Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
As we approach the Thanksgiving Break and holiday, I am particularly thankful for the faithful dedication of D’Evelyn students, teachers, staff, and families, as we seek to ensure our students continue to have strong learning experiences in the 2020-2021 school year. In spite of the health, economic, and social challenges we have faced in 2020, I continue to derive great enthusiasm and inspiration to lead this school from the spirit, vigilance, and engagement shown throughout the D’Evelyn community during this year. Thank you students - I appreciate the spirit and energy you bring to school each day, whether in-person or remote. I know that the loss of many of our treasured programs and traditions has had a big impact on you since March. You have shown incredible resilience and commitment to learning and growth during this challenging time. Ultimately, in the long run, your well-honed perseverance and pragmatism will serve you very well. Thank you for your continued commitment to your education. Thank you teachers & staff - I appreciate the courage and determination you have shown to continue to educate, mentor, and support D’Evelyn students against a myriad of extraordinary challenges. This year has challenged educators and support staff in ways we never could have predicted. You all have shown thoughtfulness and earnest commitment to deliver high quality learning experiences for your students in the remote and hybrid models. Thank you for your steadfast dedication to the education of your students. Thank you D’Evelyn families - I appreciate the support, engagement, and encouragement provided by D’Evelyn families. The impact of remote/hybrid learning models and the continued Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly impacted home and family life to a great extent. As a school community, we are fortunate to have the dedication shared by D’Evelyn families to supporting a quality education for our students. We would be unable to provide the rich, rigorous D’Evelyn liberal arts education without your great support. In challenging times like these, it is important that we all keep our focus on what is important in our lives. The education of our students is a high priority, and I am proud that by way of great efforts throughout our community, D’Evelyn continues to provide a strong liberal arts education to our students. It is my most sincere hope that all members of the D’Evelyn community have a restful, relaxing week-long break from school and a very Happy Thanksgiving. I look forward to a strong finish to the first semester in the upcoming weeks. Thank you for your ongoing and steadfast support of D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School. Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
School choice is an important responsibility of all families. In an environment of increasingly distinct educational options in our county and state K-12 educational system, the thoughtful consideration of school choice for our children is a critical decision for all families. As a liberal arts, option school for students in grades 6 - 12, D’Evelyn requires thoughtful parent consideration of the school philosophy, as 100% of D’Evelyn students enroll as “choice” students. Interested families may review the D’Evelyn Founding Document here. We have entered the season of choice enrollment in Jeffco Schools. The updated EnrollJeffco School Finder system is available for all families in our community to review options available to students in Jeffco for the 2021-2022 school year. I encourage families to thoughtfully review and consider Jeffco options, prior to choosing the most educationally appropriate school option for their children. The 1st round Choice Enrollment window will run from December 8, 2020 - January 15, 2021. This is a critical window for all families, but particularly those interested in enrolling their students at D’Evelyn for 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th grade in 2020-2021. To be considered for priority enrollment, all students must be entered into the EnrollJeffco system as seeking enrollment at D’Evelyn by January 15, 2021. This includes current Dennison 6th grade students, children of D’Evelyn faculty/staff, and students with older siblings already enrolled at D’Evelyn. Additionally, new families interested in D’Evelyn for their rising 6th, 7th, 8th, and/or 9th grade children should plan to watch our recorded Prospective Student Information Night video and complete the Attendance/Feedback form. For families new to D’Evelyn, we expect that you will view the video and complete the attendance/feedback form signifying your completion of the video. It is important that D’Evelyn families understand and embrace the philosophy of the school. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we do not have plans for in-person information sessions this year. After watching the Prospective Student Information video, families with additional questions should contact the D’Evelyn Main Office or one of our counselors or administrators. The D’Evelyn faculty/staff directory is available here. D’Evelyn offers a unique academic program to all of its students, a program based in a liberal arts curriculum with high academic and behavioral expectations for all of our students. The school is based on the belief that all students can succeed in a challenging environment, where consistently high expectations are maintained. We specialize in offering a rigorous liberal arts academic program to all of our students. As a liberal arts junior/senior high school, our focus is different from our surrounding comprehensive neighborhood junior and senior high programs. Because of this contrast, it is important for parents/families to know, understand, and embrace this philosophy before enrolling their child(ren) at D’Evelyn. I encourage all D’Evelyn families to stay up-to-date with reminders and updates about the Enroll Jeffco system this year. I would also appreciate current D’Evelyn families sharing this important information with their neighbors, friends, and acquaintances that may have interest in D’Evelyn for their student. Please stay tuned for forthcoming updates regarding EnrollJeffco. If you have questions about the D’Evelyn enrollment process, please visit our Enrollment webpage, or contact our Registrar, Kathy Hays, at 303-982-6128 or [email protected]. Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal After a thorough review of our current schedule and feedback received from students, teachers, staff, and parents regarding this semester, I am prepared to share our plans for the 2nd semester schedule. We are grateful for the input we have received from all parties and feel that our scheduling plans for the 2nd semester truly honor the feedback we have received. There is not a schedule option that exists that will immediately and fully serve the desires of all individuals in our community. There are no perfect solutions. However, ultimately we have developed a schedule that will better serve our students, teachers, and families in a manner that maintains health and safety and offers improved learning opportunities for our students. We also believe that it will address two primary concerns that have been raised throughout the semester - high screen time and workload for students and teachers in the remote and hybrid learning models. Please note that this schedule plan is built with the idea that we will be offering both remote and hybrid learning opportunities in the second semester. All changes will take effect on the first day of second semester - January 6, 2021. I will outline the schedule changes in four specific points and share the rationale for each decision. Additionally, I will fully present this plan in the November 10th Accountability Committee meeting and answer questions at that time. Overview of schedule changes for the 2nd semester: Change #1 - The first block of each school day will formally begin at 7:35 am. This start time will apply to both remote and hybrid students each day besides Fridays. The start of the school day for 6th grade students will remain 7:50 am. Rationale: We initially set up the “soft start” for 1st block to account for the health screening upon student arrival. Over 10 weeks of hybrid learning, we have found this process to be efficient, such that the soft start is no longer needed. This saved time will allow us to move 7th hour while keeping lunch at an appropriate time. Change #2 - 7th Hour will be moved to the end of the school day Rationale: This change will allow for students and teachers to more productively use 7th hour. By moving 7th hour to the end of the day, we will allow students to have a better idea of their needs for studying, completing homework, and getting additional help. Teachers will also be able to more efficiently provide student support and productive work environments at the end of the day. We are also considering the possibility of allowing students to sign up for the teacher of their choice each day in 7th hour. Change #3 - The current AABB school day rotation will change to an ABAB school day rotation. Rationale: This change will move our student’s learning experience to be better aligned with a typical block schedule approach. Each student will attend their six classes in succession before returning to their first period class. This will better support sequential learning for students across subject areas. Additionally, the ABAB model will allow a more even distribution of workload for students outside of class. Change #4 - Prior to the start of the semester, students will be allowed to choose whether they plan to attend 7th hour in person or remotely each day. Rationale: We received strong support for the midday dismissal for in-person students in our survey for families; however, the feedback against it was insightful. By providing students this option, we are offering students an opportunity for a break from screen time and a chance to work remotely during 7th hour. Alternatively, we are also offering students that want or need to stay in school through 2:30 pm that opportunity to do so in 7th hour. This change will allow students to individually take responsibility for what they need in 7th hour, whether in-person or remote. Additionally, in combination with the move of 7th hour to the end of the day, we expect that this transition will better support students in attending to necessary work during 7th hour. 2nd Semester Rotational Schedule We will follow the below rotational schedule to start the 2nd semester: We will follow this rotational pattern throughout the 2nd semester for all periods of hybrid learning. Please consult our school calendar to check or review days further out than January 22nd. 2nd Semester Bell Schedule We will follow this bell schedule for school Monday - Thursday during the 2nd semester. Friday will remain asynchronous, remote learning days for all students. In four-day weeks, we plan to have four days of remote/hybrid learning for students, and remove the asynchronous, remote day from the weekly schedule. Additional Information
· Our food services staff will prepare lunches Monday-Thursday and all in-building students each day will have access to buy lunch. · Bus transportation will be provided to school in the morning, and out of school after the conclusion of the 3rd block each day. Students that stay until 2:30 each day will not have access to bus transportation to go home. · We are working on the final plans/logistics for 7th hour and will share them as we get closer to the 2nd semester. Important 2nd Semester Survey D’Evelyn families - please complete the following survey for your child(ren) attending D’Evelyn by Friday, November 20th. The survey allows for multiple children in one response. In the event that you have multiple children with different plans, please complete the survey individually for each child. In this survey, we ask you to declare two choices for your student(s) for 2nd semester: 1. Will your student be a remote or hybrid learner during the second semester? 2. Will your student attend 7th hour in-person or remotely each day in the second semester? We hope that your choice for remote vs. hybrid learning will remain constant throughout the second semester, as we have gone to great lengths to design a bell schedule that will honor your requests. We are working to devise a process for 7th hour where students can deviate from their established in-person or remote plan for an individual day. However, we ask that your commitment to 7th hour be the primary plan for your student(s) for the entire second semester. As the semester progresses, we will do our best to honor changes in these requests, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to adjust student plans for either remote/hybrid learning or remote/in-person 7th hour. Please make your selection for your child(ren) with the idea that it will remain the same throughout the semester. Link to the 2nd Semester Learning Preference Survey If you have questions about this schedule, please call the Main Office at 303-982-2600 or contact your student’s counselor or assigned administrator. Thank you for your ongoing support of your child(ren) and our school during this difficult time. |
Archives
May 2022
Categories |