DCIS Connect Newsletter (Oct. 10-16, 2019)

Weekly Newsletter for Parents, Staff and Students October 10–16, 2019 (Leer en Español usar el traductor de Google aquí.) DCIS FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS ARE DUE OCT. 14 AT MIDNIGHT! Need funds for educational travel? The DCISF scholarship application for this year's DCIS educational travel opportunities is online! Go to this link and click on "scholarships." Students should not wait since they need to gather documents from teachers and the trip organizers.  HAPPENING THIS WEEK ... Drama Club Fundraiser: Monday, Oct. 14, 4–8 pm, Pizzeria Locale, 6th and Broadway DCIS Foundation Scholarship Application DUE: Monday, Oct. 14 Middle School Volleyball: Monday, Oct. 14, 4 pm, at DCIS FREE COLLEGE APPLICATION DAY: Tuesday, Oct. 15; learn more here Family–Teacher Conferences: Wednesday-Thursday, Oct. 16-17, 3:15–7:15 pm MARK YOUR CALENDAR ... NO SCHOOL (Non-Student Contact Days): Friday, Oct. 18; Monday–Tuesday, Oct. 21–22 CSC Meeting: Thursday, Oct. 24, 4:30-6 pm, DCIS Community Room Middle School Volleyball: Friday, Oct. 25, 4 pm, KCAA, 2250 S. Quitman St., Denver Middle School Dance and Haunted House: Friday, Oct. 25, 6–8:30 pm, DCIS Cafeteria Middle School Volleyball: Tuesday, Oct. 29, 4 pm, vs. BVI, at DCIS School Safety — A Shared Responsibility: Wednesday, Oct. 30, 6–7 pm Middle School Perception Survey: Monday, Nov. 4, 7:50–9:20 am High School Perception Survey: Monday, Nov. 6, 7:50–9:20 am Family Trivia Night: Monday, Nov. 8, 6–8 pm Fall Play — Almost, Maine: Thursday–Saturday, Nov. 14–16, 6 pm Dine Out for DCIS: Thursday, Nov. 21, 4–8 pm Click here to access the schedule for all West High School sports. FAMILY CONFERENCE POTLUCK Family Conferences are next week! Our teachers and staff will be working overtime to connect with families and students. Please sign up at the link below to bring a dish for a potluck during conferences to show them how grateful we are for their dedication. Thanks for helping keep our teachers and staff going. Sign up here! FROM THE PRINCIPAL ...  Greetings DCIS Families,   This week and next week are great opportunities for students to truly show what they know. Middle school students will be taking the interim assessments, while in high school, students will be taking the Practice SAT/PSAT. In both cases students will have a literacy exam and a math exam. Understanding that few of us like to take tests, please have a conversation with your student about the importance of doing their best. Classroom teachers do a deep dive into this data to truly understand what students already know and what they don't YET know. Thanks for your support in getting students to school on time, rested and fed so that they can concentrate and do their best!   Additionally, we are looking forward to our Parent–Teacher Conferences on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 16 and 17, from 3:15 to 7:15 pm in the gyms and cafeteria. The format is a blend of student-led conferences and time for families to meet with individual teachers. Students are expected to attend and will review first-quarter grades, second-quarter goals, one high-quality artifact (assignment) and reflection, and continuation/graduation requirements. At the end of the student-led conference, families are welcome to visit with individual teachers. To help stagger the arrival of families, please reserve a time slot here.     Cheers, Dr. Gamba P.S. Preparing for conferences? Check your kiddo's progress on Parent Portal. You can check grades, attendance and schedule. SCHOOL SAFETY: A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY Denver Public Schools Department of Safety would like to invite all DCIS parents to a community meeting on school safety on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 6-7 pm at the school. This meeting will address lockdowns, lockouts, shelter-in-place, Safe2Tell, access control policies, situational awareness, traffic safety and much more. RAISE YOUR HAND...  PTSA VOLUNTEERS FOR TREASURY AUDIT We're transitioning the treasurer position and need two volunteers to audit last year's books and serve as checks and auditors for the 2019-2020 year. If you can conduct an audit this week (estimated 1 to max 2 hours of review - the books are in order and complete) so we can complete our filings, please email Andrew Watson or call him at 303-505-1164. COLLABORATIVE SCHOOL COMMITTEE Our next CSC meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 24, 4:30-6 pm, in the Community Room at DCIS. All members of the community are welcome to sit in on these meetings. Want to know more about the role of the CSC? Check out our webpage. Minutes from the September meeting can be found here. AMAZON SMILE DCIS is a registered charity on AmazonSmile! You can contribute to the PTSA by selecting our organization (search for DCIS PTSA) as your AmazonSmile under My Account. Make all your Amazon.com purchases at smile.amazon.com. There is no cost to you, and Amazon will donate a percentage of your purchase to the DCIS PTSA. In order for the PTSA to get credit for your purchase, it must be made through the smile.amazon.com website. We are very excited about this fundraising opportunity for our school! Please participate in our community by adding this simple step every time you make a purchase from Amazon. COUNSELORS' CORNER...  COUNSELORS Tami Handley - 720-423-9006 Ted Brugman - 720-423-9094 FREE COLLEGE APPLICATION DAY For the second year in a row, the Colorado Department of Higher Education has teamed up with colleges and universities all across Colorado to waive college application fees for all Colorado students on Tuesday, Oct. 15. That means if you submit your application between 12:01 am and 11:59 pm that day, you can apply for free to any public Colorado institution and many private institutions. YEARBOOK INFO Order your yearbook by Thursday, Oct. 31, and get a frightfully good discount of 10%! SENIOR TRIBUTES Senior tributes are available for $20 for a full-color, half-page tribute with up to three photos of your choosing! Please email Abby Hoffman by Friday, Dec. 13, if you are interested in purchasing a tribute for your senior. SENIOR/BABY PHOTOS Please email senior photos and baby photos in a 4:3 vertical format to the yearbook team by Friday, Dec. 20. No selfies accepted.  ARTS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION ... DRAMA UPDATES Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2 pm, DCIS Auditorium  "Superheroes Save Ikea"  Come see the Unified Theatre class perform an original play written by students in the class and performed by students from the MIS class (Ms. Cox's class). All parents and classes are welcome to attend! You don't want to miss this special performance about making spaces more accessible for people with disabilities, performed by students with disabilities.  Tuesday, Oct. 14, 4-9 pm, 6th & Broadway Pizzeria Locale Fundraiser for DCIS Drama Club. Please come out to support!  Thursday–Saturday, Nov 14-16, "Almost, Maine" Performed by the DCIS Drama Club. $5 for students, $8 for adults, $10 for first three rows. ART UPDATES Last week an admissions counselor from California College of Art in San Francisco came to DCIS to guide high school students who are interested in applying to an art college. Her presentation was fantastic! A rep from another art college also presented to seniors in Connections class.   The regional manager from Experience America, a small student travel company, visited DCIS to discuss the possibility of an immersive art experience for high schoolers in Santa Fe during Spring Break 2021. Students who are interested should let Dr Marion know; they will have an opportunity to help plan the excursion. Cherry Arts will be setting up a community art show with the Mobile Art Gallery in our library Nov. 5-19. The two-week residency will include public tours for the community led by DCIS student docents. This gallery contains acclaimed professional art from the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in July.  Grades for the first quarter will close on Friday. Students will have a portfolio of their media explorations—culminating (for HS) in a multimedia piece with a theme or message to show their families at conferences next week.  Finally, Art Club is thriving with members in all grades, many of whom do not have an art class but love art all the same. Summer 2020 LYNX Camp Dates The LYNX National Arts and Media Camps are summer immersion programs for high school students interested in music and the arts hosted on the University of Colorado Denver campus and sponsored by the CU Denver College of Arts & Media. For more information on summer camp dates and the program, go to their website. Application deadline is Friday, Nov. 1.  TRAVEL CENTER NEWS...  2ND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL WORLD LANGUAGE DAY Please join our friends and neighbors at North High School to check out their 2nd Annual World Language International Fair on Wednesday, Oct.16, 12:30–3:30 pm. Students, families and community are invited to bring a traditional dish to share with the others at the event. Also, if you have an exceptional skill that represents your heritage and want to come and share with us, please email Dr. Martin Hernandez.  DCIS students who attend can get Special Event credit. 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 © 2019 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