our organization (search for DCIS PTSA) as your AmazonSmile under My Account. There is no cost to you, and Amazon will donate a percentage of your purchase to the DCIS PTSA. ARTS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION ...  VISUAL ARTS Students in grades 8-11 who might be interested in a deep arts and culture-centered excursion to Santa Fe and Taos, NM, during Spring Break 2021, please let Dr. Marion know, especially if you don't have Art this semester, so she can give you information. School service opportunities abound in the art room — sorting, cutting, washing, labeling and stocking stuff can be done during off-periods or lunch or after school. Calendar of Visual Art Events DRAMA The One Acts will be on Friday, Jan. 31, and Saturday, Feb. 1, at 6 pm. Students $3, Adults $5. Tickets sold only at the door. Auditions for "Cinderella" will be Monday Feb 10th from 3-4:30, and Tuesday Feb 11th from 3-4:30 by sign up outside the Auditorium. Call backs will be on Thursday, Feb 13, from 3 to 4:30 pm. Please have a minute-long monologue prepared, as well as a minute of a Broadway musical song prepared. See Mr. Edwards, or Ms. Kerswill (coming back on Feb. 3) if you have any questions!  The musical will be on Thursday, April 30, Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2 all at 6 pm. Mark your calendars!  CONNECT ... DCIS Website DCIS Facebook Page DCIS Parents Group (closed, non-school-sanctioned) on Facebook DCIS Drama Club Facebook  DCIS Travel Center Facebook DCIS Foundation Facebook   DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. Please send questions or comments to dcis.connect@gmail.com.  Every Thursday while school is in session, you'll receive this DCIS Connect newsletter in your email inbox to keep you up to date on all the events and happenings at our school. It's also available on the DCIS Connect app, which you can download at the Apple Store or Google Play. If you don't wish to receive the newsletter, click the Unsubscribe link below. If you're receiving multiple copies of the newsletter, please email dcis.connect@gmail.com to report the problem; be sure to indicate your first and last name and preferred email address so we can update our records. Newsletter submissions are due by noon on the Tuesday preceding the issue date. Email submissions to dcis.connect@gmail.com.  Copyright © 2020 DCIS Connect Newsletter, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email newsletter because you are a member of the DCIS community. If you do not wish to receive the newsletter, please click the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email. Our mailing address is: DCIS Connect Newsletter 574 W. 6th Ave. Denver, CO 80204 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list