Dear Highline Families,
 
We had a great welcome back to school this morning, and teachers were glad to see the students after the stress of the last couple of days!  Many teachers arrived bright and early, even with the lengthened day for conferences today.  What follows is mostly a reprint of the letter we sent out this morning, but I did want to make sure that all families received the message about our school’s programming and response to the events that occurred.
 
At Highline we utilize the Conscious Discipline program, and one of the most basic tenets of this program is that our first job is to keep students safe, and their job is to help keep school safe.  We will continue to work on behalf of all of our students to maintain a safe school where we can focus on learning.  The need for safety is what led to the closure of schools on Wednesday.  For the rest of the year, we will continue to provide a safe, loving environment where students can grow and develop.  We have a highly secure school building with access-controlled doors, video cameras, and direct contact with DPS security.  Additionally we have held successful practice of all emergency procedures, and have been complimented on our speed and efficiency in securing the building.  Most of all, we have an outstanding group of teachers who love and care for the students, and who work hard to keep the school safe every day.  I am proud to lead a team that cares so much for the children we serve.
 
To support the needs of students who are feeling scared or nervous about returning to school, we will provide extra support throughout the building, including access to the school counselor and school psychologist.  Teachers are prepared to address student concerns, and will continue to focus on ensuring that students feel safe and supported. 
 
We did put CMAS testing on hold for the day today, and we will resume testing on Monday (please see information below).  Family/Teacher conferences will go ahead as planned after school and Friday, and students will not have school on Friday (as planned). 
 
The Following are a couple of resources to support children who are struggling to process the events of the past few days, provided by DPS for families:

 
If your family has any questions or would like additional support from our team at Highline, please do not hesitate to reach out.
 
Thank you for your partnership in creating a safe, caring Highline community.
 
-Guerin Gray

 

Thank you so much for sending your students to school on time during our testing window.  Updates to the testing schedule are below in RED.  Please contact Rachel Langberg at rlangberg@highlineacademy.org or your child's teacher to let them know your student may be absent, so we can reschedule testing as soon as possible.   Students who arrive late may not enter the testing session, and will be required to makeup tests at a later date and/or time.  ALL tests MUST be complete by Monday, 4/29. 

 

A HUGE thanks goes out to EVERY SINGLE person at Highline for making our Step It Up Kids fundraiser a success.  We've hit our $30,000 goal, which was set after our $10,000 and $20,000 goals were smashed!  Thank you so much for helping our school collect funds, reaching out to your friends and families, and supporting us to build a new play structure and purchase recess equipment with the money.  We can't wait to celebrate with all our students on May 21st during the Day of Awesome!  Please send any money that was collected offline to be counted and calculated into our final numbers!  

Culture Night!

Book Fair

The City is proposing a new protected bike lane on Green Valley Ranch Blvd. from Tower Rd. to Picadilly Rd. and we want to hear from you and help to answer questions you may have regarding the project. We will present the location of the protected bike lane, design options and a project schedule at the public meeting.
 
Date: Wednesday, April 24th
Time: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM 
Location: Green Valley Ranch Recreation Center, 4890 Argonne Way, Denver, CO 80249

Please stop by to give your input!