2300 S. St. Paul St., Denver, CO 80210
720-424-3410
IN-PERSON HEALTH SCREENING: All in-person families must fill out the Safe Access Health Screening each day before arriving to school. 

Please DO NOT linger on campus. Drop your student off and then please head home. We have specific adults supporting classrooms at arrival and want to reduce exposure to additional people as much as possible. 
DO NOT SEND YOUR STUDENT TO SCHOOL IF THEY HAVE ANY SYMPTOMS OF ILLNESS!
Principal
In addition to all of the physical health and safety guardrails that we have in place we are also engaging students in daily social emotional learning through our Positive Action curriculum. We are also looking to gain an even better understanding of our student's social emotional needs by administering the BESS (Behavioral and Emotional Screening System) screener. This screener will be administered by UPark staff for all K-5th grade students. The families of student in grade K-2 will fill out a parent screener as well. See our School Psychologist Alicia Vega's Social Emotional Screener blurb below for more information on this parent screener. This tool will help us ensure that we are providing students with the social emotional supports that they need and is also a way to progress monitor the effectiveness of our Positive Action curriculum.

As a staff we have been working on self care and mindfulness as a way to promote social emotional wellness. The practice of mindfulness, or the quieting of the mind, is also very effective for students, especially in these tumultuous times. If you are interested in bringing mindfulness to your kiddos at home, take a look at these resources from Mind Yeti on YouTube.

Sincerely,
Eric Atonna
Team UPark
PTA - Apple Campaign 
We qualified, thank you parents!
Over the course of one week our parents stepped up to help us qualify for a bonus donation and as a result of your generosity and the generosity of our anonymous donor we brought in $10,000 for the Apple Campaign in just one week. In total, we have raised $42,684 with a goal of $70,000 by November 20th. Our grade level challenge is progressing well with first grade in the lead. Please consider a donation of any amount to help us meet our goal and earn a popcorn party for your grade. Support the Apple Campaign at bit.ly/apple-upark.
Do Not Linger on Playground at Dismissal
In order to ensure that we are maintaining appropriate social distancing between adults and cohorts of students please make sure that you are leaving campus right after you drop students off in the morning and directly after students are dismissed in the afternoon. Students may not play on the playground before or after school to ensure that these social distancing safety measures are in place and we can keep our community as safe as possible.
Grades Available in Parent Portal
First trimester grades are now available to view in Parent Portal. Click here to sign in or create a new account. Please notify the office if you need a paper copy of grades.
Modern Market Restaurant Night TONIGHT!
Please join us for another restaurant night to-go at Modern Market in Cherry Hills (3475 S University Blvd)! On November 12th, from 5-8pm, make a take-out order from Mod Market and they’ll give 30% back to UPark. Orders can be made over the phone (dial 303-789-7454 and mention the UPark fundraiser) or online at modernmarket.com (enter our promo code: giveback005). Great food for a great cause—we hope you'll join us in supporting our community!
Kinder-2nd Grade Social/Emotional Screening
Dear Kinder-2nd Grade parents/guardians,

As part of our effort to support the Whole Child, our school is implementing a universal social and emotional screening for students.

Universal social and emotional screenings can provide a fair and impartial way of looking at how students are progressing in their social and emotional development. Screenings can also help identify areas where school personnel can improve or adjust our supports.

Please understand that screening is NOT an assessment or an evaluation. Since we have been in unprecedented times, school staff would appreciate your time in completing this survey. Please complete the questionnaire by clicking the link by Friday, November 20th, 2020.

The survey is 29 questions and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. You will need your child’s six-digit student ID. Only one survey can be completed for each student. If you have multiple children in grades Kindergarten through 2nd grade, please complete one survey for each child. Information from this survey will be used to help our staff identify the supports our students need during this time of uncertainty. 

We appreciate your assistance as we work together to educate and support your student(s)!

Sincerely,
Alicia Vega, PsyD NCSP
720-424-3458
2019-20 Yearbook Orders - Second Chance
If you did not order a yearbook last spring and would still like to purchase one, we have a limited number of 2019-20 yearbooks for sale. Place your order at https://upark-yearbook.cheddarup.com. The order deadline is November 20th, or until all remaining yearbooks are sold, so place your order soon! Once you have ordered, we will be in touch with a plan to distribute the yearbooks the week after fall break.
Help Colorado Celebrate Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
On November 14, 1960 in New Orleans, six-year-old Ruby Bridges passed crowds of screaming white protestors to walk into William Frantz Elementary School for the first time. She was escorted into school by federal marshals the entire year to protect her from physical harm, but the hate and slurs persisted. 

Bicycle Colorado, a not-for-profit organization in Denver, was inspired to learn about the student-led effort to celebrate Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day on Wednesday, November 18 in California, honoring Ruby, her family’s courage and the fight for desegregation of schools. The organization is encouraging Colorado families to participate as well! Whether your children are attending school in-person or virtually, we encourage your family to take a symbolic walk, roll or ride to school or in your neighborhood, learn about young Ruby’s experience and impact and recognize everyone’s role in confronting injustice to help children feel safe and have equal access to opportunity.
Support UPark by Ordering Through Minted!
UPark friends and family get 20% off all holiday card and gift orders from Minted, October through December, when you use our unique promo code. Minted will donate 15% of each order amount back to us!
Morning Kiss and Go is BACK!
In an effort to make things more convenient for families and to lessen the number of adults on the playground during arrival, we will be opening up our Kiss and Go lane starting on Monday 11/9 for our students in grades K-2. If you are using Kiss and Go, please make sure all adults in the car are wearing a mask and that students have masks on ready to hop out! Our Kiss and Go Lane travels North on St. Paul street and the drop-off is directly in front of the kindergarten playground. You may start dropping off students at 8:40 and the lane will close promptly at 8:50. Due to the Kiss and Go Lane, there will be NO PARKING on the east side of St. Paul street in the morning. School staff will be managing Kiss and Go and will ensure students get to their classrooms. We will monitor our Kiss and Go process to ensure it’s working within our strict health and safety guardrails.
Traffic Safety at Morning Arrival
For the safety of our students and community please adhere to all traffic and parking laws around the school.
  • Obey all posted traffic signs
  • No drop off or parking in the staff lot
  • Do not drop off in the alley 
  • PLEASE do not block the crosswalk when you park
The west side of St. Paul is posted with "No student pick-up or drop-off this side" signs. Due to the high volume of traffic during school hours, it is unsafe and illegal to drop children on the west side of St. Paul. Please do not drive south on St. Paul during morning arrival or drop students off on the west side of the street.

The east side of St. Paul is a posted Passenger Loading Zone. Cars left unattended for any length of time are subject to ticketing by Denver Police.

Always use marked crosswalks to cross the street with your students.
Celebration Guidelines
Please remember that UPark has a non-food birthday celebration policy. Please do not send candy or other food items in to school. This year we will not be able to distribute food items of any kind for any classroom celebrations. A great option for celebrating your student's birthday would be to purchase a book for the class library that the birthday kiddo or the teacher can read to the class and that can be kept as a permanent fixture in the classroom. 
UPark Health Office
Denver Health School Based Health Clinics
Covid-19 Testing is Available
Denver Health is excited to offer testing to ALL DPS STUDENTS when they are sick. Denver Health currently DOES NOT do any testing for anybody who does NOT have symptoms even if they are asked to quarantine because they were in contact with a case. In summary:
  • Testing available for all students who are sick and evaluated by a provider
  • NO contact tracing testing
  • NO testing for anyone without symptoms
  • NO testing for exposure without symptoms
  • NO screening testing (ie a back to school test)

School Based Health Clinic Information Line at 303-602-8958
Please click here for specific clinic locations and information.
Food Distribution and DPS Meal Information
In-Person Breakfast and Lunch
Denver Public Schools is providing free breakfast and lunch through December 31st to any student that would like it. View the menu options by downloading the SchoolCafe app here.

*Families can always choose to bring their own lunch to school as well. If you choose to send a lunch with students, please be sure to pack utensils. 

DPS Food Distribution 
Click here for information about DPS food distribution. Click below for fliers with additional details.

Mobile Food Pantry
Food Bank of the Rockies is distributing food through a mobile food pantry. Click here for details.
University Park Elementary Calendar

To access additional calendar information click here or visit the calendar link on the University Park Website.