Douglas County School

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!