What Does The Fox Say?

As the date of parent teacher conferences drew closer I asked my 11yo (a 6th grader, now in middle school) what was going on because there wasn't a sign up or anything. She told me that one of her teachers said you just show up and wait for every teacher. Not gonna lie... I was bummed. She's got seven different teachers. So the night of conferences... I wandered with my daughter to see a few teachers. At the fourth teacher there was a line of chairs outside with parents patiently waiting. Not a good sign. There were three teachers in the classroom. I don't understand how this works. The other parents said you just wait outside until the teacher you want to talk to is available and you have to know who in line is waiting for which teacher. Say what now? Hold up... hey, hey hey. Slow it down - size of the problem. I was okay. I figured it out, we were fine, conferences were fine, and 11yo got to hear how she was doing directly from her teachers. Mission accomplished.

As a parent of Inspire, you might wonder why we facilitate conferences the way we do. Years ago, we moved to virtual meetings. The pandemic showed us there was a different and more effective way of meeting. While I understand there are some parents who miss the live meeting, a significant majority of parents prefer the virtual option. It also increases equity of access as working parents can hop onto a call during a break and you get time back from not commuting to the school. It increased the number of parents that attended conferences. Last year, we adjusted the process so conferences were offered across two weeks. We also strengthened the outreach process, asking staff to reach out to parents in three different ways to promote conferences. The trend continued as we saw more parents signing up for conferences. The additional benefit to this version of conferences is that it allowed more staff autonomy - to create a schedule that works for them, increasing well-being. Inspire has strong systems because our staff have a voice. Our systems are intentional and we know what we do works for us. Thank you for spending time with our staff during conferences. We hope it was time well spent!

Together, we are Inspire.

Linda August

Principal

Important Dates

10/18/24: Friday Celebration, 7:40am-7:55am

10/23/24: Black Family Night, 5:30pm-6:30pm

10/24/24: MLE - PAC Meeting, 5:00pm-6:00pm

10/25/24: Friday Celebration, 7:40am-7:55am

10/26/24: Fall Festival, 11:00am-1:00pm

10/28/24: Kinder- Anderson Farm Field Trip

10/28/24: ECE Field Trip - Botanic Gardens

10/28/24: Spirit Week: Fall Theme or Colors

10/29/24: Spirit Week: 80s Day

10/30/24: Spirit Week: 90s Day

10/30/24: Door Decoration Deadline

10/31/24: Spirit Week: Costume Day

11/1/24: Spirit Week: Dia de los Muertos

11/1/24: Friday Celebration, 7:40am-7:55am

11/8/24: Friday Celebration, 7:40am-7:55am

11/8/24: Celebration of Learning, 1:40pm-2:40pm

11/11/24: Spirit Day: Veteran's Day (military or red/white/blue clothing)

11/13/24: CSC Meeting, 4:00pm-5:30pm

11/15/24: Friday Celebration, 7:40am-7:55am

11/15/24: End of Trimester 1

11/18/24: Trimester 1 Grades Available/Posted

Black Family Night, 10/23/24

• Join us for Black Family Night on 10/23/24 from 5:30pm-6:30pm.
• Questions? Email dimi_schondelmayer@dpsk12.net.

MLE - PAC Meeting, 10/24/24

• Join us for the Multi-lingual Education Parent Advisory Committee Meeting in room 134 on 10/10/24 from 5:00pm-6:00pm.
• Questions? Email greta_meyer@dpsk12.net

2nd Annual Fall Festival, 10/26/24

• Saturday, 10/26/24 11:00am-1:00pm
• This is a free event for the Inspire Community! Lots of bounce houses, face painting, and balloon animals. Bring cash/credit for the food trucks and vendors. Hope to see you there!
  
  

PTO Staff Appreciation Potlucks

• We’re excited to kick off our staff appreciation potlucks organized by Katherine Gregg with the PTO to provide meals for all of our amazing staff! Let’s come together to support our teachers and staff with delicious food! Please sign up using the link to let us know what you can bring. If you want to volunteer for future dates please contact amy.pomante@inspirepto.com. Thank you for your support!

First Potluck Date: October 25th - 4th and 5th Grade Families

• Let’s make this a fantastic start! Your contributions will help us create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for our staff.
• 4th & 5th Grade families, sign up here to contribute to October 25th’s Staff Appreciation Taco Bar!

Upcoming Potluck Dates

• November 15th - 2nd and 3rd Grade Families
• December 13th - 1st and Kindergarten Families
• January 24th - ECE and 5th Grade Families
• February 21st - 3rd and 4th Grade Families
• March 14th - 2nd and 1st Grade Families
• April 25th - Kindergarten and ECE Families

Celebration of Learning, Friday, 11/8/24, 1:40pm-2:40pm

• Last week (10/10/24), we reminded families about Trimester Celebration of Learning.
• Be sure to register via the Inspire Event Registration form.

PTO Restaurant Giveback Begins

• Our first restaurant giveback event is happening on Monday, October 28th in partnership with Panda Express located at Panda Express located at 5625 N. Beeler Street. The event will last all day and Panda Express will donate 20% of qualifying sales back to Inspire!
• To qualify either order via mobile at PandaExpress.com or the App and enter 382215 in the fundraiser code box. We’ll also be sharing a virtual flyer you can use to present in store on our community Facebook page.
• For questions or to sponsor a future restaurant giveback contact amy.pomante@inspirepto.com.

Inspire Food Pantry
The PTO is proud to support the Inspire Food Pantry. If families or caregivers to Inspire students would like access to the food pantry or grocery gift cards for extended breaks please contact michelle_hauck@dpsk12.net.

Family Resources

• Central Park Volunteers Facebook Group: Are you passionate about making a difference and eager to contribute your time and skills? Join the Central Park Volunteers Facebook Group, a dynamic community dedicated to both supporting existing volunteer opportunities and nurturing new ones.
• Central Park United Neighbors - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee: Next meeting: Tuesday, October 22, 6-7:30 PM. Click here for more information and to RSVP. We’ll discuss “Part 4: Opening Up White Communities & Epilogue” (76 pp). We'll start with a summary of the reading to ensure that everyone can participate, even if you haven’t had the chance to read the full selection. After the summary, we'll break out into small discussion groups and then rejoin for a larger group discussion at the close of the meeting.

Email: linda_august@dpsk12.net
Website: https://inspire.dpsk12.org/
Location: 5650 N. Elmira Ct., Denver, CO, 80238
Phone: (720) 424-4850