Weekly Communication 3.11

Posted March 14, 2022

3.11

Update from Principal Thomas

Dear Denver South Students and Families,

We hope you all had a wonderful week. We had a lot of great things happening within our South community this week, like celebrating the Denver East Hockey team’s (with multiple South players contributing) state win, as well as “Living History Lessons” with World War II veterans. With Wish Week starting on Monday, there is lots of positivity and excitement in the halls.

As warmer weather approaches and we head into the final months of the school year, we are asking support from our community to help communicate some important information to our students:

  • We have noticed an uptick in inappropriate bathroom behaviors.  There has been an increase in graffiti, students vaping in the stalls, and trash being left outside of receptacles. We know many of our students feel a strong sense of pride in our Raven community, and our physical environment needs to represent that.  Please encourage your students to refrain from these behaviors, and if they observe this happening, please report incidents to our Culture Team.  We want to work together to have the best possible environment for our community and appreciate your help.
  • Last fall, we began to examine our dress code policy so we can continue to allow students to express themselves and their individuality while still ensuring safety and facilitating participation in learning.  We sought feedback from families, students, and staff, and developed a dress code pilot program.  We will be revisiting this dress code pilot after we return from spring break.

Our Denver South PTSA meetings have resumed in-person at South, and we encourage everyone to attend.  You do not need to be a PTSA member to attend meetings; they are open to our entire South community and new faces are very welcome.  Please sign up here if you would like to receive important updates from PTSA. 

Lastly, please review the upcoming testing information below.  There is a lot of important information for all students on PSAT/SAT and AP exams.

Have a great weekend! If you have any questions, you may submit them here and a staff member will be in touch.

Go Ravens!

We are Denver South

Sincerely,

Principal Thomas


Upcoming Dates for 2021-2022 School Year: 

March 11-18: Wish Week

March 17: Ryan Harris event

March 17-20: The Lightning Thief-Spring Musical

March 24-25: Staff work day NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

March 28-April 4:  Spring Break NO SCHOOL

Testing Dates

April 13: 

  • SAT Testing for 11th Graders. 7:30 am arrival
  • NO SCHOOL FOR 9, 10, 12th graders.

April 14: 

  • PSAT Testing for 10th Graders. 7:30 am arrival
  • CMAS Testing for 11th
  • NO SCHOOL FOR 9 and 12 graders

April 15

  • PSAT testing to 9th grade. 7:30 am arrival
  • NO SCHOOL for 10, 11, 12th graders

New This Week


Testing Dates-

Click here for full calendar

We are approaching that time of the school year when state-mandated standardized assessments are administered to students in 9th through 11th grade. These assessments will give our teachers information to help our students be on track for college and career readiness. As we return from Spring Break, our students will be testing during the month of April. We are asking that you encourage your student(s) to get a good night’s rest, eat a healthy breakfast, to be on time, and do their best on each test! 

These tests, to begin following Spring Break, are comprised of the following:

  • SAT – Administered to 11th grade students on April 13
  • PSAT 10 – Administered to 10th grade students on April 14
  • PSAT 9 – Administered to 9th grade students on April 15
  • CMAS – Administered to 11th grade students on April 14
  • AP Course Tests – Dates noted on Calendar

Click here for a detailed calendar for all of our spring testing, including AP tests. Please encourage your students to review this information and be prepared for the test session(s).

Thank you for your support in making these testing sessions successful! If you have any further questions, feel free to email Jen Warren at Jennifer_Warren@dpsk12.net.


AP Exam order Update

All AP exams orders need to be finalized by March 15, 2022.  If your student is enrolled in an AP class they will have an exam ordered for them unless they have already indicated that they do not want to take the exam.  If a student dropped their AP class or has indicated that they are no longer interested in taking the exam they will be charged a $40 drop fee.  If a student decides after March 15, 2022 that they are not interested in testing they will still be charged the $98 testing fee. After orders are finalized on March 15, 2022 we will be adding these fees to your students’ MySchool Bucks account.  Please reach out to Rachel Goss with any questions rachel_goss@dpsk12.net 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Scholarship Celebrations 

Exciting news from the counseling office! 

Congratulations to our National Merit Scholarship Finalists:

  • Sophie Wilshire
  • Alyssa Robertson
  • Cole Buran

These three Ravens could be one of the 7500 Merit Scholarship Winners from across the country. 

South has THREE Denver Public Schools Retired Educator (DPSRE) Scholarship recipients!

  • Jake Hodas
  • Alexandra Bernal
  • Alyssa Robertson

Each will receive a $10,000 a year renewable scholarship for college.

Both of these are very competitive scholarships; we are proud of you! Way to go!

______________________________________________________________________________________

Engineering Field Trip to DIA

As part of South High school’s mission of engaging community partners to provide valuable educational experiences, Mr. Madourie’s Civil and Architectural class recently took a field trip to the Denver International Airport to view and discuss the great hall project with project managers. Project design and implementation strategies were first shared with students, then a project tour ensued. 

Based on the overall project ideas shared with students, they were then allowed to give ideas and solutions in a two-way dialog between engineers and students. Engineers were pleasantly surprised by the level of questions and analysis by students. This ultimately ended with engineers sharing the effectiveness of communication and critical thinking skills students demonstrated. In addition, students were able to connect content covered in class to its practical application, which deepened their knowledge of and interest in Civil Engineering and Architecture. Click here to see students in action.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Lunch Bunch Group

Please click here to learn about Lunch Bunch, a student group that is welcome to those who want to meet new friends, those who don’t have many friends, those that want to expand their friend group, those that want to have an enjoyable lunch, or those that simply want to make new friends and create forever memories


Ryan Harris Event

PTSA is hosting Super Bowl Champion Ryan Harris on March 17 at 2:45p at Denver South High School.  This event will be right after school, in person, and live-streamed! 


26th Annual Safe City Youth Summit

The Public Safety Youth Leadership Team is hosting the 26th Annual Safe City Youth Summit from 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 25 at the Denver Convention Center. The event will give youth a chance to discuss the issues they face around violence and gives them the opportunity to interact, support and shape city programs and policies that better the lives of youth within the Denver metro area. This is a free event open to youth ages 13-18 that will award three scholarships ranging from $250 to $1,000. learn more and register here.


Parent Updates

March 23, 6:30p – Teens and Stress Management hosted by the CU Depression Center

Join us and experts at the CU Depression Center to discuss stress management. This will be an interactive talk focused on recognizing the function and method of stress and how to understand the essential ways to reduce stress. During this training, participants will learn practical tips and tools to manage stress and change unhealthy habits.  Join the Zoom here.

April 13, 6:30p – QPR Suicide Prevention Training hosted by the CU Depression Center

Join the CU Depression Center to discuss QPR, which stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer — the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. People trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. This evidence based training goes over national and state statistics about suicide, warning signs, and detailed explanation of how to talk to someone who may be in a suicide crisis. Join the Zoom here.

Parent Communication

Please sign up here if you would like to receive important updates from PTSA, you do not need to be a member! We send out important updates about supporting students, teachers and parents at Denver South High School!

Recurring News 


District Accountability Committee

The mission of the District Accountability Committee (DAC) is to serve as an advisory committee to the board on matters such as budget priorities, school improvement plans, charter school applications and other matters outlined in the state statute or identified by the board and/or superintendents. The DAC is open to DPS parents, staff, and community members who are interested in the improvement of our schools and ensuring that every child succeeds. For questions, please reach out to Sofiya Erman at Sofiya_erman@dpsk12.org   


School Fees

As we get closer to the end of the year, we would like to remind you that all fees need to be paid as soon as possible. Please make sure you log in to your My School Bucks account to review and pay your fees. Remember that these need to be taken care of before the end of the year.

To login to your account please visit the following link My School Bucks or you can log in to your parent portal account and access it through there.

If you do not have an account on My School Bucks, please follow the link below to create one.

My School Bucks User guide