NEWS & UPDATES
 

Summer | Issue 47 | Date: August 22, 2024

Funding Great Schools. Rooted in Community.

 

Welcome back to a new school year! The RootED team has been honored to join back-to-school celebrations across the city. From a campus expansion at Highline Academy Southeast to the brand-new Responsive Arts and STEAM Academy elementary school to a reimagined Montbello High School, we’ve witnessed exciting new beginnings for many DPS educators and families.


These ribbon-cutting ceremonies remind us of the importance of quality learning environments for all DPS students, which is why we’d like to shed light and put our full support behind the very important bond measure that will go to Denver voters this fall. The DPS board approved the $975 million package last week, and RootED is announcing our official endorsement:


RootED Denver proudly endorses the 2024 Denver Public Schools bond measure, recognizing its crucial role in advancing educational excellence across our city. This bond measure is an important investment in our schools, providing much-needed resources for modernizing older buildings, enhancing safety, and updating athletics and arts facilities. The RootED team participated in the district’s Community Planning and Advisory Committee (CPAC), a well-managed, intentional community process that provided the recommendations for approval by the DPS Board of Education, and we have confidence that these investments will be implemented with fidelity. By supporting this measure, we can ensure that all students, regardless of their background, have access to high-quality learning environments and opportunities that empower them to thrive. We encourage the Denver community to vote in favor of this bond measure and join us in championing the future of our students and schools. 

Learn More About the DPS Bond Measure

Summer Sessions with PEBC and Mile High School Guide

Thanks to two summertime community engagement sessions facilitated by Dr. Katy Anthes, Director of the PEBC - Public Education & Business Coalition FORWARD Initiative, RootED was able to gather valuable feedback about Mile High School Guide from a variety of Denver education stakeholders. Dr. Anthes sought to build trust, understand differing views more thoroughly, and focus on solutions that create lasting change. The result was a thoughtful and productive conversation with education partners across the city along with excellent suggestions and feedback that will allow us to continue refining Mile High School Guide. Our team is already hard at work incorporating feedback and plan to release an updated version of the tool this fall.

 

Partner Spotlight: SCD Enrichment Program

We were happy to see our partners at Scholars Cultivating Dignity (SCD) Enrichment Program featured in a recent news story about identifying a more diverse gifted population in Denver. SCD’s mission is to recruit and support gifted and talented and advanced coursework for secondary BIPOC students through support programming and gifted identification processes through the lens of culture. Founder Shalelia Dillard, quoted in this Chalkbeat article, has done incredible work throughout Denver Public Schools by supporting families, providing summer programs, and offering workshops and mentoring opportunities.

Learn More about SCD Enrichment Program
 
 

DPS and Board of Education Notes

The DPS Board of Education resumed meetings last week, kicking off the new school year. Here are a few items worth noting:


  • EL 18 - School Consolidation and Closure: The board voted on a newly-established timeline for the superintendent to make recommendations for potential school closures and consolidations, determining that recommendations would be presented in early November, with a board vote coming soon after. 


  • DPS Discipline Matrix: the district released the updated discipline matrix to the public, providing guidance for when students should be suspended or expelled. The new guidelines, which include seven categories of offenses instead of the previous six levels, goes into effect this school year. 


 

2024 CMAS Results

CMAS state data was released this week, with school and district-level results released to the public on August 29. As discussed in this Chalkbeat article, students in Colorado continue to show improvements in reaching pre-pandemic results, with younger students even surpassing 2019 results. However, significant achievement gaps remain, particular for multilingual students.


RootED will be sharing more information about DPS-specific CMAS results after they are released next week. In the meantime, parents can view their students’ individual CMAS scores in the DPS Parent Portal.

Funding Opportunity

Gary Community Ventures has released a request for grant proposals in the areas of Accelerating Outcomes for Multilingual Learners in Secondary Schools and Increasing Family Affordability through Tax Credits. Organizations who are new to Gary and BIPOC-led organizations doing work aligned to the proposal focus areas are encouraged to consider applying. Proposals are due at 5 PM on August 30.

 
Upcoming Events
 
Mark your calendars with these important dates:

Aug. 26

Denver Public Schools Board of Education Public Comment Session and Progress Monitoring Session


Aug. 29

Denver Public Schools Board of Education Board Meeting

Aug. 29

CMAS Results Release - District and School Data

Sept. 5

Denver Public Schools Board of Education Work Session


Sept. 14

Denver Public Schools Black Excellence Summit

Sept. 16

Denver Public Schools Board of Education Public Comment Session and Progress Monitoring Session

Sept. 5

Denver Public Schools Board of Education Board Meeting


Sept. 14

Denver Public Schools Black Excellence Summit



Music students at Wyatt Academy

 
 
1390 Lawrence Street, Suite #200
Denver, CO 80204
 
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