Douglas County School

There is so much to be proud of within the Douglas County School District (DCSD). We have incredible students, fantastic teachers and staff, and amazing parents/guardians and community members who all work together to make this school district one of the best!

State Assessment Tests It is that time of year, where we enter the state testing season. Some of our schools have already begun administering the CMAS test – and others will begin in the coming days and weeks. Recently we have been celebrating the fact that for the first time DCSD is the top scoring district in the Denver/metro area. In addition, we are so close to receiving that “Accredited with Distinction,” designation. Data from state testing is one way that we achieve these points of pride. The tests are important for our students and teachers as it helps us understand where students are academically, how our schools are performing and where we can focus our efforts to continually improve.

2024 Apple Awards Tomorrow night is the annual Apple Awards Reveal Party hosted by the Foundation for Douglas County Schools. I cannot wait to learn who our 2024 Apple Award winners are and to celebrate them as well as all of the Apple Award representatives from our schools and departments. This is always such a special night. Be on the lookout for announcements of the winners next week.

Earlier this week my Cabinet and I had the absolute pleasure of visiting the Hilltop Schoolhouse. This schoolhouse was built in 1898 after the town’s original school was destroyed in a fire. The town was, in fact, called Hilltop and the schoolhouse is one of the few buildings remaining in the town from the late 1800s. The Douglas County School District owns the Hilltop Schoolhouse and the land, the incredible women of the Hilltop Social Club care for the building and love it so much. They greeted us with open arms, provided us with homemade baked goods and tea and coffee, and of course a tour. We plan to share more about this little gem in the future but for now learn more on their website.

Funding from the recent Mill Levy Override (MLO) is enabling us to further increase safety and security in our schools via additional personnel such as School Resource Officers and Campus Security Specialists. Hiring is in the works for these positions and many Campus Security Specialists are already in place at elementary schools

Today our educators and staff were immersed in important professional development. Providing our staff the opportunity to collaborate and share ideas and best practices is so crucial and ultimately benefits our students in the classroom.

February is Career and Technical Education (CTE) month and we are incredibly proud of the CTE offerings that we are able to make available to our high school students in the Douglas County School District. CTE prepares students for a wide range of high-wage, high-skill and high-demand careers. Experts in fields such as automotive, marketing, culinary, cosmetology, and many, many more teach students their trade or skill set.

February is Black History Month. Douglas County School District is proud to join our community and the nation in celebrating the history of African Americans and recognizing the contributions of Black Americans throughout our nation’s history. The theme of the 2024 Black History Month is African Americans and the Arts. Learn more here. >> We look forward to hearing about the lessons and activities taking place in our schools over the course of the month.

How can we possibly be at the end of January? It truly feels like this school year is flying by. Many of our high schools are beginning their Wish Weeks which, in my opinion, are some of the more incredible events our community can participate in. During Wish Weeks our high schools (and often their entire feeder and community) come together to grant the wish of a special child via Make-A-Wish or other similar organizations. These events are led by our incredible high school students!

I hope you were able to enjoy this shorter than expected week. As always we appreciate the understanding and partnership of our families and staff when we need to call a snow day as we did this past Tuesday.

Happy New Year and welcome to the second half of the 2023-2024 school year! This week we celebrated Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. I want to take a moment here to thank our incredible law enforcement partners (Castle Rock Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Lone Tree Police Department and Parker Police Department). We are so fortunate to have strong relationships with these entities and sincerely appreciate our School Resource Officers and all they do for our students.

Happy Friday! It’s truly hard to believe that we are just one week away from the start of winter break! I wish our students, staff and families the very happiest of holiday seasons!

Welcome to December! The first half of this school year is flying by!

It’s hard to believe we are already coming up on Thanksgiving Break - where is the time going? I am so incredibly grateful for our students, staff, families and community. And I want to say thank you again to our community for choosing to invest in our teachers and staff by voting yes on 5A - a $66 million Mill Levy Override. Our employees have already received statements outlining what their new compensation will be and they are over the moon. Watch this compilation video from some of our teachers and staff where they thank our community and talk about what the passage of 5A means to them.

Thank you to our veterans across Douglas County and our entire country for their service. Our veterans and current service members provide us with the freedoms we enjoy each day. We have many staff, parents, alumni and community members within our school district who are veterans and we celebrate and thank each and every one of them!

This is the final weekend before Election Day. I received an email this week confirming that my vote has officially been counted. Has yours? Make sure that your voice is heard! The current election is considered an off-year election, meaning there is no presidential or midterm election taking place. As of today, the number of ballots that have been turned in is low compared to the last off-year election in 2021. What we know about off-year elections is that the majority of people who vote are generally aged 55 and over and do not have school-aged children. It would be amazing if we bucked the trend this year and had great turnout from our DCSD families!

I hope you had a wonderful Fall Break! It has been so much fun having students back in the classrooms in time for Halloween parties, Trunk or Treats and other celebrations. We are expecting our first snowfall this weekend, which is a great time to get familiar with how we determine weather delays and closures in DCSD. Visit this website to learn more. We notify our families of any weather delays or closures via email, text, social media, local media and on the DCSD website and mobile app. This is a good time to make sure you are signed up for emergency notifications.

Today finally felt like fall. I’ll be bundled up and out attending some of our DCSD football games taking place this evening - I cannot wait! Of course, a couple of our games are DCSD versus DCSD matchups making it impossible for me to root for any team in particular. So if you see me rooting for multiple teams, just know that I’m wishing all of our student athletes the best of luck! I’m honored to introduce this week’s Faces of DCSD staff spotlight – Catherine Watson at Pioneer Elementary School.

Did you know there is a ton of factual information about DCSD’s funding measures (5A - Mill Levy Override and 5B - Bond) at www.dcsdk12.org/funding? There you can find social-media friendly infographics, how each school would benefit, the full MLO/Bond plan and Arguments For and Against the measures. Be sure to visit this website for all of the information you need to make an informed decision. You can even find information about how to register to vote or update your voter registration.

This weekend kicks off Homecoming seasons for many of our high schools. I wish our high school students incredible experiences and memories that will last a lifetime. Please join me in reminding DCSD’s teens to be safe during homecoming whether that’s this weekend or in the weeks to come. We love each of our students and care deeply about their wellbeing both in and out of the classroom.

Today marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month and the DCSD Connection/Conexión group is hosting a fantastic Hispanic Heritage celebration event at the Legacy Campus on Tuesday, September 19

Monday will mark 22 years since the 9/11 attacks occurred. That day, nearly 3,000 men, women, and children lost their lives. I hope you will join me in remembering and paying tribute to our fallen heroes, including many first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of others.

Happy Friday and welcome to September! It has been so much fun watching our schools participate in their beginning of year milestone events such as fun runs, first football games of the season, homecoming preparations and so much more. I’ve had the opportunity to visit schools and am always in awe of how incredible our teachers are in the classrooms. Not only are they master educators but the relationships they build with students will clearly last a lifetime.

The school year is in full swing and there is so much to celebrate this weekend. If you are looking for some fun family events be sure to check these out: Tonight, Ponderosa High School continues the celebration of its 40th anniversary with a BBQ Tailgate and home football game against Fort Collins High School. Both events take place at EchoPark Stadium in Parker. Learn more. >> The annual Charity Bike and Car Show benefiting our very own Bridge Program takes place tomorrow, Saturday, August 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Lone Tree Brewing Company. Learn more. >> Legacy Point Elementary is celebrating its 20th Anniversary complete with a DJ, bounce houses, a photo booth, food trucks, and more. The event takes place tomorrow, Saturday, August 26 from 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. at Legacy Point Elementary in Parker. In addition, next week, Douglas County High School will officially dedicate its new turf field as the Jan Shawcroft Field. Ms. Shawcroft recently retired after serving as a DCHS staff member for 44 years! The event takes place on Tuesday, August 31 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the DCHS field.

Earlier this week, the Colorado Department of Education released state assessment results for all Colorado school districts and it is cause for celebration here in DCSD! Overall, the percentage of DCSD students who met or exceeded expectations on the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) tests not only increased from last year, but has also exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Check out our press release for more information.

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! On Tuesday morning, I, along with members of my Cabinet, our Executive Directors of Schools, and Board of Education directors, had the absolute pleasure of visiting every school that was celebrating their first day of the new school year. It is so much fun to welcome our staff and students back. Nothing beats that first day of school energy and excitement. Of course, we still have a few schools to welcome back in the coming days and weeks but we can officially say that the 2023-2024 school year is off to a great start!

This week we began wrapping up the school year with graduations, continuation ceremonies, field days, and chicken races (yes, chicken races – a real annual tradition at Sedalia Elementary School). This past Monday we honored the amazing DCSD employees who are retiring. We can’t thank them enough for their service to our incredible school district and all they have done for our students.