Dear Educators,

As we approach the end of the first semester and the holiday season, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering commitment to our students and school communities.

These final weeks before the holiday break are an opportunity to keep our focus sharp, ensuring that every day counts on our shared journey of success. From guiding students as they decode their first words to mentoring them through complex problem-solving, your efforts open doors to endless possibilities and lifelong growth.

This year, we have made significant progress together, and your feedback has been instrumental in operationalizing key shifts and changes to serve our students better. These improvements reflect our collective dedication to creating environments where every student can thrive.

As we prepare to welcome a new year, let us finish 2024 strong—celebrating every victory and milestone, big or small, that has been made possible through your hard work and collaboration. Through your dedication, we are ensuring that Every Learner Thrives.

We are wishing you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season filled with peace, love and reflection.

Respectfully,

Dr. Tony Smith
Deputy Superintendent

To provide ongoing support for the implementation of the DPS Odell curriculum, the Humanities team is seeking support to create exemplars for unit culminating tasks. Review the project overview (with tentative time commitments). If you would like to contribute to this project, complete the interest survey by Friday, Dec. 13. Participants will be eligible for extra duty pay commensurate with their availability and assigned tasks and according to the DCTA contracted curriculum work rate. Email Anne Marie Blieszner if you have any questions.

As we plan for future support, the Humanities team is gathering information on current literacy intervention practices in our secondary schools. Complete the survey questions to the best of your knowledge by Friday, Dec. 13. This survey is open for all building leaders, teachers and paraprofessionals. Email Sarah Jones if you have any questions.

Coming fall 2025: Equity-focused PDU Turnkeys! Review Abolitionist Teaching Strategies and Ruthless Equity PDU Book Study taking place this spring. Both PDUs will evolve into Turnkeys (ready to run) for the fall of 2025. If you are interested in leading one of these PDUs next year, email Michele Deats.

If you have any questions visit the PDU page on The Commons or email Michele Deats.

We are now accepting applications for the 2024-25 Aspiring Teacher Leader of Color Cohort (ATLOCC). This cohort experience is designed to support educators and SSPs of color in developing adaptive and technical skills aligned to teacher leader roles within their building. The cohort will strongly focus on cultivating leaders for equity, inspiring those who aspire to become leaders. This cohort experience comes with an annual stipend and an opportunity to build your network. To learn more about this opportunity, review the Program Overview. If you have any questions, email Pamela Stigall.

The Assessment Team would like to thank you for your support and role in administering the Interim assessments. We understand that it takes a massive amount of work to administer assessments and we cannot express our appreciation enough.

To improve our support to schools, please complete the Interim Feedback Survey. It should take between five to 10 minutes to complete. All feedback will be reviewed and will inform revisions and updates to future interim assessments. Please also send the survey to any other staff involved with Interim assessments.

Learn more about additional resources and information here.

• Reminder: VEX Robotics Grant Opportunities

• Calling ECE and Elementary Poetry Writers

• A Model for Active and Empathetic Listening

Past editions of Teacher Weekly

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