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By: Josh Griffin, Principal I wish our students great success on the upcoming final exams. Our students have worked hard this year to learn and grow both inside and outside the classroom. I am confident that the hard work and dedication to learning shown by our students throughout the school year will serve them as well as they prepare for final exams. We are using a new schedule for finals this year which we hope will support greater distribution of workload, and therefore greater student success to wrap up the semester. By distributing the finals over three days, and officially starting exams at 8:30 AM, we are creating conditions to support greater student success. Students should make arrangements to be in their seat for each final exam before the exam starts for each class. Please review the final exam schedule below and as needed, share this information with your child(ren): Final Exam Schedule - May 2022
* During Open Office Hours, students have the option to check-in with their teachers to review, seek help, and prepare for finals. Quiet study is available for students that arrive before 8:30 AM. Once we conclude finals on Wednesday, May 25th, the school year will be over. It has been an incredible year at D’Evelyn, and particularly a huge relief to have moved past so many challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. I am uplifted by the fact that we have had a very typical school year for our students, staff, and families. It is my best hope for the future of our great school that this will continue.
I hope that your child(ren) has a great finals exam week!
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Congratulations to the D’Evelyn Class of 2022 on the completion of their D’Evelyn careers. I am so proud of this group of students and congratulate them and their families on the great accomplishment of graduating from D’Evelyn. I am looking forward to honoring and recognizing this distinguished group of young adults at their Graduation on Saturday, May 21st. I hope that the families of the Class of 2022 have a great week celebrating your soon-to-be-graduates. Congratulations to our students that completed AP testing in the last two weeks. We administered approximately 600 AP exams for D’Evelyn students between May 2 - May 13. I appreciate the hard work and dedication our students show to achieve success on AP exams, and I am grateful to our teachers, staff, and families for teaching and supporting these students throughout the year. I look forward to seeing how well our students did on these exams in July. The end of the school year for our students in grades 6-11 is just around the corner. I encourage our students to focus on a strong finish to the year. As we approach Final Week from May 23-25, the last few days of the semester are an important time for learning, studying, and reviewing key materials. We know that “cramming” for semester exams is not the best preparation for our students. I hope that our students will take the remaining days of school - in classes, in 7th hour, and after school - to commit fully to reach their full potential through the end of the semester. Thank you for your ongoing support of your child(ren) and our school. I hope that you all had a great weekend and I wish all members of the D’Evelyn community a successful conclusion to the semester! DEF Golf Tournament - Friday, June 17th at Arrowhead Golf Club Looking ahead, I encourage D’Evelyn community members to participate in the 2022 D’Evelyn Education Foundation Golf Tournament this summer. Thank you to the parent and alumni volunteers that have organized this great event. More information is below, and you can register for the tournament or post-tournament dinner here.
By: Josh Griffin
It is hard to believe that we only have five more days of school with the members of the incredible Class of 2022. Their six years at D’Evelyn have gone quickly, and have been filled with so many great moments and achievements - I will remember the D’Evelyn Class of 2022 forever. Please join me in congratulating and honoring our soon-to-be graduates this week. While it is a busy week of AP tests, final exams, sports and activities, and opportunities to celebrate, it is my most sincere hope that these students will enjoy their final week at D’Evelyn. I hope that the members of our greater community will join in recognizing these incredible people. The Class of 2022 has upheld the excellent academic tradition of this great school in so many ways. Even before their senior year, these students have performed well in their classes, on standardized tests, and AP exams throughout their high school years. They have contributed to D’Evelyn top rankings as identified by various media publications, the Colorado Department of Education, and the United States Department of Education. We have seen them continue their commitment to academic excellence as seniors, right down to the final bells of the year. Given the tumultuous nature of their sophomore and junior years, this is no small feat! These young men and women are great scholars who undoubtedly will find great postsecondary success. Outside of the classroom, the members of the Class of 2022 have achieved great heights in athletics and extracurricular activities. These soon-to-be-graduates have participated robustly in the various opportunities available to them, and in the process, have brought great recognition and acclaim to our school community. The Class of 2022 is composed of all-conference and all-state level athletes, and contributors to multiple conference and state championship teams. The musicians and performers in the Class of 2022 have raised the performing arts at D’Evelyn to new heights. It was a great pleasure to see all of the students, and the seniors in particular, contribute to the amazing Newsies performance this winter, and our Marching Band, Orchestra, and Choral Music students have had amazing performances for many years. The group of senior band members contributed to multiple CBA state championships, a concert at Red Rocks, and a performance in the 2020 presidential inauguration ceremony, and we have seen many musicians recognized as all-county and all-state in the past four years. What an incredible group! Most importantly, the Class of 2022 features a group of young people of great character and integrity. We know that adolescence is a crucial period of growth for our kids, and watching this special group grow and mature over their six years at D’Evelyn has been incredible. I shifted into the role of interim principal during the middle of these students’ 7th grade year, and while it will be bittersweet for me on May 21st, I am so proud and honored to be able to enjoy my final graduation as D’Evelyn principal in their company. The Class of 2022 is a special group of young people. When I see them in our school, competing in sports and activities, and engaging in the community, I have great confidence in our future as a community and nation. This is a group with great character and great intellect, a combination that will serve them well in their futures. I know that this group will shine as people, family members, citizens, scholars, and professionals in the future. I take great pride in my affiliation with this group of students and wish them the very best going forward. I look forward to more formally celebrating the Class of 2022 at the Senior Banquet on May 18th and the Class of 2022 Graduation on May 21st. I hope that our younger students and families will take an opportunity to congratulate and honor this outstanding group in the upcoming days and weeks. We owe them a great debt of gratitude and appreciation for their hard work, dedication, and leadership in our school community. By: Josh Griffin, Principal
I hope that you and your family enjoyed a great weekend. We are looking forward to a great May here at D’Evelyn - I hope that this week is a great one for your child(ren) at D’Evelyn! Today, I want to bring forward two important community celebrations and extend my best wishes to our AP students with their upcoming exams. National Teacher Appreciation Week, May 2 - May 6, 2022 This upcoming week, we recognize our teachers at D’Evelyn, and around the county, state, and nation, with the 2022 National Teacher Appreciation Week. Please join me in thanking and recognizing our outstanding teachers during this week. We will honor our teachers throughout the week in school, but encourage students and families to reach out to thank teachers throughout the course of the week as well. We are fortunate to have a knowledgeable, dedicated, and passionate group of teachers, committed to providing a rich liberal arts education to all D’Evelyn students. I am grateful to our teachers particularly this year, as they have navigated the challenges associated with the return from previous years that were so heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. We have had a remarkable year at D’Evelyn - thank you to our teachers and staff for their hard work to support our students! US News & World Report Top High Schools - 2022 D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School was recognized this week as the #1 public high school in Colorado and #85 in the United States by US News & World Report. Congratulations are in order for D’Evelyn students, faculty, staff, and families - you all play an important role in the success of our school in these rankings. This recognition is a remarkable tribute to the contributions of so many people! In addition to the rich liberal arts curriculum and school philosophy outlined in the D’Evelyn Founding Document, the hard work and dedication of our students, faculty, and staff, and the support and engagement of D’Evelyn parents and families are all integral in the success of our school. These rankings are based upon college readiness, math and reading performance, underserved student performance, AP test participation and performance, and graduation rates. To view the national rankings and learn more about the selection methodology, please visit the US News & World Report website. You can also review the Colorado rankings and the D’Evelyn profile at the US News & World Report website. AP Exams Good luck to D’Evelyn students completing AP exams between Monday, May 2 and Friday, May 13. We know that you have worked hard all year and prepared diligently for these exams - I am confident that you will find great success in these assessments. Best wishes on a successful performance on these important year-end assessments. By: Josh Griffin, Principal
I hope our students and families enjoyed Prom and After Prom this past weekend. I am pleased that we were able to host these awesome events, and I appreciate the parent volunteers and student leaders that made both Prom and After Prom such a great success. My steadfast focus remains on ensuring that our students, faculty, staff, and families enjoy a successful conclusion to the 2021-2022 school year. The end of the school year is a very busy and exciting time in our school. In addition to the upcoming AP testing and end-of-year exams and finals, we have a multitude of awards events and ceremonies, athletic and extracurricular events, and annual traditions lined up to wrap up the year. It is the busiest and most uplifting time of the school year. The past couple of weeks have been challenging at D’Evelyn. The developments in the principal hiring process since April 14th created a stir in our community. As the current D’Evelyn principal, I was disappointed to see and hear the divisiveness and negativity that this matter brought into our community. Once again, we experienced great strife and conflict in our community. While it does seem that the uproar over the principal hiring process has been substantially reduced throughout the course of the week, that has not erased my disappointment in behaviors I observed and heard throughout the past two weeks. Throughout my D’Evelyn tenure, as a teacher, coach, administrator, and principal, it has always been my goal to ensure the success and wellbeing of current and future D’Evelyn students. Particularly in my role as principal in the past 5+ years, we have endured a significant number of crises in our school, and I include the recent events associated with the principal hiring process among them. I have learned a lot through those experiences, and in my last few weeks in this role, I hope to position the school to be better equipped to manage challenging circumstances. At a foundational level, I believe that students, faculty and staff, and families in the D’Evelyn community love this school and want the school to be successful, now and forever. We share a common belief in the importance of a liberal arts education and the transformative personal and academic experiences our students enjoy. The shared belief in and love for the school should be unifying. Nonetheless, when challenging issues arise in our community, I have not seen our common love for this school and our students flourish. All too often, I have seen negative presumptions of intent and divisive language and behaviors rise to the surface. Specifically, I have witnessed personal attacks, vitriolic emails/correspondence, and unhelpful commentary on social media outlets as very disruptive to the common goal of ensuring the success and wellbeing of our students and school. These and other similar actions do not support a healthy, thriving school community, and most importantly, it can negatively impact our success and wellbeing of our students and our great school. My best hope for the D’Evelyn community in the future is that we can collectively grow in our willingness to consider the various perspectives of fellow community members, whether from students, faculty/staff, or parents and families. In difficult times in our school, it is important that we presume positive intent of others, that we listen and consider all angles of an issue, and that we work together towards the common good throughout our community. On a very specific level, I cannot imagine how venting angry, negative comments on social media outlets are in any way healthy or helpful for our community. Actions like these widen the gap between people and harden different groups from a willingness to work together to support our students and the school. There are a multitude of community stakeholders in our school, and when questions arise or further clarification is needed, it is important that we can directly and respectfully communicate with one another in pursuit of the common good. Going forward, we will undoubtedly have challenges that arise in our community. I call upon all D’Evelyn community members to consider how they can contribute respectfully and productively to those future challenges - let us all commit to rising above the fray that we so often see in the world around us, and work together directly, hand-in-hand, for the continued success and betterment of D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School. Open and honest discourse is essential to the future success of D’Evelyn; however, that productive discourse cannot thrive without openness and willingness to thoughtfully consider the opinions, inspirations, and perspectives of your fellow community members. Please consider how you can work together with our various constituencies within our community to ensure the current and long-term success of D’Evelyn students and the stability of our school. I appreciate your consideration of this message. I love this school and I want to see it thrive in the future - I look forward to the continued success of our students. Without a doubt, I believe that our community will be more successful in the future with more open, healthy discourse. I wish you all the very best for a great week ahead and a happy, fun, and successful conclusion to this school year. By: Josh Griffin, Principal
I hope that this message finds you doing well and having enjoyed a great weekend. We are in the midst of a very busy time at D’Evelyn, and I am so proud of the hard work and dedication of our students, faculty, and staff to finish the year well. Thank you to our students that completed a number of standardized tests in the past few weeks - we are happy to have completed our regularly scheduled administration of all CMAS grades 6-8 testing, the PSAT 9, PSAT 10, and SAT 11 in the past few weeks. I appreciate the commitment offered by all of our community members to ensure that we have a successful implementation of these assessments. There have recently been important developments unfolding in our school community. Specifically, this past week, as a community, we received several updates from the Steering Committee on behalf of the Principal Hiring Committee. I want to acknowledge the members of the hiring committee for their dedication to seeking the next D’Evelyn principal, and thank them for their efforts to this point. I am confident that this group will continue the important work for hiring a new principal to lead the D’Evelyn community. Once the full process is complete, I look forward to supporting the new principal in any way that I can during our transition period. My concern at this juncture in the principal hiring process is that it could disrupt or obstruct our community in a manner that takes our focus away from what it should be - to ensure that all D’Evelyn students have an opportunity to continue to learn and grow throughout the conclusion of the school year. My greatest hope for the last eight weeks of my tenure is that we have an outstanding finish to the year, in classes, major assessments, athletics, extracurricular activities, and community engagement. I remain committed to ensuring that all members of our community are supported for an awesome conclusion to this school year. We have many celebratory opportunities forthcoming to honor our students and staff, but in addition to that, I have an acute focus on ensuring a great finish to the year. I hope that as members of our great community, you will join me in that effort. I wish you and your family a great week ahead. This will be an exciting week with Prom spirit events going on. I hope that our students and families have an awesome upcoming Prom weekend! By: Josh Griffin, Principal
It is hard to believe that we are just a few weeks away from the D’Evelyn 2022 Prom / After Prom. We are so excited to return to our normal traditions after several years that were heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic - I know that this will be an amazing weekend for our Classes of 2022 and 2023. I am grateful to the numerous parent volunteers that have stepped forward to ensure that we have fun, safe, and enjoyable plans for both Prom and After Prom. On behalf of the D’Evelyn Education Foundation and the parent leaders of the Prom and After Prom committees, I ask that our families consider ways that they can support these two important events this month. In order to support these crucial events, we need a lot of parent volunteers and welcome monetary contributions to offset the significant costs associated with both events. Please consider how you may support either/both event(s). While the events are for members of the junior and senior classes, we welcome support from parents of younger students. These are very fun events and are a great way to get more involved in supporting D’Evelyn students - I encourage our families with younger students to consider participating. More information on these events and ways to support are included here: HELP NEEDED PROM (Event for Juniors & Seniors only) We are looking for volunteers for Prom especially from those who do not currently have a Junior or Senior. Our students prefer that their parent(s) is not a chaperone at prom. Details are as follows: Saturday, April 23rd 7:00pm – 11:00pm The Cable Center 2000 Buchtel Blvd S, Denver Volunteer / Donate Food & Beverage for Prom HERE Make a Monetary Contribution HERE Questions? Contact develynfoundationmgmt@gmail.com AFTER PROM (for Juniors & Seniors only) We are in DIRE need of volunteers especially from those who do not currently have a Junior or Senior! This massive event has numerous activities that require many volunteers as well as donations. This is an opportunity to pay it forward. After Prom is a parent sponsored/supervised event with games, food, drink, rock wall, and swimming which provides a fun and safe setting for our students. It also serves as a good-bye party for our Seniors. Details are as follows: April 23rd & April 24th The Ridge Recreation Center 11:30pm – 3am Volunteer for After Prom HERE Donate Items for After Prom HERE Make a Monetary Donation for After Prom HERE (To contribute via check/cash make check payable to DEF & drop at D’Evelyn office in envelope labeled After-Prom Attn: Ann/Wendi) |
AuthorJosh Griffin, Principal Archives
April 2022
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