Hello! 

Happy 2026! We are excited to take on the second semester with intentionality, urgency, and joy. 

New year, same Weekly Follow Up Newsletter. Check out all the important information for the next week below! 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Watson & Mr. Janson

Sign-ups closed before Winter Break and our clubs are full! This is great news!

Some reminders:

1. Clubs will start the week of January 12th. Confirmation emails were sent before Winter Break to each family that signed up.

2. Regular attendance is expected, timely pick up is required. Pick up is 5:00pm/5:10pm depending on the Club and pickup is outside the front main doors. Please do not ring the bell as Ms. Bianka is not here after school--Each staff member will bring their students to the door and check each student out with their guardian.

3. All school behavioral expectations must be met during the club time. We reserve the right to dismiss any student from participation based on attendance, multiple late pickups, or behavior. 

Let's go! We love offering these opportunities each year and we hope your student enjoys them!

One of our goals this year is to increase building-wide alignment of our weekly social emotional learning lessons, content, and economy of language. With that being said, we have a "SEL Question of the Week" that we discuss in our morning meetings and always aligns to monthly focus. Ms. Watson creates a weekly video to launch the week as well.

Please ask your students about these questions and about the conversations they are having at school!

January's Focus: Curiosity

Week 1: Notice & Wonder--What do I notice, and what makes me curious?

Week 2: Ask Better Questions--How do I ask a question that helps me learn more?

Beginning on January 12th, Multilingual Learners (MLLs) in grades K-12 will participate in the 'ACCESS for ELLs' state assessment.  This assessment measures a student’s English language skills in the areas of speaking, listening, reading, and writing.  ACCESS is used by classroom teachers to determine the level of language support that a student may need during instruction.  With this information, we are able to monitor student progress on an annual basis and determine when a student is ready to be placed in mainstream instruction.   

 Dora Moore will be administering the assessment on the following days: January 12 - 28.

Students best demonstrate what they know after getting plenty of sleep the night before testing and eating a healthy breakfast in the morning.  To keep your child from missing instruction due to makeup testing, ensure that they arrive on-time for school and that appointments and vacations are planned for non-testing days. 

Questions about ACCESS? Contact Mrs. Hoelzle at liz_hoelzle@dpsk12.net!

Dear DPS Community,

As students return to the classroom this week, it’s important for our community to know that respiratory illnesses are widespread in Colorado, including influenza (flu). 

Flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19 illnesses are caused by viruses. Symptoms often include fever or feeling feverish, coughing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, and muscle or body aches. People who get one of these viral respiratory illnesses mostly have respiratory symptoms (i.e., coughing, sore throat). If you think your child has the flu, RSV, or COVID-19, they should stay home until they've been fever-free for at least 24 hours and their symptoms are improving. The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) has guidance to help you decide when to keep your child home from school.  

The flu usually causes mild to moderate symptoms that can be treated at home with rest, hydration, and over-the-counter medications for pain and fever as needed. However, young children, older adults, and people with underlying medical conditions are at increased risk for severe illness and complications. 

How to protect yourself and those around you: 

Stay up to date on vaccines (including your yearly flu shot). It’s not too late to get a flu shot to offer extra protection during this tough flu season. 

Wash your hands often. 

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

You can find providers who carry flu vaccines online.

Denver Public Schools coordinates closely with the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE) to monitor illnesses. 

For resources and information about circulation of flu, RSV, and COVID-19 in Colorado throughout the 2025-26 season, check out CDPHE’s Viral Respiratory Diseases Dashboard or DDPHE’s Respiratory Illness webpage.   

Notify Your Child’s School of Illness Related Absences

We love to see our students at school each day but we also know that absences due to illness can and do happen, especially during this time of year. If your child becomes ill and cannot attend school, please contact the school to notify them that the absence is due to illness. Without this notification, schools are not able to excuse the absence. Note: A school may require documentation after a student has exceeded 10 absences due to illness or injury. 

Although both excused and unexcused absences are considered when determining if a student is chronically absent, excused absences do not count towards truancy filings. The fewer unexcused absences a student has, the less likely the student will be considered for a truancy court referral. 

If there are barriers, illness related or not, that make it difficult for your child to attend school consistently, please contact your school for support.

Up until December, our overall attendance rate was meeting our school-wide goal and additionally, our chronic absenteeism rate was below our school-wide goal (which in this metric is great!). December was rough with illness and took a negative effect on both overall attendance rates and chronic absenteeism. 

As a reminder, the attendance expectation at Dora Moore is that each student will not miss more than 10% of the school days in a given year. This means, students can not miss more than 17 school days in total for the year (btw... that is a ton of school to miss!) or broken down by month, students should not miss more than 2 days per month. 

So--JANUARY IS OUR MONTH. 

Current Year to Date Attendance By Grade: 

ECE: 93%

K: 90%

1st: 91%

2nd: 93%

3rd: 89%

4th: 90%

5th: 90%

Let's get 95% of students to school present and on-time in January for at least 18 of the 20 instructional days!

We have received an overwhelming amount of donations recently (both food & clothing). 

PLEASE, come one come all to check out our latest inventory!

Open Mondays 3:30 - 4:30 PM,  Thurs. & Friday  8:45- 9:45 AM  

Need to come at a different time next week? Want further assistance? Contact Josh Konz:  joshua_konz@dpsk12.net

Bangarang Kids Theater offers a kid-created, variety and improv-style theater camp where children’s ideas lead the show. Each week centers around a playful theme, and campers collaborate to create original skits, jokes, songs, sets and costumes that culminate in a Friday performance. The focus is not on perfection, but on imagination, risk-taking, teamwork, and celebrating each child’s voice. Each week is $300 / camper and siblings get a 10% discount. 

Camps run daily from 9:00–2:00, serve students ages 5–11, and are designed to be inclusive, high-energy, and developmentally responsive. Many children who participate are stepping on stage for the very first time — others are eager and seasoned performers — and all are supported in a way that builds confidence and joy. At the end of each week, you'll get to see all of their hard work as their masterpiece comes to life on stage at 2:00. 

https://www.bangarangkidstheater.com