DCIS Connect Newsletter (Oct. 18-24, 2018)

Weekly Newsletter for Parents, Staff and Students October 18-24, 2018 (Leer en Español usar el traductor de Google aquí.) HAPPENING THIS WEEK ... Fall Break – NO SCHOOL: Friday–Tuesday, Oct. 19–23; school resumes Wednesday, Oct. 24 (White Day) MARK YOUR CALENDAR ... Coffee with the Principal: Wednesday, Oct. 24, 8–8:45 am, DCIS Community Room Cafe con la Directora: Thursday, Oct. 25, 8:30–9:15 am, DCIS Community Room Middle School Halloween Dance: Friday, Oct. 26, 6-8 pm SOS: 6th Grade, Monday, Oct. 29, 2 pm, DCIS Community Room Collaborative School Committee (CSC) Meeting: Tuesday, Oct. 30, 4:30–6:30 pm, DCIS Community Room Open House for Prospective Students: Thursday, Nov. 1, 8–9:15 am School Picture Retakes: Monday, Nov. 5, 8 am–3 pm 8th Grade Career Fair: Tuesday, Nov. 6, 7 am–3 pm, National Western Complex SOS: 9th Grade, Monday, Nov. 12, 2 pm, DCIS Community Room Drama Club Fundraiser: Monday, Nov. 12, 4-8 pm, Pizzeria Locale, 550 Broadway, Denver (mention the DCIS Drama Club when ordering and the club will get 33% of the proceeds) Open House for Prospective Students: Wednesday, Nov. 14, 8–9:15 am DCIS Drama Fall Play: "Nosferatu: The Legend of Dracula," Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 15-17, 6-8 pm, DCIS Auditorium Collaborative School Committee: Thursday, Nov. 15, DCIS Community Room Thanksgiving Break – NO SCHOOL: Monday-Friday, Nov. 19-23; school resumes Monday, Nov. 26 FROM THE PRINCIPAL ...  Dear DCIS Parents, Thank you for coming out to our student-led parent/teacher conferences. I was able to stop by and watch several of our students really shine as they presented their work to you. Really makes a principal proud to see our students so honest about their work, and so reflective. If you have questions for your child's content teachers as a result of the student-led conferences, please reach out to those teachers individually as needed. Email is the best way to reach teachers, and they would love to hear from you. Students have a fall break starting on Friday. There will be no school for students on Friday, Monday or Tuesday, Oct. 19 and 22-23. Classes resume on Wednesday, Oct. 24, and this day will be a White Day. Our regular pattern of White Days for Mondays, Blue Days for Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Green Days for Wednesdays and Fridays resumes the week of Oct. 29.  In other news, we have hired a long-term sub, Rob Epstein, for the art teacher position, as our current art teacher is out on leave for the rest of the semester. If you get a chance, please welcome Mr. Epstein. We're so glad he's here! Meanwhile, we are interviewing three candidates for our Spanish vacancy. We hope to make a decision by the end of next week and will move forward with the hiring process as soon as possible. I will keep parents of students in these classes updated.  Our first parent-principal coffees of the year (one in English, one in Spanish) are scheduled next week (see calendar). These are an opportunity for parents to chat with me over coffee and pastries about any questions, concerns, updates, etc. I welcome all parents and look forward to talking with you. Finally, I will be hosting an informational meeting sometime in early November to discuss our school's most recent SPF rating. Stay tuned for the date and time. As always, I am grateful to you for sending your amazing students to us each day. They inspire me in one way or another literally every single day.  Theresa McCorquodale SOS: RECOGNIZING DEPRESSION AND SUICIDE RISK Dear DCIS Parents, The adolescent years are marked by a roller-coaster ride of emotions — difficult for youths, their parents and educators. It is easy to misread depression as normal adolescent turmoil; however, depression (among the most common of mental illnesses) appears to be occurring at a much earlier age. Depression — which is treatable — is a leading risk factor for suicide. In addition, self-injury has become a growing problem among youth. To proactively address these issues, DCIS is offering depression awareness and suicide prevention training as part of the SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention Program. The program has proved successful at increasing help-seeking by students concerned about themselves or a friend. It is the only school-based suicide prevention program listed by SAMSHA for its National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices that addresses suicide risk and depression while reducing suicide attempts. In a randomized control study, the SOS high school program showed a 40 percent reduction in self-reported suicide attempts (BMC Public Health, July 2007). Our goals in participating in this program are straightforward: To help our students understand that depression is a treatable illness To explain that suicide is a preventable tragedy that often occurs as a result of untreated depression To provide students training in how to identify their own or a friend's serious depression and potential suicidal thoughts  To impress upon youth that they can help themselves or a friend by taking the simple step of talking to a responsible adult about their concerns To help students know whom in the school they can turn to for help, if they need it DCIS will be implementing the SOS program on Monday, Oct. 29, for 6th grade and Monday, Nov. 12, for 9th grade. If you do not want your child participating in the SOS program, please email Mr. Powell. Sincerely, Brian Powell, Social Worker Tamara Schmidt, Counselor  YEARBOOKS Yearbooks are available for preorder by following this link. Yearbooks are $35 this year and will only be available via preorder, so get yours today!!   NEW THIS YEAR: When you preorder your yearbook, you will be given access to two custom pages just for your child's yearbook!    Senior families, watch for additional information about senior pictures and tributes. Please email Abby Hoffman with questions. November 15, 16, 17 at 6 pm in the Auditorium   DCIS DRAMA PRESENTS   RAISE YOUR HAND ... SNACKS AND CHAPERONES NEEDED We need parents to chaperone at and provide snacks for the Middle School Halloween Dance and Haunted House on Friday, Oct. 26, 6-8 pm. Parents can drop off snack donations in the office next week or at the dance on Friday evening with Ms. Rodriquez. If you would like to chaperone, either email Ms. Rodriquez to let her know or just come with your student to the dance — the more the merrier! The cost for the dance is $5, and each visit to the haunted house is $1. It is a crazy good time, and the kids have a ton of fun! All are welcome to join us. HOST FAMILIES NEEDED FOR ONE WEEK Looking for families to host students from Brazil, Nov. 17–25. Please email Linnea Chruscielski at US-Brazil Connect or call her at 720-338-8839 if interested. You can also sign up online here. CSC ELECTS NEW PARENT MEMBERS The results are in! Congratulations to our two new parent representatives on the CSC, Lucy Rosas and Tanya Tribelhorn. Lucy and Tanya join current parent members Jennifer Gentry and Amber Shearer. The next CSC meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 4:30 pm. All members of the community are welcome to sit in on these meetings, with public comment at the beginning of each meeting. DCIS TRAVELS ...  DCIS-SPONSORED TRIPS  The following trips are on the books and looking for participants. Please email any of the teachers listed for more information. Morocco/Spain - Sonia Burns and Patrick Garvey - This one is filling up! Italy - Dave Tabano (see below for information meeting date and time) Germany - Brian Powell and Kit Hinders  New trips forming! Costa Rica or Thailand - Kristen Miller and Sam Wilson-Moses Peru - Jesse Sandschaper and Virgilio San Andres China - Peggy Liu  Washington, D.C. - Gwen Holmes There will be an important parent/student informational meeting about the Italy trip, on Thursday, Oct. 25, 6 pm at DCIS. If you are interested or have any questions or are just curious about the trip, please come to the meeting. If you cannot attend the meeting but are interested, please contact Dave Tabano for more information. Also, CIEE is looking for participants for its high-quality programs for high school students. Last year, DCIS, currently the only CIEE partner school in Colorado, sent eight students to France, Ghana, Ireland and Japan and gave them a total of almost $25,000 in scholarships! Check out this week's Travel Fair Spotlight section below, and follow this link to learn more. TRAVEL FAIR SPOTLIGHT ...        CIEE Hello, my name is Michel, and I am an international studies coordinator here at CIEE! I am here to introduce and assist students interested in applying and participating in any one of our study-abroad programs. I have been working with CIEE for two years and have assisted students who wish to study abroad for only a few weeks all the way up to a few semesters, so please let me know what your aspirations are! Call me at 207-274-5679 or send me an email.   CIEE is a leading study-abroad nonprofit that has been running programs for students since 1947. Our mission is to engage students with a global perspective, whether this be through volunteerism, cultural exchange or academic study. High school students have always been a pillar for CIEE, and we currently provide summer programs, semester/academic exchanges, and gap-year programs spanning dozens of cities and countries. Also, in keeping with our mission to provide opportunities to as many students as possible, we offer many types of scholarships, both large and small, that may help you make your travel goals a reality. So please let us know what your objectives are, and I'm sure we can find a good fit. EXTRACURRICULARS ...  Click here to register (so we have some idea of how many people to expect). If the online link doesn't work for you, just email Steve or call 303-355-2752. This is a great opportunity for DCIS students to get special event credit! DCIS is looking for volunteers to represent its Japanese program at an info table during this Japanese Culture Day Celebration. Please email Marie Meyer if you'd like to help out, even if you can be there only part of the time. Also, we are looking for Japanese decor or artifacts for our table. Please let Marie know if you have anything we can borrow. YOUR HELP IS MUCH APPRECIATED!!  COUNSELORS' CORNER ...  COUNSELORS Tami Schmidt: Middle school Melisa Springsteen: High school last names A-J Ted Brugman: High school last names K-Z SENIORS CORNER College Application Day (district-led): Wednesday, Oct. 24, 9 am-1 pm. Transportation and lunch will be provided. Negative permission slips will be sent out next week; only return it if your student will NOT be attending. 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 © 2018 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