Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
The unique scheduling associated with the health and safety guidelines in the Covid-19 pandemic has challenged us in many ways. Particularly as it applies to the end of the 1st semester, we wanted to share an overview of plans for finals week and the last days of the semester to allow students, teachers, and families to plan accordingly. Please review the following schedule for the school days between Monday, December 14th and Tuesday, December 22nd. Monday 12/14 Green Day (A-K), A Schedule (Periods 1-3) Tuesday 12/15 Silver Day (L-Z), B Schedule (Periods 4-6) Wednesday 12/16 Remote, synchronous learning day, periods 1-6 Thursday 12/17 Green Day (A-K), Period 4-6, Final Exam Schedule Friday 12/18 Silver (L-Z), Period 1-3, Final Exam Schedule Monday 12/21 Remote, synchronous classes, periods 1-6 Tuesday 12/22 Make-up day for finals / No School for students otherwise On Thursday 12/17 and Friday 12/18, students will have an early dismissal schedule concluding at 12:25 pm. We will schedule busses to transport students to and from school on both of these days. We continue to work with teachers to finalize details of the implementation of “finals week” and will share updates as needed with students and families as we get closer to the week of December 14th. I share this information with you now so that you can plan accordingly for the days/times that your student will and will not be in school between December 14th and 22nd. At this time, remote-only students and hybrid students participating in school remotely on their assigned days during the week of December 14th should plan to follow the established schedule remotely. In the development of this schedule, we worked to ensure that students had equitable access to their teachers during the final week of school, as well as equal amounts of time in each class period to the beginning of the formal final exam days. It is our sincere hope that this organization of finals week will be most supportive of all D’Evelyn students as we conclude the first semester. If you have questions regarding this schedule, please call our Main Office at 303-982-2600, our Counseling Office at 303-982-6128, or contact your student’s assigned counselor or administrator. Thank you for your ongoing support during this school year. I wish you and your family the best as we head into the holiday season. Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
Thank you to our students, teachers, staff, and families for your engagement during this past week of school. It was great to have our hybrid students back in classrooms with their teachers as we returned from a period of remote learning and Fall Break. I remain grateful for how well our community members handled the transition in and out of remote learning in the past few weeks. This week, we are fortunate to offer our 12th grade students the opportunity to take the SAT at D’Evelyn on Tuesday, October 27th and our 11th grade students the opportunity to take the PSAT at D’Evelyn on Thursday, October 29th. We are thrilled to offer this opportunity to our D’Evelyn students, in spite of the various challenges and obstacles we have faced in administering these tests. Thank you to Dan Wille for his efforts to organize a safe, timely, and efficient administration of both the PSAT and SAT for our current juniors and seniors. For the seniors, this administration of the SAT is really a make-up day for the cancelled administration last spring. Each year, juniors in the state of Colorado take the SAT on a common day. We were saddened to lose that opportunity in April 2020, but are happy to provide it on Tuesday. It is my most sincere hope that our seniors will have great success on this important test. There are many benefits for students taking the PSAT, but in this particular instance, the national PSAT 11 testing day serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. D’Evelyn is one of a handful of schools in the county that offers this examination for all students. We wish the Class of 2022 the very best for this test. Over the past years, we have been fortunate to have many students recognized as Commended Scholars, Semifinalists, and Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship program, and we are hopeful that many hard-working D’Evelyn scholars in the Class of 2022 will be similarly recognized. After the completion of the SAT on Tuesday and the PSAT on Thursday, the students that test will be dismissed to return home. Students in grades 6 - 10, whether remote or hybrid, will attend school as normal on Tuesday and Thursday. For those students and families that are interested, I encourage you to consider creating a College Board account, where many more additional resources are available to understand the tests and how your student performs. Khan Academy offers free SAT prep coursework for students that aligns with data that, with permission, their program gathers from College Board. For more details about creating a College Board account, please contact your student’s counselor. We know that these tests are important to our seniors and juniors. Please accept our best wishes for a successful performance on the tests coming up this week! Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal As we approach the midpoint of the first semester, the D’Evelyn faculty, staff, and administration are taking stock of how the year has gone so far and considering possible adjustments to our operations that will better support student learning. We acknowledge the limitations that exist due to our remote/hybrid learning environment necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic; however, it remains our hope that we provide students as many quality opportunities for learning and participation in school-related sports and activities as possible. We are continually working closely with the district to create extracurricular and social opportunities for students that follow state, county, and district health guidelines. Thank you to the students, teachers, and families that completed surveys in the past two weeks. Your input provided valuable feedback, and I have shared that feedback with the D’Evelyn faculty, Steering Committee, and Accountability Committee. I am grateful for the validating, positive feedback, and equally appreciative of the constructive feedback we received in this survey process. Among several common themes elevated in surveys from all constituents, I highlight the following concerns/growth opportunities:
As an administrative team, we believe that many of these concerns can be addressed, if not resolved, with strategic thinking and thoughtful adjustment to our daily and weekly schedules for school. Below, I have outlined the various considerations we face in planning for the 2nd semester. After reviewing this article, I ask that you provide your feedback in the survey linked at the bottom. Please know that we are planning for the continuation of remote and hybrid learning in 2nd semester. In the event that Jeffco Schools adjusts course, and we are able to reopen school fully in the 2nd semester, we will plan to do that rather than follow our hybrid schedule. I know that considering changes to our schedule will elicit varied responses from our community. The stark reality is that there is no perfect solution to the school schedule question due to the limitations we face as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. I appreciate your thoughtful review of the following overview of our plans and considerations for potential adjustments to the schedule for the second semester. When we developed the schedule for this semester, and as we look at potential changes for next semester, we view the matter through two important foundational considerations:
Based on community feedback and our observations of the function of our school day so far this year, we will adjust our bell schedule in the following ways:
Beyond the aforementioned planned changes, the administration is considering two additional potential changes to our daily schedule that, if approved, would be implemented at the start of 2nd semester. Please know that we have not made any decisions, and it is possible that we could choose both, either, or neither of these two potential options. Potential Change #1 → Redesign the bell schedule to release students from school in the early afternoon This change would allow students to attend their three classes per day and return home for the bulk of the afternoon. We would provide grab-and-go lunches for interested students, and host remote 7th Hour / Office Hours for students at the end of the day. We would coordinate bus transportation to align with any modified school day schedule. A potential schedule could look like this: This proposed schedule has multiple benefits and I highlight the following:
Potential Change #2 → Change in the rotation of assigned hybrid learning days Below, you will find our current schedule plan on the left and the proposed new schedule plan on the right: As illustrated in the graphics above, the fundamental changes shown in the potential transition are:
There are a multitude of benefits to this proposed change, and I highlight the following:
As mentioned above, for these two proposed changes, we may choose to implement both plans, one of the plans, or neither of the plans. No decisions have been made. It is important for us to hear feedback from our community. As you are able, please complete the very brief survey linked here to provide your input on the scheduling considerations we are reviewing at this time. Thank you for your continued support as we navigate and grow through the challenges of remote and hybrid learning. This is a remarkably strong community with a shared vision in providing an outstanding liberal arts education for our students. I am so grateful for your support and contributions to our great school. Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
Thank you D’Evelyn students, teachers, staff, and families for your support, dedication, and engagement during this unique week. It is an amazing tribute to the strength and quality of our school community that we so seamlessly transitioned to a full remote learning model in such a short turnaround. While it was a difficult decision to close school for in-person learning, the smooth execution of this transition by all community members has been integral to our success. At the conclusion of the upcoming week of school, we are excited for the extended weekend for “Fall Break”. I have written and shared frequently that breaks for school are important. At D’Evelyn, we maintain high expectations for our students, faculty, and staff, and those high expectations often transfer to our parents and families. We are confident that the academic and personal growth experienced by D’Evelyn students will serve them very well in their lives, but we also know it can be challenging and difficult. This year, with the great challenge associated with the myriad of challenges we face as a community, the break will be increasingly important. It is my sincere hope that students, teachers, staff, and families have an opportunity to rest, relax, and unwind over the extended fall break weekend. The second half of the semester will have many similar traits to the first given our current plans to continue in the remote and hybrid learning models through at least the end of the semester. My hope is that after a restorative break, we all will be able to build upon what worked well and what did not work well in the first half of the semester to be applied for growth and improvement through the end of the semester. Thank you for your robust and ongoing support. The strength of our community is on full display as we consistently navigate new challenges and obstacles. I feel great confidence in our continued ability to provide great learning opportunities to our students as we proceed through this semester. Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal Thank you to the D’Evelyn students, teachers, and families that completed the surveys we released this past week. Your feedback will be helpful to our faculty, staff, and administration as we continue to work together to thrive in the remote and hybrid learning environment. I reiterate my appreciation for the dedication and commitment shown by our community members. I know that this school year has been challenging for students, teachers, staff, and families, but I am impressed by how well the year has gone overall. The success we have enjoyed is the result of our shared commitment to maintaining health, working together, and focusing on student learning. We will review and process the data from these surveys in the upcoming days. In the event that changes to our current plan are determined to be necessary, we will broadly communicate those changes. I have had the chance to review some of the data this week, and in several cases, I noted individual feedback from students, teachers, or families highlighting a need for improvement in their respective experiences. While we will be working as a faculty, staff, and administration to make improvements as we proceed through the year that should broadly support our student body, it is unlikely that any of these “high level” changes can resolve an specific individual concern in a timely fashion. In the event that your student is struggling, please work with our school personnel to try to improve the situation for your student. Whether your student is struggling to stay organized, feeling isolated or disconnected, needing additional academic or social-emotional support, I am confident that one way we can improve the situation for your students is through communication and teamwork with D’Evelyn teachers, staff, counselors, and administrators. In the event that your student’s struggles are in one particular class, we do encourage students/families to connect directly with that teacher. In your communications with teachers, we ask that you start by contacting them via email, and please honor our 24-hour email reply standard for teachers during work week. Additionally, I understand that for many students, their struggles may go beyond needing additional support or help in one particular class. Our outstanding Counseling Team stands ready to support students with academic, social-emotional, and college/career planning needs. Our counselors can support students with tips for organization, study habits, and engaging with classes. They are ready and happy to work to support students with social-emotional needs, whether in-person or remote. If you find that your student is struggling in these aforementioned areas, please contact their assigned counselor. The D’Evelyn Counseling Team:
You may contact the Counseling Office Staff to get support:
The D’Evelyn Counseling webpage can be accessed here. You may contact our Main Office staff to get connected with the people you need to speak with:
The administration is here to support D’Evelyn students and families. If your student needs extra support in any way, please feel free to contact their assigned administrator:
You can always contact me as well. If you have any questions, concerns or needs from me, please let me know. I can be reached at 303-982-2600 and [email protected]. If I do not have an answer, I most certainly can help get the answer or support that you need.
The success of our students in the hybrid/remote learning models is our highest priority. It is also dependent upon strong communication and teamwork between students, teachers, staff, and families. Thank you for your support and engagement in this important process. I hope that you all have had a great weekend. Thank you for your continued support of D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School. |
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