By Lisa Porter, Teacher Librarian/Technology Coordinator Jefferson County School District is moving schools to a uniform print management software called PaperCut to allow us to manage copying and printing costs within our organization. Using PaperCut encourages responsible use and minimizes the environmental impact by cutting paper and toner costs and power usage. Last spring, we launched the program at D’Evelyn. While every new system creates a learning curve, students are mastering the process and will find that PaperCut provides greater flexibility as they can print from any of our school-owned devices and pick up their print jobs at their convenience. The biggest concern students express is when they are in their account and see that there is a cost associated with their print jobs. At this time, we are not passing that cost to students with their individual print jobs, as we have traditionally covered it with a portion of their technology fee. Our technology committee will meet this fall to analyze the printing data and determine an appropriate cap amount if we deem it is necessary. Please watch the video on the D’Evelyn Library Website with your student(s) if they have questions about how to print. By Greg Kottcamp, Assistant Principal Every year students eagerly attend registration to not only get their school ID, but also to find their new locker and test out the combination. Many students don’t know how they can find their locker number or combination. To find a student’s locker and combination, students should use the Student Portal App and navigate to the “More” tab, and then select “Lockers”. If your locker number and combination don’t appear please let me know. Each year students are assigned new lockers, depending on grade level and how many students are in each grade. This year’s general layout is: 7th grade - East Wing first floor 8th grade - East Wing second floor 9th grade - East Auditorium hallway and West Wing 10th grade - West Wing split between first and second floor 11th grade - West Wing first floor and West Auditorium hallway 12th grade - Senior Hallway across from the gym Once we have the areas designated by grade level, we use Infinite Campus to randomly assign students to lockers. Half of the students are assigned top lockers and half are assigned lower lockers. If medical conditions exist that require a top or bottom locker, please let me know and provide medical documentation before the start of the year when lockers are assigned. It is important to have good locker etiquette to help facilitate students getting to class on time. One way to do this is to get to know the students in the lockers around you. This way you can politely ask for space to get in or out of the locker area. Please be careful when opening and closing lockers. If students have locker issues during the school year, they can stop by the main office to get a “Locker Complaint Form”, which allows students to explain the locker problem. Those forms should be turned in to me or our Campus Supervisors, Mike Dobrowski & Kim Racine. The custodial staff will then work to address the problem. At the end of the school year, students are given time to clean-out their lockers. Lockers are then checked by the custodial staff and serviced during the summer. More often than we would like, the school has to replace locks on lockers because paper-jams have damaged the locks. Students use paper-jams to jam the lock in an unlocked position to save time between class periods. This is a safety concern as anyone can open their unlocked locker and take materials from those lockers. Please encourage your students to not use paper-jams for safety reasons, and to avoid a lock replacement fee. Lockers should be a fun part of the school experience. Students can add shelving and decorations to organize and personalize the inside of their locker. If students are having any difficulties with their locker or have questions about lockers, stop by my office and we can work together to improve your locker experience. By Dan Wille, Assistant Principal The D’Evelyn Founding Document outlines our important belief “that all students, not just an elite group, should be held to rigorous academic and behavioral standards, and that all students can achieve in a challenging program.” This core belief is fundamental to our daily endeavors laying a foundation to ensure our strong Liberal Arts curriculum is effectively engaged by all our students. We love our students and have unyielding confidence in their abilities to not only thrive in academics, but demonstrate goodness, compassion, integrity, honor, and resilience. For this reason, we enter into an agreement with all of our students which promotes a steadfast focus on academic and behavioral expectations to ensure that all our students experience an optimal environment for both academic and personal development. This agreement is found in D’Evelyn’s Academic and Behavioral Contracts which all students received this week. These two contracts summarize the expectations and responsibilities students are held to during their time at D’Evelyn. The Academic Contract provides vital information about what students can expect in regard to their academic workload, how to be prepared for class, what they must accomplish in order to graduate from D’Evelyn, and other important policies impacting a student’s academic success. The Behavioral Contract establishes behavioral standards that are designed to influence students for life helping them grow-up right by reinforcing honesty, compassion, self-control, responsibility, and courtesy as key character traits. Every year these contracts are distributed for students to bring home, review, and sign with parents/guardians. We are asking all students to return these signed contracts by Thursday, August 22nd. These contracts are also available online for review using the following link: https://bit.ly/2MkgW55. We thank all D’Evelyn families for their dedication to our program and helping us to not only develop great scholars, but also help kids grow into the best versions of themselves, ready to succeed in their post-secondary endeavors. By Tim Schmeckpeper, Assistant Principal Our top priority in the school is ensuring a safe, secure environment for all students. An integral part of our training for faculty & staff throughout the year involves the safety and security of D’Evelyn students and staff. The successful management of a safe and secure school environment requires the support and engagement of all members of the D’Evelyn community. Within the first few days of school, teachers will review safety norms and procedures with their classes. This is an important component of maintaining a safe, supportive school community and being responsive to student needs as they arise. Additionally, we will be conducting a lockdown drill in the first semester, a lockout drill each semester, an evacuation drill in the second semester, and fire drills every month. We make every effort to maintain a secure and well monitored building throughout the day. Before school we have restricted building access to three monitored student entrances. Administrators or security staff will be stationed at the main entrance and at the parking lot entrances of both the east and west wings. All other access points will be locked and closed for entrance before school. When the school day begins, all outside doors will be locked. During school hours, entrance to the building may only be gained through the electronically monitored main entrance. Additionally, administrators, teachers, and security staff will maintain a more visible presence in the halls during passing periods. The faculty and staff cannot solely sustain oversight of the wellbeing of all students all day, every day. We rely heavily upon the support of parents, family members, peers, and friends to let us know about students that may be struggling or present safety concerns. Any member of the D’Evelyn community -- students, parents, family members, faculty, staff, and administrators - should reach out to trusted adults if they are concerned about the wellbeing or safety of any member of the D’Evelyn community. We have a talented, skilled, and responsive faculty and staff. We encourage all students and families to develop connections with D’Evelyn faculty and staff members, and to reach out when there are concerns. A brief review of the most relevant personnel follows: -- We have three counselors - Rob Northway works with junior high students, Jon Watson works with high school students with last names A - K, and Molly Harrington works with high school students with last names M - Z. It is important to note that the Counseling team members support each other consistently; at times, when urgent matters or concerns arise, it may be most appropriate to contact the available counselor. Our counselors are available throughout the school day to support the various needs of students and families. -- Our Social Emotional Learning Specialist, Suzanne Roberts, is a social worker by trade, and has extensive experience working with students struggling with social-emotional and mental health. She is an excellent additional resource among our school community. -- Our counseling support staff, Kathy Hays and Kim McSwain, are available to facilitate communication with counselors, social workers, and administrators as needed. -- Our administrative team is trained to respond to specific student needs as they arise. Please feel free to reach out to the appropriate grade-level administrator if you have concerns about your student - Greg Kottcamp works with 7th, 8th and 9th graders with last names A - K; Tim Schmeckpeper works with 7th, 8th and 9th graders with last names L - Z; Dan Wille works with 10th, 11th and 12th graders with last names A - K; and Jerry McWhorter works with 10th, 11th and 12th graders with last names L - Z. -- Our Campus Supervisors, Kim Racine and Mike Dobrowski, work throughout the school day to ensure student safety and building security. They frequently take rounds throughout the school to monitor door security and to ensure that all students and visitors are appropriately accounted for. -- We are fortunate to have the services of Deputy Greg Everhart of the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office. He is an excellent resource and a key contributor to the maintenance of a safe and secure school environment. If you are concerned about your student by way of their performance in classes or in the extracurricular areas, it is often valuable to speak directly with the teacher, coach, or sponsor that is working with the student in that area. They will often bring unique insights and observations, and Please reach out to directly communicate with faculty and staff members as needed. Additionally, any member of the D’Evelyn community may ANONYMOUSLY report safety concerns via Safe2Tell Colorado. Safe2Tell Colorado is a state-funded initiative program of the Office of the Attorney General in the Colorado Department of Law and it is already available, free of charge, to ALL (public, private and charter) schools and communities in Colorado. We would hope that all of our students would feel comfortable talking with a trusted adult about such matters; however, this may not always be the case, and some may be reluctant to do so. With Safe2Tell Colorado, students can connect with a live answering point housed with the Colorado State Patrol -- 24/7. Trained dispatchers receive the anonymous tips and forward concerns to a local multi-disciplinary team, usually consisting of school officials and local law enforcement. As a bystander reporting tool, those with information concerning school and community safety are encouraged to break the code of silence and report what they see, what they hear, and what they know. The most common tips received revolve around issues such as suicide, bullying, dating violence, and substance abuse. Safe2Tell reports may be filed at http://www.safe2tellco.org, by calling 1-877-542-7233, or by downloading the Safe2Tell Colorado mobile app in the App Store or Google Play. For more information on the Safe2Tell program, please visit http://www.Safe2Tellco.org. Please -- when D’Evelyn community members have a concern about the wellbeing or safety of any other community member, share that concern with the most appropriate trusted adult in the building or report it anonymously via Safe2Tell Colorado. Ultimately, the most important point of emphasis is that reports are made. |
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