DC - Counseling Update
Back to School Edition
Greetings from Douglas County High School’s Counseling Team!
The school year will be starting off differently than any other year. Please know that we are here to support you even in unconventional ways.
A few things to note as the school year begins:
Please understand that cohorts have been assigned at the district level and classes are at limited capacity. We are unable to change student’s cohorts. Regarding schedules, DCHS policy is that we will not make preference changes.
Schedule changes will only be considered for limited situations:
medical documentation that a class cannot be taken
completion of summer school
seniors missing a graduation requirement
dropping a class for an off hour
duplicate class
period with no assigned class or a “See Counselor”
If you meet any approved criteria above, you must use the following form - Class Change Request Form. Requests may not be made in person in the counseling office.
Due to social distancing guidelines, we will have limited capacity in the counseling office. Students and parents will need to have a scheduled appointment. Please email Mrs. Hartman at heather.hartman@dcsdk12.org to schedule an appointment or call the counseling office at 303-387-1084. You may email your counselor directly as well. Any safety or mental health concerns will not require an appointment.
If you or someone you know is having an emergency, dial 911 or contact safe2tell at 1-877-542-7233 (anonymous call or text). If you need resources for mental health crisis situations, please contact Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844-493-8255 or text "TALK" to 38255 (available 24/7).
For the most up to date information please visit the Douglas County High School Counseling Website and click on the Newsletter.
Although 2020 has proven to be challenging we are up to the task and ready to support our DC family.
In partnership,
DCHS Counseling
Courtney Hay, PACK, A-Bt, chay@dcsdk12.org, 303-387-1088
Angela Anderson, Bu-D, aanderson1@dcsdk12.org, 303-387-1025
Amy Wein, E-Hak, amy.wein@dcsdk12.org, 303-387-1085
James Davis, Hal-Kh, jmdavis2@dcsdk12.org, 303-387-1023
Cory Monroe, Ki-Mh, cmonroe@dcsdk12.org, 303-387-1087
Amy Boyce Mi-Rh, aeboyce@dcsdk12.org, 303-387-1079
Emme Mancuso, Ri-S, mmancuso@dcsdk12.org, 303-387-1024
Maggie Willard, 504s, T-Z, Maggie.Willard@dcsdk12.org, 303-387-1086
Student Orientation
First Full Week of School
Hybrid Model
Students learning through the hybrid model will be assigned to Cohort A or Cohort B.
- Cohort A will attend school in-person on Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be independent learning from home, meaning students will work on assignments, view pre-recorded lessons from their teachers, etc. (their teacher will be teaching Cohort B in-person on these two days).
- Cohort B will attend school in-person on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays and Wednesdays will be independent learning from home, meaning students will work on assignments, view pre-recorded lessons from their teachers online, etc. (their teacher will be teaching Cohort A in-person on these two days).
- On Fridays, all students (Cohorts A and B) will participate in online learning from home with a modified schedule of classes in the afternoon.
You will receive more details in the coming days regarding what Cohort your child will be part of and which days he/she will attend school in person.
100% Online
Unlike the remote learning conducted in Spring 2020 due to COVID-19 Stay-at-Home orders, the 100% eLearning option will feature regularly scheduled instruction via a curriculum that is aligned with state standards to help students build upon fundamental skills. Students will engage with their instructor(s) on a daily basis via activities including daily assignments, assessments, regularly scheduled synchronous (live) instruction, and one-on-one meetings.
Free and Reduced Lunch
Click here to apply for Free and Reduced lunch status for the 2020-2021 school year.
USDA has updated their guidance for feeding students during remote learning or COVID-related building closures. Once the school year begins, DCSD Nutrition Services will offer free meals to those students who qualify for the Free and Reduced Meal Program. Effective August 17, meals will no longer be available for free for any student 18 years and under (as with the summer meal program). Full pay students will need to pay for meals at the regular rate. Lunch prices are $3.00 at Elementary Schools, $3.25 at Middle Schools and $3.50 at High Schools. Charter school meal pricing may vary. A la carte options vary in pricing.
Students enrolled in eLearning who qualify for Free and Reduced price meals will have access to an online pre-order system that will allow families to place orders online using their students' names, student ID numbers and school. Families will be able to pick up meals for multiple days on designated days/times/locations. More information on this is being developed and will be updated and communicated before the school year begins.
Free and reduced applications are accepted at any point in the school year. The application can be found here (myschoolapps.com). DCSD strongly encourages families who may qualify based on their current circumstances to apply for Free or Reduced price meals.
Technology Request Form
Express Check-In Info
Express Check-In is closed
If you did not elect eLearning or the Hybrid model, you will automatically be placed in the Hybrid model.
TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS
Below are some troubleshooting instructions in case you are having difficulty logging into the Express Check-In system.
CREATING A PARENT PORTAL ACCOUNT:
If you have not yet created a DCSD parent portal account, please contact the DCSD IT Support Center via email parenttechsupport@dcsdk12.org or phone at 303-387-0001.
RESETTING YOUR PASSWORD:
If you need help with a password reset go to this site: Pin Password Reset (you will need your username, and guardian ID number to do a reset) If you do not have those credentials, please call the DCSD IT Support Center at 303-387-0001 to obtain that information.
BE SURE TO USE YOUR PARENT PORTAL CREDENTIALS:
You can only log in to EngagED to complete Express Check-In using your Parent Portal credentials. Using your student’s credentials may get you logged in, but it will create errors when trying to complete.
Colorado Council Virtual College Fair Week.
The Colorado Council Day/Night Fair Committee is excited to announce that we will be hosting a Virtual College Fair Week for ALL of the Colorado students this Fall in place of our in-person fairs. Please save the week of October 5th-9th, for the Colorado Council Virtual College Fair Week. The Virtual College Fair Week will be FREE to students and their families. We are hoping by offering the Virtual Fair for one week, that students and families from across the state will have time to participate in the fair, when it is convenient for them. This is also the week before Colorado Free Application Day on October 13th, so we hope this will be a good lead up to that day.
So far we have 61 colleges and universities registered including 21 in state institutions. There will be four features to this event which include specific live chat times with colleges, individual college information sessions, panel presentation sessions with at least 3 institutions, and a virtual fair booth students can visit at any time for information. Please share the following video with students which outlines the virtual fair website, https://drive.google.com/file/d/14KZFXL_kCGj-8wk7OGZKAfzHRkiZgmHW/view?usp=sharing.
Scholarships
We are excited to announce we will be raffling off 5 separate $500 scholarships for students who register to attend our virtual fair. We hope this will help you encourage students to attend! Students can begin registering now at https://form.jotform.com/201895923811157. Students will also be able to register during the week of the fair.
Virtual Fair Booths
Each of the virtual fair booths will include quick, helpful information for students such as institution location, top 3 things the institution wants students to know about them, live chat, important links to the institution, and buttons to quickly access the inquiry form, apply now, and more. There will also be a button for students to schedule a meeting later with the college, so they can dive deeper into their questions.
Chat
For the chat portion, we are setting hours each day for chat to be live and college reps to be present and ready to answer questions, like at an in-person fair. The chat hours are:
Monday & Wednesday: 9-11am, 1-3pm, 6-8pm
Tuesday & Thursday: 11am-1pm & 5-7pm
Friday: 9-11am & 1-3pm
Individual College Information Sessions
Each institution will also have the opportunity to host up to two live information sessions throughout the Virtual College Fair Week, so students can learn more about the institutions they are interested in. Each information session will be 45 minutes long and start on the hour from 9am-6pm. Each session will be recorded so students can go back and watch any sessions they might miss.
Panel Presentations
We will also have live 45 minute Panel Presentations throughout the Virtual College Fair Week on various topics. Some of the topics we are hoping to have presentations for are Colleges in the West, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Out of State Options, Nursing Schools, WUE Schools, Division I or Division II athletics, etc. These presentations will be recorded so students can go back and watch any sessions they might miss. Each panel will be 45 minutes long and start on the hour from 9am-6pm.
After the Virtual College Fair Week
The Virtual College Fair website will stay live after the fair with the recordings of all the sessions and virtual fair booths so students can go back and look around when they would like after the fair week.
Who can participate?
Any Colorado student can participate, no matter what age, but we highly recommend Seniors and Juniors participate at a minimum. The information in the fair will likely be geared more towards Seniors and Juniors, as well. Your school and students can choose to participate in the fair at any point in the Virtual Fair Week when it is convenient for you. There will not be a set time for each school.
Next Steps
Please help inform students and their families about the Virtual College Fair Week. In the past teachers have given students extra credit or an assignment for students to attend a college fair, so hopefully that creativity can extend to the virtual world.
We hope the Virtual College Fair Week will give students an opportunity to explore the different colleges they are interested in and learn about some new ones
College Admission Test Scores
College Admission Use of National Test Scores H.B. 20-1407
In the spring of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SAT and ACT exams were cancelled across the country, including for Colorado’s high school juniors. To address this issue, the General Assembly passed legislation that temporarily allows Colorado public institutions of higher education to determine whether to require national assessment test scores for admission for first-time freshman students who graduate from high school in 2021. The high school graduating class of 2021, the juniors who had their SAT exams cancelled, will have the option to submit SAT and/or ACT scores with their college applications. Applicants who choose not to submit a test score for admission will not be negatively impacted as institutions will be able to make informed decisions without the exams.