School is now in full swing again, and students and teachers seem to be settling in well, as does Tameka Brigham, Denver Public School’s new Chief of Staff. “I’m really excited to work alongside so many passionate leaders who, without a doubt, put kids and families first,” Brigham said. DPS announced Aug. 1 Brigham would be taking the reins and will be leading on many DPS efforts, including the Strengthening Neighborhoods Initiative, supporting strong relations with the Board of Education, and overseeing outreach to community leaders through the district’s Public Affairs team. She started her new role the first day of school for the district, Aug. 21. Brigham joins DPS from Teach for America (TFA), where she served as managing director of research for the national non-profit.
Teachers and staff of DPS, along with after school professionals, will receive training to learn new strategies around how to help young learners develop better social and emotional skills, both in and out of school, through the Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative Grant.
DPS is partnering with the Denver Afterschool Alliance (DAA) to align and integrate day school and after school to better support kids with developing skills in self-control, persistence, teamwork and goal-setting, which are all linked to success in school, career and life.
Denver is one of six cities in the nation to receive the first-ever grant from the Wallace Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in New York City. In the first year of implementation, DPS and DAA will invest $1-$1.5 million in students in grades K-5 at six DPS schools. The partnership will also provide educators with additional support by convening members of the professional-learning community, sharing information with other cities engaged with the initiative and ensuring they have access to resources that will continuously improve Denver’s education system.
“The support from the Wallace Foundation will allow DPS to significantly advance our work in social and emotional learning for not only our students, but for our educators,” Superintendent Tom Boasberg said.
“This work will not only strengthen our partnership with DPS, but ensure that kids across our city are supported in all settings of their learning environment,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock added.
During the grant-planning period, which began last fall, DPS and DAA developed a plan to test and learn how to implement SEL in their communities using strategies such as providing professional development, implementing SEL pilot programs and practices and engaging stakeholders. They received technical assistance and guidance from national experts affiliated with the Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, the Forum for Youth Investment and the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
As much as technology is relied upon for everyday tasks, not everyone has access to tech at home. MyTech is working to close that digital divide. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the tech industry is largely dominated by men and lacks racial diversity. Data shows, among executives, 57 percent of employees were white, 36 percent were Asian American, 1.6 percent were Hispanic and less than 1 percent were African American. In the executives category in high tech, about 80 percent are men and 20 percent are women.
DPS students in kindergarten through grade three posted double-digit gains on early literacy exams, as seen by the most recent Colorado READ Act assessments. On Aug. 14, Superintendent Tom Boasberg celebrated this growth with Schmitt Elementary (1820 S. Vallejo St.) educators returning for their first day of the new school year. Their commitment led students to a more than 25 percent increase at the once-struggling turnaround school in Southwest Denver.
DPS recognizes early literacy as essential to building a strong foundation for success in school and in life. Students who are reading and writing proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to graduate.
On August 10, educators at the Hill Campus of Arts and Sciences (451 Clermont St.) surprised members of the incoming sixth-grade class with their very own Google Chromebook laptop computers as a kickoff to the new school year. These middle-school students attending Sixth-Grade Academy are among the nearly 9,000 students in Denver Public Schools who will be receiving a device to use for the school year.
Students are gaining more equitable access to educational technology thanks to Denver voters. The district has invested $10 million in bond funds on an initiative called MyTech, which provides DPS students in 13 schools with a one-to-one personal computer as the 2017-18 school year begins.
As much as technology is relied upon for everyday tasks, not everyone has access to tech at home. MyTech is working to close that digital divide. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the tech industry is largely dominated by men and lacks racial diversity. Data shows, among executives, 57 percent of employees were white, 36 percent were Asian American, 1.6 percent were Hispanic and less than 1 percent were African American. In the executives category in high tech, about 80 percent are men and 20 percent are women. By providing DPS students with the technology tools, MyTech aims to change that reality and encourage girls and minorities to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. This equitable access to technology is being extended outside the classroom.
Parents, teachers and students, have a wonderful school year!
