A Word from Superintendent Tom Boasberg

Boasberg addresses school leaders and outlines upcoming parent forums for the 2015-16 school year.

This school year, I will be hosting seven Superintendent Parent Forums throughout the school year. The parent forum has been a great way for us to communicate and connect with schools and parents district-wide.

The purpose of the Superintendent Parent Forum is to:

• Provide an opportunity for open dialogue with the parent community;
• Share key district initiatives;
• Provide information that will help parents better understand how to best support their child’s success both at school and at home; and
• Give parents the tools to disseminate information learned at the Forums and share with the school leader and the wider parent/school community including, but not limited to, CSC/School Governance Council, ELA PACs and other parent leadership groups.

We ask that every school designate at least four parent/guardian representatives to consistently participate in the Parent Forums throughout the year. Parent Forum members must commit to attend at least five forums throughout the school year.

The Forums are held at easily accessible locations in the Denver Metro area. To accommodate our working parents’ schedule, we offer two identical sessions for each parent to choose from:  a morning session from 9:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. and an evening session from 6:15 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. Interpretation, childcare, and meals are provided to all participants at no cost.  Additionally, we provide transportation to those parents who might not be able to attend otherwise.

This year, we will continue to combine the Superintendent Parent Forums with the ELA District Advisory Committee (ELA DAC) meetings. As an ELA program school, please designate two parents as your ELA representatives¹ out of the four that will serve as your school’s parent forum representatives.

ELA parents will stay for a one hour meeting after the parent forum morning session to learn more about their rights, responsibilities and dive deeper into the content of the forum. The ELA DAC will run right after the parent forum from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Lunch, interpretation, childcare, and transportation will be provided. The district will continue to invite all ELA families to attend each month via the ISA Team contacts.
I value our partnership and ask for your support in designating four parents/guardian representatives¹ from your school for the 2015-2016 school year. We understand this is a busy time of the year for school leaders and we recommend that you select someone from your team such as your assistant principal, school family liaison or differentiated leader appointee to assist you in your selection. Here are some tips on how you can select your four Parent Forum Members:

-Reach out to your CSC/School Governance Council, PTA, PTO, ELA PAC and other parent committee representatives.

-As an ELA program school, please select two ELA parents as a part of your parent forum representatives.

-Reach out to the parent classroom volunteers and other volunteers at your school.

-When you designate your Forum members, please be mindful of representing the cultural and linguistic diversity of your school community.
Our first Superintendent Parent Forum will be special session and open to all DPS parents/guardians. The forum will be held on Thursday, September 24, 2015 at the National Western Complex, 4655 Humboldt Street. The topic will be on the Denver Plan 2020 and the Vision of our Classrooms and Graduates.

Please identify your four parent representatives. Attached, you will find a Parent Nomination Template that you can send to your selected parents. Please register your four parent representatives by Friday, September 11th. Please send the attached form via email to Terri_Davalos@dpsk12.org or call 720-423-2283 if you have any questions.
Thank you for your continued commitment to advancing family engagement efforts in the Denver Public Schools.

Best,

Tom