DCIS Connect Newsletter (Dec. 13-19, 2018)

Weekly Newsletter for Parents, Staff and Students December 13-19, 2018 (Leer en Español usar el traductor de Google aquí.) TEACHER/STAFF LUNCH DONATIONS REQUESTED Each year, DCIS parents show the wonderful DCIS teachers and staff our appreciation for their hard work with a holiday lunch. This year's lunch is Wednesday, Dec. 19. Thank you to everyone who's already signed up! Slots are still available for food and for help setting up and cleaning up. Raise your hand and sign up here!  Items should be dropped off in the DCIS Community Room by 11 am on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Dishes can be picked up after school on Dec. 19 or on Thursday, Dec. 20. Thank you for supporting our teachers and staff! HAPPENING THIS WEEK ... One-Act Play Tech Apps Due: Thursday, Dec. 13 CSC Meeting: Thursday, Dec. 13, 4:30-6:30 pm, DCIS Community Room Teacher/Staff Appreciation Lunch: Wednesday, Dec. 19, 11 am–1:30 pm, DCIS Community Room Finals: Monday-Thursday, Dec. 17-20 Finals Makeup Day: Friday, Dec. 21 Winter Break: Dec. 21- Jan. 6 MARK YOUR CALENDAR ... Classes Resume: Monday, Jan. 7 PTSA Meeting: Thursday, Jan. 17, 6:30-8 pm, DCIS Cafeteria, everyone welcome Passages Day: Friday, Jan. 18 FROM THE PRINCIPAL ... Dear DCIS Parents, Next week will be the final week of the fall semester. As a reminder, here is the schedule for the week: Monday, Dec. 17, Green Day Tuesday, Dec. 18, Blue Day Wednesday, Dec. 19, Green Day Thursday, Dec. 20, Blue Day Friday, Dec. 21, no classes for students. Students can meet with teachers by appointment to make up finals or major projects. Otherwise, no school this day. Semester exams will be given next week. Please help your child prepare for their exams by encouraging them to study and by making sure they get a good night's sleep and eat a healthy breakfast. Breakfast is provided free of charge to all students every day, but students must make it to school on time in order to get the free breakfast. We wish all students good luck on their finals!   DCIS welcomed new Restorative Practices Coordinator Vanessa Medina this week. She will help build systems and structures in order to promote successful student behaviors, particularly in the middle school. We still have a vacancy for the passroom para. However, due to that position being vacant for more than two months, we have enough money in "salary savings" to upgrade that position to a second restorative practices counselor. Our CSC unanimously supported the creation of a true restorative practices team at DCIS. Other schools that have implemented this system, such as North High School, have seen dramatic improvement in attendance and student behavior. We currently are interviewing for this second restorative practices position. More soon!   For some students, the holidays can be a stressful time. If your child appears stressed or anxious about the upcoming two-week break from school or about the holidays in general, know that our counseling and social work team is here to help your child navigate this potentially difficult time, if needed. If that's the case, please don't hesitate to reach out (contact information for our counselors appears below). Theresa McCorquodale RAISE YOUR HAND ...   DCIS PTSA YOU ARE INVITED to attend the DCIS PTSA membership meeting on Thursday, Jan. 17, 6:30-8 pm in the DCIS Cafeteria. We look forward to discussing the Christmas Tree Lot collaboration with DCIS Fairmont, other sponsorship opportunities, as well as your questions or ideas for fundraising and your priorities for how to spend the money the PTSA raises. Hope to see you there! Congrats to Mia Oliver!  She signed her national letter of intent to play NCAA Division 2 tennis for Edinboro University in Pennsylvania!  COUNSELORS' CORNER ...  COUNSELORS Tami Schmidt Middle school 720-423-9006 Melisa Springsteen High school last names A-J 720-423-9105 Ted Brugman  High school last names K-Z 720-423-9094 DCIS CANNED FOOD DRIVE A SUCCESS Thank you to all the students who donated to our canned food drive. We collected more than 350 canned goods. A big congrats to Mr. Pomponio's Advisement and Ms. Ryan's Advisement for bringing in the most cans!!! FALL SEMESTER Finals for fall semester are the week of Dec. 17. Please make sure to monitor your student's grades between now and then to make sure your student passes with a D or better to earn credit. Senior Stuff Folder EMERGENCY TEXTS FROM DPS Families and high school students will now receive emergency texts from the district. The communications team will also send emergency robocalls and robo-emails. Messages will be sent during crises such as lockdowns, evacuations and weather delays/closures. We are excited about this change because sending text messages will inform families and students of crises in a much shorter time frame than what it takes for a robocall or robo-email to be delivered. Parents and guardians* have been automatically opted-in to receive emergency texts** based on cell phone numbers provided during registration. Please check to make sure your information is up-to-date in the Parent Portal. Messages will be sent in English and Spanish. *Families of high school students, please fill out this Google form in order to sign up YOUR STUDENT to receive emergency texts. **Please note, Communications does not send out messages during lockouts unless they take place during arrival/dismissal and we hear directly from a school leader or DPS Safety. Lockouts are typically caused by police activity in our neighborhood and will only affect families and students during arrival/dismissal and lunchtime. Learn more about lockdowns and lockouts here. DPS WHOLE CHILD SUPPPORTS...  BE THE INFLUENCE As you may know, Denver Public Schools is partnering with an organization called Be the Influence (BTI). BTI is a parent support program for a network of parents who are dedicated to doing all they can to keep their teens safe and away from drugs for as long as possible. BTI provides access to a secure database of this network of Denver parents who pledge to host teen parties free of alcohol, marijuana, nicotine and other drugs. BTI sends out bimonthly newsletters to its parents with parenting tips and facts about different drugs. There is also an option for parents to receive these newsletters without making the pledge. We invite you to check out this website for more information about this community.    To view BTI's latest blog on teen use of marijuana, including information on the latest trends, products and studies, click here. For health effects and other risks for teen use of marijuana, click here.  FUN, FREE ACTIVITIES IN THE DENVER AREA Check out the DenverRAP (Denver Resource for Awareness and Prevention December Activity Calendar. 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