What Does The Fox Say?

DPS has confirmed that Inspire Elementary's 25-26 bell time will be 7:40 AM - 2:40 PM. As a school, we can appeal the bell time to request an adjustment but we opt out of doing so. Let me explain. Three years ago, Inspire Elementary moved to the Tier 1 (earliest bell time) bell schedule due to DPS’ Healthy Start Times initiative. The initiative was based on brain research that concludes that teenage brain function is most active later in the morning. The initiative is intended to increase attendance rates, decrease tardy rates, increase student learning, increase physical/mental health, and increase graduation rates. When we initially surveyed our parent community, a majority of parents preferred the 8:05 AM - 8:25 AM start time. When we surveyed our staff, the overwhelming majority preferred the 7:30 AM - 7:40 AM start time. I made the decision to support the staff preference. In the initial year, we were assigned a 7:30 AM start time. The following year, we appealed and were assigned a 7:40 AM start time. Occasionally, I have a parent or two that inquire whether we will push back our start time. We won’t. At the core of that decision is that our current bell time works for us. There are three reasons for this. 1) Less families require before school care with the current bell time. We have about five families that consistently use before school care. If we have a later start time, more working families would need to utilize and pay for before school care. 2) The current start time doesn’t impact our students' on time school arrival. Our tardy rate is less than 2%. 3) It increases our staff’s well-being. Our staff can leave as soon as dismissal is over and have time to run errands, go to the gym, or take their dogs out for a walk. Our staff that are working parents have time to pick up their older children from school, get their kids to school activities and cook dinner at a reasonable time. We recently re-surveyed our staff regarding the bell time and the overwhelming majority wanted to keep it the same. We had a 96% core-classroom teacher retention rate this year. We know our systems and structures have supported staff development and increased staff retention. While I understand that some kids have a hard time getting up in the morning, they quickly acclimate to the school’s morning routine, allowing us to start our Morning Meeting promptly and set a positive tone for the day. They’re in good hands at 7:40 AM!

Together, we are Inspire.

Sincerely,

Linda August

Principal

Important Dates

2/7/25: Spirit Day: 100th Day of School (wear a 100 anything ex: buttons, dress like you're 100, etc.)

2/7/25: Friday Celebration, 7:40 AM - 8:00 AM

2/12/25: Class Picture Day

2/12/25: CSC Meeting, 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

2/13/25: Spirit Day: Valentine's/Friendship Day (wear red/pink or positive message)

2/14/25: NO SCHOOL, PD Day

2/17/25 NO SCHOOL, President's Day

2/18/25: NO SCHOOL, Family Conference Day

2/19/25: 3rd Grade Field Trip, Museum of Boulder

2/19/25: Avalance Hockey Activity in PE

2/21/25: Friday Celebration, 7:40 AM - 8:00 AM

2/27/25 - 2/28/25: 5th Grade Overnight Balarat Trip

2/27/25: Friday Celebration, 7:40 AM - 8:00 AM

3/3/25: Spirit Day: Book Character Day (dress like your favorite book character)

3/4/25: 4th Grade Field Trip, Museo De Las Americas (Ferro & Greene Homerooms)

3/5/25: 4th Grade Field Trip, Museo De Las Americas (Gutierrez & Soifer Homerooms)

3/7/25: ECE Only - NO SCHOOL, RMECC Conference

3/7/25: End of Trimester 2

Family Resources for Black History Month

• Center for Racial Justice in Education
• PBS: Teaching Your Child About Black History
• PBS: Celebrating Black Leaders
• Books with Black Protagonists by Black Authors
• History Channel: Black History

Inspire Spring Auction - Last Week of Early Bird Pricing!

Spring Auction is March 15th and tickets are on sale!

• Take advantage of our early bird pricing at $100/ticket through February 14th.
• Starting February 15th individual ticket pricing will increase to $120/ticket.

• As a special bonus, every early bird ticket purchase (both general & VIP) enters you into a drawing to win a free night's stay at The Rally Hotel on the evening of the event!
• Click here to purchase your ticket today or to sponsor a teacher/staff ticket!

25-26 School Year Calendar

The CSC will meet next week (2/12/25) to finalize Inspire Elementary's calendar. Inspire's 25-26 school year calendar will be available in the 2/13/25 WDTFS. In the meantime, here are some helpful information for parents who are eagerly waiting:

• First day of school 8/18/25.

• Last day of school 5/29/26.

• We typically have a Meet & Greet the week before school begins. This is an important opportunity for parents and students to see their child's teacher and classroom.

• NEW for 25-26 school year we will also have registration hours to assist families with registration paperwork.

Class Picture Day, 2/12/25

All homerooms will be taking class photos on Wednesday, 2/12/25. Please note the following:

• There are no retakes of class photos for absent students or staff.
• Students who do not have an approved "Inspire Elementary - Photo/Video Permission " will not be in the photo.
• NEW this school year - Photos will be taken by our parent yearbook liaison and will be FREE to all parents.

CSC Meeting, 2/12/25, 4:00pm-5:30pm

• Join Zoom Meeting, Meeting ID: 889 9135 5574, Passcode: xdnf7P
• Agenda items include enrollment projections, hiring process, budget update, 25-26 calendar draft review.
• Request for public comment can be submitted here.
• To request interpretation services during the meeting, please email ginger_torres@dpsk12.net.

Spirit Day - Valentine's/Friendship Day, 2/13/25

• Students may wear pink, red, hearts or positive messages to celebrate Valentine's/Friendship Day!
• Homeroom teachers might request parent volunteers to come in for a craft/activity during Morning Meeting. Please connect with your child's homeroom teacher if you are interested and be sure to complete the Inspire Event Registration form.

NO SCHOOL Days 2/14/25 - 2/18/25

• Friday, 2/14/25 - PD Day
• Monday, 2/17/25 - President's Day
• Tuesday, 2/18/25 due to Family Conferences.

Family Resources

• Food Bank of the Rockies: The mission of Food Bank of the Rockies is to ignite the power of community to nourish people facing hunger. Click on the Food Bank Rockies for the nearest pantry.
• DPS Summer Program Livestream: Learn about DPS summer program options like Achieving Excellence Academy, and other affordable summer programs in the Denver community such as Boys and Girls Club, Scholars Unlimited, and more! On 2/26th 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM, watch via Facebook Livestream or Youtube Livestream.
• Denver Free Days. Click here for ​​​​more information on the following:
  2/13 Denver Botanic Gardens
  2/14 Forney Museum of Transportation
  2/15 Parker Arts: Lunar New Year Celebration
  2/20 Denver Botanic Gardens
  2/20 Museo de las Americas
  2/22 Denver Art Museum
  2/22 A-PAL (Asian Pacific Association of Longmont)​​
  2/23 Highlands Ranch Concert Band
  2/27 Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum​​​​

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