(Leer en Español usar el traductor de Google aquí.)
WELCOME BACK!!
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 at the end. 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 10 am on the Tuesday preceding the issue date. Email submissions to dcis.connect@gmail.com.
MANDATORY TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP ORIENTATION
To fulfill its mission of taking global education beyond the classroom, the DCIS Foundation grants travel scholarships to students of all DCIS schools who are going on a DCIS school-sponsored trip. Every student who wants to apply for a scholarship for travel through this fall MUST attend an application preparation orientation meeting (parents are welcome to attend) and participate in interviews. There will be another orientation meeting in the fall for students traveling later this year who wish to apply for a scholarship then.
The application preparation orientation dates for DCIS-Baker students are:
Tuesday, Jan. 16, 12:30-1:30 pm, DCIS Community Room (103)
Thursday, Jan. 18, 12:30-1:30 pm, DCIS Community Room (103)
Thursday, Jan. 18, 5:30-6:30 pm, MUN Room*
*NOTE NEW DATE (originally scheduled for Monday, Jan. 15).
HAPPENING THIS WEEK ...
Open House for Prospective Students: Thursday, Jan. 11, 6–7:30 pm
NO SCHOOL:Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 15
NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS: Friday, Feb. 2 (staff professional development day)
LETTER FROM THE PRINCIPAL ...
Dear DCIS Parents,
Happy 2018! After a nice long break, students and staff have jumped right back into the flow of school. It feels good to be back! We are hard at work focusing on making sure all students are in class on time, ready to learn and successful at mastering the content of their classes. Students have been making great progress this year, and we are excited for them to show us what they can do during upcoming spring testing, Passages, senior presentations and more!
To this end, we have a few specific goals we want to highlight:
Improved attendance. Our goal for this year is to increase our attendance rate by 1 percent over last year. At this point, we are not on track to meet this goal, as our attendance is exactly the same as it was last year. So we are asking parents to help us by making sure their children attend school every day. (Of course, if your child is sick, please keep them home!)
Improved math and literacy for middle school students. Our middle school students are hard at work focusing on reading informational texts, learning how to make a claim supported by evidence from the text, and expanding number skills, proportions, ratios and algebra/pre-algebra skills. Please ask your child about these focus areas. You will be impressed with what they know!
Improved rate of high school students who are on track to graduate. This means all students passing all of their classes and earning all of the credits they need to graduate. If you have a high school student, please check in with them about their credits and their "on track" status. Working together, we hope to have 100 percent of our students on track to graduate!
Improved parent engagement. We need you! In addition to parent coffees and regular family engagement nights, we also will host student-led conferences in February, so keep an eye out for a communication from your child's adviser regarding when your child will present his/her student-led conference. All conferences will be held in the following windows: Thursday, Feb. 15, 3:30-7 pm, and Thursday, Feb. 22, 3:30-7 pm.
Finally, Passages presentation day will be held this year on Monday, Jan. 22. If you have time, please plan to drop by DCIS to see our amazing juniors present their Passages research. Students really shine on this day, and this year promises to be outstanding! Hope to see you.
Thank you for supporting your students and for your support of DCIS. We appreciate you!
Theresa McCorquodale
RAISE YOUR HAND ... 8TH GRADE CAREER EVENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED We are looking for parents or community members who would be interested in helping to engage our 8th graders by speaking, teaching or leading workshops on various careers and pathways. We tentatively plan to have a career event at the beginning of March. Please email Tami Schmidt at tamara_schmidt@dpsk12.org or call 720-423-9006 if you are interested or know someone who would like to participate. Thank you!!
CSC MEETING Join the CSC on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 4–6 pm, in the DCIS Community Room (103) for its monthly meeting. As always, meetings are open to the public, and the committee would love to see you there! If you have a comment or suggestion for the committee, public comment time is the first 10 minutes of each meeting, or you can contact one of your representatives. Contact information and meeting minutes are available here.
ART ROOM WELCOMES DONATIONS Have extra "stuff" cluttering up your home? Chances are, the DCIS Art Room can use it! See our wish list here. Thank you to those who donated their extra "clutter" when school began! If you have donations for the new semester, they can be dropped off in the art room (117) at your convenience. Thanks for your support of the DCIS art program! For questions, email Susan Marion: Susan_Marion@dpsk12.org.
HAVE FUN AND EARN MONEY FOR DCIS Mom UP! Project @ Stanley Marketplace Save the date for Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018 (4–9:30 pm) and purchase your tickets for the Mom UP! Project. This first-of-its-kind event will have something for everybody: pop-up shops, prolific guest speakers and demos, pop-up restaurants and swag bags loaded with offers/samples for every attendee. It gets better! $8 from every ticket will be donated back to the school of each attendee's choice. Tickets are limited. Buy your tickets here and type in "DCIS" as your school.
TRAVEL AND EXCHANGE OPPORTUNITIES...
COSTA RICA Our program to Costa Rica is a tailored itinerary unique to our group and DCIS students and teachers. This 10-day program will offer your child the opportunity to spend time working with international researchers at a field research station on the Osa Peninsula surveying mammals such as monkeys, river otters, kinkajous, turtles and sloths with local researchers. We will immerse ourselves in Costa Rican culture, hike through the rainforest, engage in recycling projects with the local school in Ojachal, and study the conservation work at La Cusinga Lodge. We will also have the opportunity to enjoy the beach and explore the National Parque Nacional Marino Ballena, where we'll learn how to surf.
Participating students will receive service hour certification for their volunteer hours, grow their social skills, make real-world connections to their science and global learning, and participate in an experience that will set them apart when applying to college and on their future educational and professional career paths. Spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Interested students should plan to attend the informational meeting on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 12:30 pm in DCIS Room 217B. Questions? Please email Ms. Kerrigan at meghan_kerrigan@dpsk12.org.
ADOLESCO YOUTH EXCHANGE Learn French in France, German in Germany or Spanish in Spain! We will match you with a student about your own age for a unique two-way exchange to France, Germany or Spain as part of our flexible and affordable nonprofit language immersion and cultural exchange program for qualifying U.S. students ages 9–18. YOU DECIDE when to exchange and for how long (up to three months). Find other upcoming informational events and sign up for more info. Applications are due by Thursday, March 15.
YOUTH SUMMIT TRIP IN EAST AFRICA The Global Leadership Institute will be hosting the 5th annual Entusi Youth Summit Trip to Uganda and Rwanda. Click here or check out GLI's website for more information.
COUNSELORS' CORNER ...
COUNSELOR ASSIGNMENTS Tami Schmidt: Middle School Ted Brugman: 9th and 10th Grades Melisa Springsteen: 11th and 12th Grades Aly Bortle: 12th Grade Post-Secondary Coach, Wednesdays and Fridays in room 1010
12TH GRADE POSTSECONDARY COACH Aly Bortle, the DCIS Post-secondary Coach, is available to help seniors accomplish anything and everything they want for themselves after high school. If they want to go to college, she'll help them find the best school and scholarships for them. If they want to start a career, she'll help them find a way to do something they love. She can help students complete applications, write college essays, research interests, and much more! Email ALYSSA_BORTLE@dpsk12.org or stop by Room 101B in the main office on Wednesdays and Fridays.
75% of our senior class has applied to a university, community college and/or technical school
10% of students who have applied have been admitted thus far
47% of the senior class has completed their FAFSA
87% of the senior class is remediation-free in math and English
2 Coca-Cola semifinalists
1 Boettcher semifinalist
JUNIORS Passages Day is Monday, Jan. 22.
7TH GRADE Students can soon apply for the Jack Kent Cooke FoundationYoung Scholars Program, a selective five-year pre-college scholarship for high-performing 7th grade students with financial need. It provides comprehensive academic and college advising, as well as financial support for school, Cooke-sponsored summer programs, internships and other learning-enrichment opportunities. The application window opens Wednesday, Jan. 17, and closes Wednesday, March 21.
CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT DEADLINE: HAS PASSED The funding capacity has been met. If your student is a junior or sophomore and would like to take college courses off campus in fall 2018, please have them contact Mrs. Springsteen at melisa_springsteen@dpsk12.org. Registration will start in March.
ADVISORY COUNCIL PRESENTATION What has the counseling office been up to? Find out here!
REMINDER APP FOR FAMILIES WITH JUNIORS AND SENIORS The Counseling Office is using the Remind app to notify the parents of juniors and seniors about important dates and deadlines. To sign up for reminders: Parents of juniors: text @co19pg to the number 81010 Parents of seniors: text @co18pg to the number 81010
COLLEGE WORD OF THE WEEK Freshman: First-year college student.
Support your teachers ... and get a great tutor!
Ivy is a new tutoring startup founded by one of our parents. Ivy connects K-12 Denver-area teachers with parents who are seeking to hire tutors for their children. The Ivy app is exclusively for teachers, giving parents a safe and verified source for tutors. All Ivy teachers are qualified in our school curriculum so they know how best to help your child excel academically. Use the Ivy app to book a session at a teacher's location or have them come to your home. Teachers are available to tutor middle school algebra all the way up to AP chemistry and physics in high school … or even get a great piano teacher.
You can download the Ivy app for iPhone here or Android here.
