By: Josh Griffin, Principal
Thank you to all community members for a great second week of school. I am particularly grateful to our families for the great turnout at the 2021 Back to School Night this past Thursday, and the 2021 D’Evelyn DASH on Saturday morning. Huge thanks to all of the volunteers that worked so hard to plan an awesome D’Evelyn DASH. It was a great way to start the school year, and that is the direct result of the hard work and dedication of many parent volunteers and staff members. Good communication is an essential element of a successful school. In the educational setting, effective communication should be geared towards supporting the success of our students. Even when circumstances are challenging and hardship may occur, it is important we all work together to have honest, respectful communication in the interest of supporting the best possible outcomes for our students. Additionally, we encourage a model of strong direct communication, where individuals address their questions and concerns to the most appropriate member of the school faculty and staff. As you navigate the start of this school year, we encourage you to encourage your child(ren) to sustain a strong start to the school year, with active engagement in each of their classes and extracurricular activities. Ideally, students will begin to build positive relationships with their teachers, counselors, and support staff, where they are comfortable asking for help and additional support. Self-advocacy is an important skill for our students to develop during their secondary academic years. Thank you for encouraging your child(ren) to work productively with our staff throughout the year. There are times when additional involvement by parents and/or guardians is warranted. Occasionally, a student may struggle significantly with a subject matter or assignment, or have a hard time approaching an adult in the building on their own. Please support your student in these situations by reaching out proactively to partner with the most relevant teacher or staff member as needed. 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 important 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: Jag Tracks - 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. We encourage all families to review the Jag Tracks every week. Jaguar Tracks website: https://develynjaguartracks.weebly.com/ 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 calendars. 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. This is an important component of our communication plan, and we encourage parents/families to stay up-to-date on student performance in their classes via the gradebook. 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. D’Evelyn App - you may download the D’Evelyn app from the App Store or Google Play store. This is a great resource that aggregates a number of important student/parent resources. Email & Phone Communication - Please use this method to communicate with faculty/staff when a specific question or concern arises. Our faculty directory is on the D’Evelyn website. 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. By: Josh Griffin, Principal
As we wrap up our first week of the 2021-2022 school year, I am so proud of our school community. In our return from both summer break and the challenging 2020-2021 school year, we are off to a great start in our efforts to return to a normal school experience for our students, teachers, staff, and families. While we are just four days into the year, I am very pleased with our start. Thank you to our students - you all adjusted very quickly to our norms and routines as we began the school year. I am grateful to you for your diligence and thoughtfulness as you reacclimate to 100% in-person learning, the standard 6-period school day, and traditional lunch periods. I hope that you enjoyed your first full week of school, and the return to typical learning, athletic, extracurricular, and social activities in our school. Thank you to our teachers and staff. I had occasion to drop-in to approximately 20 classrooms during the course of this week, and the passion, organization, and commitment exhibited in the classrooms was outstanding. Our teachers and staff have made thoughtful, conscientious plans to support our students’ return to school, and I was impressed to see the fruits of their labor. Thank you to our D’Evelyn families. The return to school always calls upon parents and family members to adjust routines and make new plans to support their students. Particularly in this unique school year, I am grateful to you for your continued patience, thoughtfulness, and support for your children, our staff, and our greater school community. All-in-all, we have had an outstanding start to the year, and that is a tribute to our parents and families. As a faculty, staff, and administration, we stand ready to support students that may be struggling with the return to school. As needed, please work directly with your student’s teachers, counselor, support staff, or assigned administrator for additional support. We have enjoyed a great start to the year overall, but I know that individuals may have struggled with the return. If we work together as a team to support a struggling student, the outcome will be far more positive - please do not hesitate to reach out for additional support as needed! My optimism for a great upcoming school year has grown throughout this week. I have observed unique enthusiasm throughout the community for this far more typical year, and look forward to many more great days ahead. This is going to be a great school year! Masks As shared in my School Messenger letter on Monday night, we were surprised to learn of the change in plans for masks in our school. I appreciate the flexibility and accountability to this public health order of our students, staff, and families. I understand that the last minute change can present challenges, but our compliance as a community has been outstanding. As we proceed through the year with this public health order in place, please ensure that your student has at least one mask with them when they arrive at school each day. Based on our observations this week, it may be wise for students to carry a back-up mask as well. For those interested, our school store plans to have masks available again this year for purchase by students and community members. I appreciate your compliance with the mask mandate and your support in encouraging your student(s) to be prepared for school each day with a mask. Back to School Night We look forward to welcoming our D’Evelyn parents/guardians to the 2021 Back to School Night on Thursday, August 26th. We will host a new parent meeting for interested families at 5:30 PM in the auditorium, and a parent meeting for all families at 6 PM in the gym. After the parent meeting in the gym, parents will have a chance to follow the schedule of their child(ren) for six, 10-minute class periods. In these sessions, you will have a chance to meet with your student’s teachers and learn more about their classes and expectations. This is a great opportunity for us to connect (and re-connect) as a community, and will support a sustained strong start to the school year. In order to allow all parents/guardians the opportunity to fully participate in Back to School Night, we ask that families make arrangements for their children to NOT attend the event. This event is designed for parents/guardians, and will be most effective if students do not participate. I look forward to seeing you at Back to School Night. I’ll be walking the halls throughout the evening after my presentation, and will look forward to meeting as many parents as possible. D’Evelyn Dash It is not too late to sign up for the D’Evelyn DASH, held on campus on Saturday, August 28th We encourage our students, families, staff, and community members to participate in this awesome start-of-year community event. It is a great way for our families to gain improved connection within our school community - let’s make this 2021 D’Evelyn DASH the best yet! Your participation will make a big difference in supporting the D’Evelyn Education Foundation, who annually oversees more than $100,000 in commitments to D’Evelyn students and staff. All those interested in participating in this great event can sign up here: https://runsignup.com/Race/CO/Denver/DEvelynDash5K I hope you all have enjoyed a great weekend. Best wishes on an outstanding 2nd week of school starting Monday 8/23. By: Josh Griffin, Principal
Welcome Back! As we look ahead to the start of school on August 17th, I have a great sense of optimism and enthusiasm for the 2021-2022 school year. On Monday, August 9th, we hosted Registration, where 100's of students and families had a chance to connect (or reconnect) with D’Evelyn students and school personnel, and return to our campus. Additionally, this past week, we welcomed back our faculty to begin preparations for the school year. The passion and excitement exhibited over the past few days from students, staff, and families was uplifting and encouraging. I am looking forward to a great school year ahead. Given the impact the pandemic had over the past 18 months in our school community, we understand that it is going to be an adjustment process for our community members in the return to a typical school year. I encourage all parties - students, teachers, staff, and families to maintain open communication and thoughtful teamwork in our shared efforts to ensure the best possible educational experiences for all of our students. Thank you for your partnership in ensuring a successful school year. Our teachers and staff have been hard at work to plan for the return of students on August 17. As we prepare for the year, I encourage students and families to review teacher websites and syllabi, and to begin thoughtful preparations for school year routines as we start the new year. For those interested in reviewing our Jeffco School's Covid-19 protocols, please review last week’s Principally Speaking in the Jaguar Tracks and the Jeffco Schools communication to families that went out on Wednesday afternoon. Below, please find a link with my brief remarks highlighting the key points of our Covid-19 plan as we start the new year. Update regarding Covid-19 protocols Thank you for your partnership as we work to start this new school year on a successful note. We know that the restrictions, limitations, and impediments on our daily school operations are vastly reduced - let’s all work together to ensure that this year is as great as possible for all of our students. The D’Evelyn Education Foundation and the 2021 D’Evelyn DASH We are thrilled to host the 21st annual D’Evelyn DASH, live, in-person, and on-campus on August 28th. The D’Evelyn DASH is an awesome way to kick off the new school year for D’Evelyn students, faculty, staff, and families. In addition to the community 5K/2K walk/run racing options for our community, there will be a high school race featuring nearly 40 area schools, as well as dozens of booths organized by our student clubs, sports teams, sponsors, and organizations. We encourage all D’Evelyn families to participate in this year’s D’Evelyn DASH - it will be a great time! Registration information can be found here: https://runsignup.com/Race/CO/Denver/DEvelynDash5K I am grateful to the volunteers that have worked diligently to organize this great event for our school. The DASH is one of several major annual events organized by the D’Evelyn Education Foundation, an organization responsible for $100,000 - $150,000 per year of funding to support D’Evelyn students, faculty, and staff. In addition to the D’Evelyn DASH, we look forward to your participation and support in the other major fundraising events later this school year: The D’Evelyn Dinner Auction, the D’Evelyn Annual Giving Campaign, and the D’Evelyn Golf Tournament. By participating in or sponsoring the D’Evelyn DASH, you are contributing directly to the 2021-2022 school year budget of the D’Evelyn Education Foundation. This upcoming school year alone, DEF has pledged to fund the following crucial programs in our school: · $15,000 towards college scholarships for members of the D’Evelyn Class of 2022 · $10,000 towards our full weight room renovation, supporting D’Evelyn students in their PE classes and athletic programs · $25,000 towards D’Evelyn Performing Arts programs, including theatre, band, orchestra, and choir · $17,000 towards D’Evelyn athletic programs · $13,000 towards faculty/staff scholarships and recognition events In addition to this year’s specific funding targets, DEF oversees the distribution of over approximately $15,000 in privately funded scholarships and awards, and supports Outdoor Lab tuition assistance, Mock Trial, Steering Committee, Accountability Committee, Junior High Boosters, and Counseling Department programming. Your participation in the DASH provides direct support to DEF and the multitude of student organizations as well as our generous sponsors that will be represented at the DASH. More importantly, it is a great event for our families to attend as we work to return to normalcy with an amazing in-person event to kick-off the new school year. Thank you for your participation in and support of the 2021 D’Evelyn DASH. I look forward to seeing a great turnout of students, families, and staff at this great event! By: Josh Griffin, Principal
On behalf of the D’Evelyn faculty, staff, and administration, please accept my heartfelt welcome back to the 2021-2022 school year. As a community, we are thrilled to start the school year with far more typical operations, allowing our students to thrive in classes, athletics, and activities, while enjoying the crucial social experiences associated with junior and senior high school. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted each of us in many ways, but I know that our students have been particularly hurt by the loss of in-person learning, extracurricular activities, and social events. Our teachers long for the opportunity to work with their students on a typical, in-person learning schedule. As a parent of two young children myself, I am confident that our parents and families are looking forward to the normal routines and structures associated with our school this year. As a community, we have an important opportunity to support the overall wellbeing, learning, and development of D’Evelyn students with our return to more typical operations. In my estimation, we have a “coincidence of wants” among all of our community members - we all collectively look forward to a return to in-person learning, sports, activities, and social experiences for our students, and the great opportunities that will be associated with our in-person plans for the year. In the spirit of this shared objective, I understand that the Jeffco Schools announcement regarding masks and Covid-19 precautions was met with mixed reviews throughout the district school community. I ask that as a community we continue to embrace the policies and expectations established by D’Evelyn and Jeffco Schools to ensure a safe, healthy, and successful school year. As a brief recap, here are the key points of the Jeffco Schools and D’Evelyn plan for the return to in-person learning for our students:
We appreciate the cooperation and understanding of our students, staff, and families in adhering to these mask guidelines. We expect that all community members will honor the established guidelines, whether masks are required or recommended for the respective individual. Perhaps more importantly, I expect the support of all community members in respecting the mask choices of all students and staff in our school. While individuals may be encouraged to wear masks, we will maintain an inclusive, supportive environment where the choices of those in the “recommended” categories are honored and supported. The purpose of these health and safety protocols is to ensure that disruptions to learning for students are minimized throughout the school year. These precautions will reduce the number of students and staff that are quarantined due to exposure to individuals that are Covid-19 positive, and will reduce the likelihood of individuals or large groups of students missing school for extended periods of time. If we continue to maintain an approach based in teamwork and care for others, this school year will be an even greater success. Below this message, please find the exact copy of the district letter outlining Covid-19 protocols for the start of the school year. I sincerely thank you for your support and adherence to these guidelines as we all work together to have a great school year for our students. I wish your student(s) and family the best with the upcoming school year, and look forward to reconnecting with students and families at Registration on August 9th, Prep School on August 16th, and on the first day of school on August 17th. The entire message from Jeffco Schools regarding Covid-19 protocols to start the 2021-2022 school year is included below: Dear Jeffco Public Schools community, We hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer. We look forward to the new school year, which begins August 17. Here are updates regarding our COVID-related health protocols for the 2021-22 school year. First, we must say congratulations Jefferson County! Our residents are currently at a vaccination rate of nearly 74% of people ages 12 and older with at least one COVID vaccine. We exceeded the county vaccination goal of >70%! While this is great progress, we are weighing changing health guidelines for schools and, as of today, national, state, and local guidance is not aligned. As you read the following, please know our primary goal is to keep students in school as much as possible and maintain a consistent learning environment within each classroom. The following goes into effect on your school’s first day of school, which for most is August 17th. On July 29, Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) released an announcement recommending that all people return to wearing masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. JCPH has also indicated to us they will strictly enforce quarantine guidelines for exposure to COVID, and they have the legal authority to do so. They have indicated they will require quarantines for routine classroom exposure for anyone unvaccinated and not wearing a mask. This has major implications for our students age 11 and under, who are not eligible for the vaccination at this time. Quarantines greatly interrupt learning for healthy children. In order to avoid quarantines of numerous students in any one classroom or school who may have been exposed to a positive case, we will require masks for students ages 3 to 11 (generally PK through 6th grade) in all schools while indoors. Once a student becomes fully vaccinated (currently eligible at age 12 or older) masks are recommended, but not required. If a student has a unique need that prohibits them from wearing a mask, families should contact their school as soon as possible to begin the 504 process or secure their medical or religious exemption. For students age 12 and above (generally 7th through 12th grade), masks indoors are strongly recommended for unvaccinated students, and recommended for vaccinated students in alignment with the guidance from JCPH. Our schools and buildings are mask-friendly environments. Families should be aware they may be contacted by JCPH for the purpose of quarantine if their student is unvaccinated, unmasked, and exposed to COVID. We strongly encourage anyone who is eligible to get the vaccine as soon as possible and if not vaccinated to consistently wear a mask while in school. Do keep in mind, these protocols could change and become more relaxed or restrictive, depending on COVID conditions in our community throughout the school year. While recognizing our number one priority is student health and safety, we also want to maximize in-person learning to the greatest extent by minimizing COVID quarantines and keeping schools open. We will revisit this decision if the case count in our county reduces to 35/100,000 per CDPHE current guidelines and/or the vaccine becomes available for children under age 12. The case count is currently at 77/100,000, an increase of 300% in the last 11 days, so we are not trending in a good direction. In order to also ensure the health and safety of our staff, and avoid staff quarantines that greatly affect our ability to effectively operate schools and the district, all Jeffco Public Schools staff (all schools and departments) will be required to notify the district of their vaccination status by August 16 through our online system in our Employee Self Service (ESS). If a staff member is unvaccinated, they are required to wear a mask indoors at any of our district facilities. It is recommended that vaccinated staff also wear a mask in alignment with the guidance from JCPH. Visitors and volunteers will be welcome at our schools; however, all visitors will be required to wear masks while in our buildings. Our primary goal in making this decision is to maintain an uninterrupted in-person learning experience for our students. We simply cannot take the risk of extensive quarantines and fluctuating attendance which will keep so many healthy students out of school. Again, this decision will be revisited as we observe improvements in our case counts and vaccination status within the county. We are hopeful that a vaccine will be available for all of our students very soon. In addition, we need to be flexible this school year. Changes to operations may occur over time based on county case rates, school-based outbreaks, number of quarantines, and any public health order that may come from our county, state, or federal government. Each Charter school will be communicating their individual specific mask protocols to Charter students and families. SUMMARY • Jeffco Public Schools is strongly encouraging, but not requiring, staff and students to get the COVID-19 vaccination. Those who are fully vaccinated (14 days from their last dose) will not need to be quarantined if exposed. JCPH-hosted vaccine locations can be found here and throughout our county. • Masks are required for students ages 3-11 (generally grades PK-6), unless the student is fully vaccinated (currently eligible to receive a vaccine at age 12 or older). • For students age 12 and above (generally 7th through 12th grade), masks indoors are strongly recommended for unvaccinated students, and recommended for vaccinated students in alignment with the guidance from JCPH. • Staff are required to notify the district of their vaccination status by August 16. Masks are required for unvaccinated staff and recommended for vaccinated staff. • Masks are required for all individuals on school buses under federal order. • Masks are required for all visitors and volunteers in school buildings regardless of vaccination status. • We will continue frequent hand washing and cleaning. • Individuals are encouraged to remain at least 3 feet away from non-household contacts when possible. • Continue to self-monitor using our self-screening tool. Anyone experiencing symptoms should stay home. • When outbreaks occur, Jeffco Public Schools will work with JCPH to determine the appropriate response. This could include masks indoors, additional distancing, testing, contact tracing, and quarantining. • Jeffco Public Schools encourages use of outdoor spaces and fresh air ventilation, such as opening windows and use of box fans. We have made significant improvement over the past year and continuing through this year on our building ventilation systems. More information is available here. Those interested in a 100% online learning environment for 2021-22 may consider attending the Jeffco Remote Learning Program. The enrollment period closes at noon on Thursday, August 12. We will have more updates on other back-to-school components soon, and will communicate with you via our Community Update, social media, and on our website. Please know, there continue to be many moving parts, including expected guidance from CDPHE, following the CDC's announcement earlier this week and then follow up announcements from Jefferson County Public Health. Please stay tuned. Thank you for your continued partnership. We encourage everyone to listen to the recommendations from Jefferson County Public Health so that we can bend the curve downward before school starts. We are #BetterTogether, Jeffco! Jeffco Public Schools |
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