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The vision of the Douglas County School District is to help students acquire the knowledge and abilities to be responsible citizens who contribute to our society.

Timely Topics

Community Stakeholder Feedback Opportunity ready

Douglas County School District's tool for collecting community stakeholder feedback on our budget reduction work in progress is now ready.

Stakeholder input is extremely important to this budget reduction work to date. You will have the following multiple chances to provide input:

1. Provide feedback on our proposed reduction plan for school years 2009-10 and 2010-11 in Section A of the survey.

2. Review areas of study and provide any additional new ideas you may have in Section B.

3. Prioritize a list of the top reduction, redesign, or elimination ideas to provide clarity into the needs and desires of our stakeholders in Section C.

Please click on this link to read a letter from Superintendent Jim Christensen and access the survey. The plans we make now will strengthen our organization and help it withstand a weakening economy and the resulting impact on our funding sources. Thank you for your feedback.

College Ready Info Nights coming up

Parents and Students are invited to learn more about Dual Credit (high school and Arapahoe Community College) courses which are being offered for the 2009-10 school year. These new courses are available in the high school course catalog just in time for registration. Please contact your counselor or John Hamilton at john.hamilton@arapahoe.edu for more information.

Please plan to attend one of the regional locations listed below:

Highlands Ranch HS: Jan 12 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Cafeteria/Commons
Castle View HS: Jan 13 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Theater/Auditorium

Legend HS: Jan 22 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. in the Theater/Auditorium

International Baccalaureate info

The application deadline for the 2009-10 International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at Douglas County High School (DCHS) has been extended. Click on this link for more information. The deadline is now Monday, January 12, 2009. The ThunderRidge High School (TRHS) IB programme is also enrolling students for courses beginning in 2009-10. Click on this link for more information about the TRHS programme. The Student Interest Form and Student Commitment Form for the TRHS programme are due Friday, January 9, 2009.

DCSD Medicaid Reimbursement Program survey

DCSD is required by law to complete a comprehensive Needs Assessment of its Medicaid Reimbursement Program in order to continue to receive revenue from claims. Parents, staff, and community members are invited to complete a short survey. To access the survey, click on this link.

Open Enrollment window now open

Douglas County School District is now accepting applications for open enrollment for the 2009-10 school year. Applications will only be accepted at schools that have been designated “Open” or “At or Near Capacity” based on space availability. A separate application form must be completed and submitted for each child. More detailed information, a complete list of available schools and application forms are available by clicking this link. Applications are also available at school offices. The open enrollment process closes January 15, 2009.

District News

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Also in the news...

Medicaid Program survey online

2008 ONE Report

Open Enrollment

Spotlight

Acres Green Elem participated in the Trash to Trees event to educate students about waste produced during the holiday season to encourage recycling and making eco-friendly choices for future holidays. AGE’s entry titled “Acres Green Thinks Green” was honored as the brightest colorful tree and featured on 9News.
Arrowwood Elem’s annual Food Drive for the hungry was a great success! They donated more than 1,250 cans to the Salvation Army.
Buffalo Ridge Elem collected 48 boxes of canned goods for the Bronco Wives’ Food Drive. Instead of holiday parties, classrooms adopted families, and had hat and mitten, used books, and school supplies drives for a sister school in Denver. The third grade performed The Polar Express and all proceeds went to the Lakota Sioux children in South Dakota.
Fifth and sixth grade students at Castle Rock Elem collected “Pennies for Peace.” Pennies for Peace, educates children about the world beyond their experience and shows them that they can make a positive impact on a global scale, one penny at a time. Proceeds will benefit CAI, a non-profit organization with the mission to promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The staff also collected to give gifts and food to our families in need.
The Castle Rock Middle choirs kicked off Winter Wonderlights at The Wildlife Experience. CRMS’s National Junior Honor Society and Student Council sponsored a shoe drive. Nearly 550 pairs of shoes were collected and sent to needy families in Ghana.
Castle View HS Interact club, sponsored by the Rotary club of Castle Rock, gathered over 125 toys for Toys for Tots. Rotary clubs gave Interact a great jump towards success by donating nearly $700. This fundraising opportunity created the huge stockpile of more than $1,000 worth of toys.
The National Junior Honor Society and Student Council at Cimarron Middle sponsored a food drive and collected 5,474 items for the Parker Task Force.
Clear Sky Elem held a food drive collecting more than 2,400 food items for the Douglas/Elbert Task Force Food Bank. They are currently collecting toys for Toys for Tots.
Copper Mesa Elem donated coats to Colorado Online, did a food drive for a local shelter and donated eyeglasses for the Lions Project. The school choir sang for patients at the Heritage Club. CME 4th Graders collected school supplies and coats, gloves and mittens to donate to Garden Place Academy, an elementary school in north Denver.
Coyote Creek Elem’s Student Council organized a canned food drive collecting over 800 lbs. of food for the Douglas/Elbert Task Force Food Bank. They also sponsored the Earth Fair and raised over $400 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Cresthill Middle teacher Gregg Robinson and his amazing crew of student ship builders won the “Grand Prize- Judges Favorite” in the Salvation Army’s “Ti CAN ic” CANstruction competition. Students collected 33,204 canned items to build their “ship” and help fight hunger in our community.
Douglas County HS Singers and DC Belles performed for the Annual Castle Rock Starlighting Festival. DC Singers also performed for the Perry Park Country Club and the Meadows at the Grange. NHS volunteers took part in Santa’s Second Chance, a town effort to purchase and wrap gifts for children. FCCLA students raised over $1,000 dollars to help 8 needy families in their schools.
Douglas County Building Resource Teachers (BRTs) from across the District chose various organizations throughout the community to benefit this holiday season. Organizations included: the American Melanoma Society; Parker Task Force; books to Parker Adventists Hospital/Children’s Hospital; the Alyssa Cares Foundation, which provides books to children in need in honor of Alyssa Hemmelgarn, 4th grade student at Fox Creek, who passed away of leukemia in 2007; the Gabby Krause Foundation, which provides backpacks filled with educational toys to children hospitalized for extended lengths of time; and families from the ThunderRidge Feeder Area.
Frontier Valley Elem held a food drive for the Parker Task Force and is planning another one in February or March 2009. They also sponsored a Giving Tree to help Children’s Hospital patients. Families donated unwrapped gifts so that staff at Children’s could give them to patients in the hospital.
The Student Council at Gold Rush Elem organized a food and winter clothing drive to benefit the Parker Task Force.
Lone Tree Elem participated in the Bronco Wives’ Food Drive collecting 42 boxes of food! They also collected recyclable items from classrooms.
Meadow View Elem raised over $1,200 in their “Penny Harvest” for a worthy organization chosen by students. The MVE Student Council participated in the Broncos Wives Food Drive collecting 45 boxes of canned or non-perishable food, and organized a Giving Tree to collect toys, clothing, personal items and gift cards to benefit a local Castle Rock family and the Women’s Crisis Center.
Mesa Middle donated hand knit baby hats to needy families for the holidays. The staff held a Secret Santa exchange and donated toys to the Women’s Crisis Center in Castle Rock.
Mountain Ridge Middle supported the Denver Rescue Mission through two large projects. With help from the local grocery store, the community collected nearly 50 frozen turkeys to help feed needy families. Students also collected over 2,500 items of clothing for the homeless.
Mountain Vista HS Counseling department collected for Toys for Tots; the National Honor Society coordinated a coat drive and also adopted a family to share the holiday spirit with; Student Leadership sponsored a toy drive for needy children.
Northeast Elem donated several cases of nonperishable food items to the Parker Task Force. Under the guidance of the Student Leadership Team, NEE collected and shipped more than 17 boxes full of DVD’s, food, games and assorted items for U.S. Troops in Afghanistan. A local family of six was also sponsored and provided with gifts and clothes.
Northridge Elem was one of five teams to participate in the Salvation Army’s CANstruction Event: at the close of the exhibitions, all the canned food was donated to local food banks. NRE used 2,000 cans of food to build a can and can opener called, “Can Hunger, Open Your Hearts.”
The volunteers at Pine Lane Primary held a food drive to benefit Parker families and families at their school. The donation box was filled several times over with food, personal items, pet food, etc.
Pioneer Elem students and staff held a toy drive for the Salvation Army.
Students with Special Needs students at Ponderosa HS took part in bell-ringing for the Salvation Army for the last 6 years; the French National Honor Society adopted 7 families from Crawford Elementary School in Aurora; Office Staff donated pencils, tissues and other essentials for Crawford Elementary classrooms; Student Council is sponsoring 4 of Ponderosa’s own families with food, clothing and household essentials; the Biology Club raised $500 for a local needy family; the PeaceJam Club visited The Gathering Place, a center for women and children experiencing homelessness and poverty. Students made holiday crafts with the women and children and cooked and served dinner for approximately 125 people; the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) collected 2, 371 cans for the Parker Food Bank and decorated the Parker Senior Center; the German Honor Society bought presents for Parker area families.
Prairie Crossing Elem made a giving wreath for families in need. Students, families and staff gathered gifts and fulfilled requests. Students also conducted a canned food drive to benefit the Parker Task Force. Money collected through the Scholastic Book Fair was used to purchase books and school supplies for a school in Belize.
Debbie Vasquez and Ranchview Middle’s 8th grade Social Studies team sent more than 65 care packages to soldiers in Kuwait for Christmas. Donations were collected from families, and local businesses.
Kindergarten and 2nd grade crews of Renaissance Elementary Magnet hosted a food drive to benefit the Douglas/Elbert Task Force Food Bank. Crews collected more than 350 canned and dry good items, diapers and numerous personal items.
The 8th grade Explorers team at Rocky Heights Middle raised $2,800 to benefit families from the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. The team purchased gifts and gift cards for seven families.
For the 15th year, Roxborough Primary and Intermediate sponsored 16 families through the Salvation Army Adopt-a-Family. The students also raised nearly $3,000 this fall in the ‘Penny Harvest.’ Their total of 58 bags of pennies was the largest of any Colorado school. The students will to grant the money to local charities.
Sierra Middle students held a craft bazaar and donated the proceeds to Doctors without Borders and the Humane Society’s Buddy Center. Additionally, students have participated in a food drive for the Parker Task Force Food Bank.
Soaring Hawk Elem was one of 1,000 schools to be chosen an “O Ambassador School” by Oprah! They sold “giving grams” at school and raised approximately $500. A group of the O Ambassador kids will go Christmas shopping for a needy family designated by the Douglas County Task Force.
Summit View Elem students presented a check for $10,916 to the American Cancer Society. Students, families, and staff raised the money during their “Make a Difference” jog-a-thon in October.
Winter Fest was held at ThunderRidge HS for elementary school students in the area, organized by students from DECA, Spanish National Honor Society, NHS and a group of seniors. The TRHS Philanthropic Alliance sold more than $6,000 in jewelry, crafts and fossils for the holiday season. This donation will be matched by $5,000 from El Pomar. Our students will donate funds to non-profits in Colorado, Africa, Haiti and Latin America.

Foundations

*Take a look at Foundations,* our quarterly district publication created to inform you, our stakeholders, about what's happening in Douglas County School District, particularly in the areas of construction and finance.
Fall 2008 537.68 KB PDF file	October 2007 484 KB PDF file	July 2007 2.68 MB PDF file

District Publications

2008 DCSD Annual Report
2008 DCSD Mini Annual Report
2008 The ONE Report
School Annual Reports

50th Anniversary

DCSD At A Glance
Newsline Archive
Published Materials Archive

school_closures_DP.html

School Weather Closure Status for 01/06/2009

All Open

Additional Weather Closure/Delay Info

school_closures_DP.html

Board of Education

Next Meeting:
01/20/2009 at 5:00pm

Agendas and Minutes
Administrative Policies
District Advisory Committee
School Advisory Councils
End Statements (70kb PDF)
Long Range Planning
Members

Subscribe to DCSD

Did You Know?

did_you_know.html

More choices for families
Douglas County parents have more choices for their children in neighborhood schools and alternative offerings. Seven charter schools are available, as are the Lone Tree Elementary Magnet, Renaissance Expeditionary Learning/Outward Bound Magnet School and the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning. Families also have the option to open enroll their students in any Douglas County school if there is space available.

Feedback Central

Do you have comments or suggestions for the District? Appropriate areas to direct feedback can be found at Feedback Central.

Key Vision Statements

BOE_Ends_Statement.html

1.0 Douglas County School District students acquire the knowledge and abilities to be responsible citizens who contribute to our society.