Josh Griffin, Principal The 2019-2020 school year is off to a great start. The first eight days have run very smoothly, and I have been fortunate to observe excellence from our students and teachers each day. Thank you to all the parents and family members that attended our Back to School Night on Thursday, August 22nd. The parent role in the D’Evelyn educational program is an important one, and it was great to see so many in attendance, learning more about our school, the upcoming school year, and teacher classroom expectations throughout the evening on Thursday. Late last week, we learned very exciting news about the outstanding performances of D’Evelyn students during the April 2019 administration of the SAT, PSAT 10, and PSAT 9. The SAT is one of two primary standardized tests used for college admissions. I am proud of the success demonstrated by our students, and I am thrilled to share this great news with our community today. D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School Class of 2020 earned the highest average SAT scores among all public, non-charter high schools in Colorado. The 2019 SAT administration marks the 19th consecutive year that D’Evelyn juniors earned the highest average ACT (2001 - 2016) or SAT (2017 - 2019) among all public, non-charter high schools in Colorado. The D’Evelyn Class of 2021 earned the highest average PSAT 10 scores among all public schools, charter and non-charter, in Colorado. The D’Evelyn Class of 2022 also earned the highest average PSAT 9 scores among all public schools, charter and non-charter, in Colorado. I am incredibly proud of the great work of our D’Evelyn students. We are fortunate to offer all of our students a traditional, liberal arts educational model at D’Evelyn. However, the hard work, dedication, and commitment to academic excellence demonstrated by D’Evelyn students are all essential to the great success they achieve both inside and outside the classroom. The achievement of our students would not be possible without the knowledge, skill, and dedication of our incredible faculty and staff. We are fortunate to have many veteran teachers in our community. The lengthy track record of outstanding achievement on the ACT and SAT is a great reflection of the impact of our faculty each day in the classroom. I am fortunate to lead such a dedicated, knowledgeable faculty. The achievement of D’Evelyn students on standardized tests like the SAT are important; however, the test scores are not the primary focus of our school. D’Evelyn was designed to provide students a rich liberal arts education that would provide a content-rich, broad-based academic foundation, and prepare them for a life of positive citizenship. I am confident in the success of the D’Evelyn program in preparing our students for happy, full, and successful lives, regardless of their future endeavors. I am proud to know that after 25 years of our school’s history, this mission and vision is still executed so successfully. Thank you to our students, teachers, staff, and families for your commitment to education. D’Evelyn student success would not be possible without our shared commitment to our liberal arts educational model. Josh Griffin, Principal As a school administration, faculty, and staff, we aspire to provide comprehensive communication with families and students about important updates, events, and information originating at D’Evelyn. Timely, efficient communication is an element to the establishment and maintenance of positive student, teacher, parent/family partnerships. Those partnerships are critical to supporting student success in the D’Evelyn program. Within our school communication system, we use the following tools: School Messenger - email updates for all families, or families organized by grade-level, depending upon the nature of the message. In order to receive School Messenger updates, your contact information needs to be accurate in Jeffco Connect. School Website - a steady source of information, including teacher websites and school and extracurricular calendar. Please visit and familiarize yourself with our school website and the individual websites of our teachers. School Website: https://develyn.jeffcopublicschools.org/ Navigation Page - Teacher Websites: https://develyn.jeffcopublicschools.org/d_h_s_staff Parent Portal (Gradebook) - allows access to student gradebooks for each of their classes Numerous school community events like Back to School Night, Parent Teacher Conferences, Prospective Student Information Nights, Welcome Events - all of these events are designed to offer opportunities to gain more information on expectations for students and families at D’Evelyn in a face-to-face forum. We encourage all D’Evelyn families to participate in these important school community events. Jaguar Tracks - now offered in a weekly web-based format, this is an opportunity for faculty, staff, administration, and community members to share important updates with families regarding upcoming events and important issues in the school Jaguar Tracks website: https://develynjaguartracks.weebly.com/ Email & Phone Communication - used when individual, private conversations are warranted Additionally, in an effort to highlight the many great things happening at D’Evelyn among our students, faculty, and staff, we have recently added D’Evelyn official social media outlets with Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Facebook - /develynjrsr Instagram - @develynjuniorsenior Twitter - @develynjrsr We encourage D’Evelyn community members, past, present, and future, to follow our various social media platforms to receive updates highlighting the many great achievements of D’Evelyn students, alums, faculty, and staff throughout the course of the school year. While we aspire to have thorough, comprehensive communication, I recognize that maintaining this level of communication with thousands of current community members is not perfect. Families and students are encouraged to contact the appropriate school official directly if they have questions that cannot be answered within the aforementioned existing communication systems. Please feel free to call or visit the D’Evelyn Main Office - 303-982-2600 - should you need clarification on who the best contact is in the event that you have a question or discussion point with a member of the D’Evelyn faculty and staff. Student, teacher, and parent/family partnerships are essential to the success of D’Evelyn students. I ask that all community members remain committed to positive, productive conversations throughout the course of the year to support our students. Please join me in welcoming our four new D’Evelyn faculty members for the 2019-2020 school year. D’Evelyn follows a thorough and rigorous hiring process, as the hiring of teachers ranks among the most important decisions we make in our school. Each of these candidates demonstrated an understanding of the school philosophy, a willingness to work in our participatory management system, content mastery, and pedagogical strengths in their respective interview processes. We are fortunate to add such talented, knowledgeable, and dedicated professionals to our school community. Gary Black - Mr. Black will be teaching Spanish 1, Spanish 2, and French 1. He joined the D’Evelyn community after teaching for several years in Denver Public Schools, most recently at Kennedy High School. Katie Lewis - Mrs. Lewis will be our new Study Hall and Homework Center coordinator. Mrs. Lewis served as our Health Aide last year, but previously taught at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School. Mrs. Lewis is no stranger to D’Evelyn, as she is a proud member of the graduating Class of 2010. Michael Wolfe - Mr. Wolfe will be teaching 9th grade Literature & Composition and 11th grade American Literature. He returned to D’Evelyn after teaching several years at Lakewood High School. Mr. Wolfe taught at D’Evelyn for one year in 2014-2015, and we are thrilled to welcome him back to our community. Brooke Zitricki - Ms. Zitricki will be teaching 7th grade Life Science and 9th grade Biology. She joined the D’Evelyn community after teaching for several years in the Cherry Creek School District. While students have been working with these new teachers for several days, parents will have an opportunity to meet them in our upcoming Back to School Night, on Thursday, August 22nd. Thank you for joining me in welcoming these new teachers to the D’Evelyn faculty. By Josh Griffin, Principal The 2019-2020 D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School Back to School Night will be held on Thursday, August 22nd. The schedule of events for the evening will be as follows:
Because of the size/capacity of our classrooms, D’Evelyn Back to School Night is an event designed for parents only. Students should not attend Back to School Night. Back to School Night is an important opportunity for families to hear directly from D’Evelyn faculty and administration. During my presentation in the Main Gym at 6:00 pm, I will share important updates about our school program, upcoming events, timely information, and the great accomplishments of our students. I hope to see many families in attendance for my presentation. During the classroom rotational period, parents will have an opportunity to follow the student’s schedule and hear directly from their student’s classroom teachers. In these 10-minute sessions, teachers will go through introductions, course topics, classroom expectations, and grading policies. I ask that all teachers and parents work together to stay focused on the important information needed for parents to support students throughout the year. The student, teacher, and parent partnership are critical to the success of D’Evelyn students. Back to School Night is an important event to allow parent and teacher community members to come together. I am excited to see many D’Evelyn families in attendance to learn more about the great things already happening, and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead in the 2019-2020 school year. Greetings and welcome back to all D’Evelyn students, faculty, staff, and families. I am looking forward to an outstanding 2019-2020 school year. The D’Evelyn faculty, staff, and administration have been working diligently to prepare for the year ahead. I hope that the summer break has offered all D’Evelyn students and families an important opportunity to rest and relax and enjoy the company of friends and family. The start of the school year is an important time to renew our shared focus on the intended purpose of the D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School program. The D’Evelyn founders created the school based in the belief that “the purpose of education is to convey an essential body of cultural knowledge to the next generation, and that a solid liberal arts education is required in order for all citizens to be effective participants in their communities.” Entering our 26th year, D’Evelyn has a rich history of success as demonstrated by the outstanding achievements by our current students and alumni, both inside and outside of the classroom. As an institution, D’Evelyn has fulfilled its mission and obligation of preparing its students for happy, successful, and full lives. On a personal level, I always enjoy the reminders of the important messages delivered in the D’Evelyn Founding Document. The Document states, “the principal’s primary role is to support the teaching and learning activities of the school.” My clear focus lies on my role as the day-to-day leader of the school, and I am fully prepared to lead the school in a manner that allows us to focus on the important work of excellence in teaching and learning for all students in the 2019-2020 school year. I am hopeful that many members of our community will attend and participate in the 2019 D’Evelyn Dash. Our amazing parent volunteers have been preparing for months for this wonderful community event that is tailored to students and families of all ages. To register to participate in the D’Evelyn Dash, please visit this website: https://runsignup.com/develyndash I look forward to welcoming back our students on August 14th, as well as parents in our Back to School Night on August 22nd. I hope that you enjoy the remainder of your summer. |
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