DSST: Stapleton High School. October Director s Note. Dear DSST: Stapleton High School Families,

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1 DSST: Stapleton High School October Director s Note Dear DSST: Stapleton High School Families, We are tremendously fortunate to have such great support from so many of you in so many different ways. Our student organizations and activities benefit from funds raised by our Science and Tech Parents organization (STP). Several of you either volunteered at or purchased refreshments for our Homecoming Dance. And a few of you have volunteered to be tutors for our students. While I appreciate all of your contributions, I want to remind you that one of the best ways to support your student and DSST is to talk with your student about school. I know that it is often difficult to get a teenager to open up about school, so I wanted to provide you some suggestions for specific conversation starters. - Check Grades Together: Pick a night each week when you and your student can sit down and go to Infinite Campus to check each of your students grades in each class. Celebrate when you see that your student is doing well. And verify that your student has a plan to bring up any grades that need improvement. - Read Together: This would look different with a high school student than it would with an elementary school student. But most of our students are reading a book for their English class at most times throughout the year. If you can read the same book on relatively the same pace, you and your student can have some deep conversations about the themes and characters of that book. These conversations can strengthen the relationship between student, family and school and they can help your student gain a deeper understanding of the book. - Ask about the College Fair: On Thursday, October 12 th, all students participated in the DSST College Fair here at school. Ask your student if there was a college they were excited about and then do some more research on that college together. - Ask what Clubs your student is participating in. A list of clubs was sent out in last month s Director s Note and announcements are made at each morning meeting about when clubs are meeting. I plan to continue providing a few ideas for conversation starters each month and welcome any suggestions any of you may have on this topic. In the rest of this Director s Note, you will find the following: DROP OFF/PICK UP REMINDERS PAGE 2 CELEBRATIONS PAGE 2 3 YEARBOOK AND SENIOR PICTURE INFORMATION PAGE 3-4 UPCOMING EVENTS PAGES 4 FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE PAGE 5 INVOLVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES PAGE 6 CALENDAR LOOK-AHEAD PAGES 7-9

2 DROP OFF/PICK UP REMINDERS Please remember to drop off and pick up your students on 21 st, 22 nd, Valentia or Montview (if you are receiving this Director s Note in color, you will see the lines in blue indicate designated drop off and pick up locations). For student safety, there are no pick-ups or drop-offs inside our parking lot. If you are coming in for a meeting, you can come park in a visitor spot. But for student safety, please do not drop off or pick up in the lot. Also, we are searching for someone to be a crossing guard at the entrance of our parking lot. We believe that someone with the right training and support will be able to help keep students safe and keep traffic flowing. This is a paid position and includes training. If you or anyone you know is interested, please contact Jeff Desserich at desserich.jeff@scienceandtech.org or at CELEBRATIONS DISTINGUISHED!!! The DSST: Stapleton High School Community has once again earned a Distinguished rating from the Denver Public Schools School Performance Framework. This framework measures student proficiency and growth on standardized assessments, student and family satisfaction and also college readiness. Distinguished is the highest rating in this framework and only the top 10% of schools earn this rating. In addition, of the 27 fully-builtout high schools (meaning the high schools serving students in grades 9 through 12), our school is ranked #1! This is very exciting news and is only possible due to the hard work and dedication of everyone in our community. Congratulations!

3 QUIZ BOWL DSST Stapleton High School Knowledge Bowl team placed 8 th out of 16 teams in our first Knowledge Bowl tournament in September and placed 2 nd out of 16 teams in our October tournament. The team also qualified in the 4 th seat for the state-wide Matchwitz tournament that will be aired on Rocky Mountain PBS. Please congratulate the following students: Madeline Dean, Zachary Simon, CJ Eckenrode, Nicholas Garvey and Andrew Coy! CROSS COUNTRY WINS THE LEAGUE! The Boys Cross Country team made DSST history, by becoming the first cross country team to ever win the Frontier League championship. The Girls Team had a strong performance as well, with Addie Horton placing 2 nd, the highest ever for any freshman at DSST. YEARBOOKS/SENIOR PICTURES Yearbooks are 45 dollars and can be purchased at the front office from Ms. Yancey or Ms. Burkin. Check, credit card, and cash are all accepted forms of payment. Please purchase a yearbook by the end of February 28 th to be sure your copy is reserved. Senior photos are due on Nov 1. How to submit: 1. You may photos to kasha.nelson@scienceandtech.org 2. You may upload them directly to the Josten s website:

4 Requirements and specifications: Full Size, minimum 300 DPI, high resolution photo Pictures may not include any clothing with offensive language, alcohol, or illegal substances. No hats, masks, or accessories obscuring your face. You may have a head shot or a full body shot or anything in between. It s your choice. UPCOMING EVENTS PROGRESS REPORTS On Thursday, September 28 th, you should have received your student s second progress report of the year. The third progress report will come home with your student on Thursday, November 9 th. Please continue to check grades with your students each week and contact your student s advisor with questions or concerns. ROBOTICS PRE-SEASON BEGINS As announced at morning meeting on Monday, October 16 th, our Robotics Training Season is starting this week. We are excited to continue this great program and hope your students will consider joining the team. There are limited spots on the final team, but all students are welcome to join the preseason activities as long as they have turned in the signed permission slip and attended a team orientation session. Reach out to coaches Erik Darzins (dsststapletonrobotics@gmail.com) or Jason Thomas (jthomas@ball.com) for more details. HALLOWEEN COSTUME POLICY On Tuesday, October 31 st, students are welcome to come in appropriate costumes as long as they follow Dress Down Day policies (no shorts, no tank tops/spaghetti straps). Costumes should meet the following criteria: - No masks that cover the face will be allowed - Any hats must be removed in class so as not to be a distraction - Costumes must not reveal too much skin. If you or your student are concerned that the costume may not be appropriate, please contact your student s advisor in advance to discuss the costume. INTERNSHIP SHOWCASE INVITE On Monday, November 13 th at 5:30, please join us for our 1 st Trimester Internship Showcase. This Showcase allows our 11 th Graders in Internship the opportunity to share their internship experience with the community. Obviously the families of any Tri 1 Interns would want to come to this, but I believe this is also a great opportunity for 9 th and 10 th grade families to learn a little more about the Internship program in which all of our juniors participate.

5 FINALS WEEK From Wednesday, November 16 th through Friday, November 18 th students will be participating in Final Exams here at school. There are no classes on the days of finals, there are just one or two tests for students to take, then they are dismissed to either attend tutoring sessions in the afternoon or head home. A snack of fruit will be served in between the two finals, but there will be no lunch served on the days of finals. Here is the schedule for Finals: WEDNESDAY 11/15 9 TH Grade 10 th Grade 11 th Grade 12 th Grade 8:15 8:35 Morning Meeting Morning Meeting Morning Meeting Morning Meeting 8:40 10:40 Humanities World History American Literature Civics 10:40 11:00 BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK 11:00 1:00 Composition Chemistry Biology Senior Science 1:00 DISMISSAL DISMISSAL DISMISSAL DISMISSAL THURSDAY 11/16 9 TH Grade 10 th Grade 11 th Grade 12 th Grade 8:15 8:35 Morning Meeting Morning Meeting Morning Meeting Morning Meeting 8:40 10:40 Physics World Literature US History Senior English 10:40 11:00 BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK 11:00 1:00 Spanish Spanish Spanish Spanish/AP Chem/AP Psych 1:00 DISMISSAL DISMISSAL DISMISSAL DISMISSAL FRIDAY 11/17 9 TH Grade 10 th Grade 11 th Grade 12 th Grade 8:15 8:35 Morning Meeting Morning Meeting Morning Meeting Morning Meeting 8:40 10:40 Math Math Math Math 10:40 11:00 BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK 11:00 1:00 9 TH GRADE DISMISSED AT 11:00 10 TH GRADE DISMISSED AT 11:00 Earth Science for students who were not interns this trimester interns this trimester are dismissed at 11:00 1:00 DISMISSAL 12 th GRADE DISMISSED AT 11:00

6 INVOLVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES CROSSING GUARD As mentioned above, please help us find a crossing guard who can help keep students safe and keep traffic flowing during drop off and pick up each day. This is a paid position and includes training. Contact Jeff Desserich at desserich.jeff@scienceandtech.org or if you or someone you know is interested. TUTORS In our continued drive to support all students academically, we want to improve our tutoring options for all of our students. To do that, we will need more tutors. If you or anyone you know is interested in offering even just an hour of your time each week, please contact our Associate School Director Yesta Ealy at ealy.yesta@scienceandtech.org.

7 CALENDAR LOOK-AHEAD October 2017 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa November 2017 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa SENIOR OFF CAMPUS LUNCH Mon, Oct 16 Accountability Committee MS Conference Room Tue, Oct 17 4:30 PM 5:30 PM RED AND BLACK DAY Wed, Oct 18 Picture Retake Wed, Oct 18 8:00 AM 2:00 PM RED AND BLACK DAY Wed, Oct 25

8 Fall Break Thu, Oct 26 to Fri, Oct 27 RED AND BLACK DAY Wed, Nov 1 SENIOR OFF CAMPUS Lunch Thu, Nov 2 COLLEGE PRIDE DRESS DOWN DAY Fri, Nov 3 RED AND BLACK DAY Wed, Nov 8 PROGRESS REPORT - TRI 1 PR #2 ADVISORY - SENT HOME Senior Parent Financial Aid Information Night 6 pm Thu, Nov 9 Thu, Nov 9 6:00 PM 7:30 PM STP Meeting STP HS Commons Tue, Nov 14 6:30 PM 8:00 PM T1 FINALS Wed, Nov 15 to Fri, Nov 17 RED AND BLACK DAY Wed, Nov 15 NO SCHOOL - Professional Learning Day for Staff Mon, Nov 20

9 NO SCHOOL - Professional Learning Day for Staff Tue, Nov 21 NO SCHOOL - THANKSGIVING BREAK Wed, Nov 22 to Fri, Nov 24 FIRST DAY OF Trimester 2 Mon, Nov 27 RED AND BLACK DAY Wed, Nov 29