HELIX FEED

11/15/23

DSST: Conservatory Green High School art students' mural leaves lasting legacy, showcases impact of creative collaboration

DSST: Conservatory Green High School’s Visual Arts 3 - Industry Connect and AP Drawing classes recently undertook a transformative project that left an indelible mark on their school.

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

06/15/23

DSST: Conservatory Green High School Chess Club/Team makes winning moves on and off the board

The DSST: Conservatory Green High School Chess club/team has taken the local chess scene by storm, turning heads and making their mark in various tournaments throughout the year. What started as a casual club has blossomed into a competitive team, showcasing the students' strategic prowess and fostering a vibrant community of chess enthusiasts.



Under the guidance of club lead and coach, Chad Edwards, the CGHS chess team embraced the challenge of transforming their club into a formidable force in the chess world. Since January, the team has participated in five tournaments, with their efforts culminating in a notable achievement at the Colorado Student-Led Chess Association State Championships.

In the Junior Varsity Division, the CGHS chess team claimed an impressive third-place finish, demonstrating their growing skills and tactical acumen. Not to be outdone, the team's varsity squad secured an impressive fifth-place position, highlighting their competitiveness and determination.

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

04/21/23

DSST: College View freshman writes powerful poem about the power of community in shaping our collective destiny

April is National Poetry Month and we’re excited to celebrate the creativity and talent of our students. We are honored to feature a powerful poem titled "Con nuestras voces" (With our Voices) by Omar, DSST: College View High School freshman. This moving piece speaks to the power of community in shaping our collective destiny. We hope you enjoy reading Omar's poem and are inspired by its message.

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

02/24/23

What to know about the updates coming to your medical benefits

Effective March 1, 2023, all DSST team members who are enrolled in medical will move to the Aetna Open Access network (the larger, expanded, network of care providers) as we are moving away from the Aetna APCN Network. 

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

02/21/23

DSST: Montview HS's award-winning journalism program is making huge strides for young journalists

Written by the DSST: Montview High School journalism team:

Journalism is the activity or profession of writing for newspapers, magazines or news websites or preparing news to be broadcast, but by MTVnews’ definition, it is being creative and using that as a stepping stool for an intellectual, scholarly community. The journalism class at DSST: Montview High School has informed the community of school events and national holidays and acted as a beacon of positivity in today’s world.

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

02/01/23

See why this parent said DSST was the best choice for her student

We asked Lori Barr, a parent from DSST: Byers, to share why she chose DSST for her son and why she thinks others should too. Here is what she said.

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

01/20/23

Meet the CIA Team: Management Support for Schools

The Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment team are the people who help schools on a day-to-day basis with support for things like ANET and iReady assessments, literacy intervention and much more. 

This team of ladies -- or the Ladies of the CIA if you will -- have a variety of responsibilities. Take a look below to see specific role descriptions and instructions to who does what on the CIA team.

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

01/19/23

Q&A: Two DSST: College View students share why they chose DSST

We asked Marco Maximiliano and Laura Jaime, two students from our DSST: College View campus, to share why they chose DSST and why they think others should too. Here is what they said.

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

11/08/22

Q&A: DSST literacy interventionist talks about reading rates, testing and importance of the work

DSST has brought in three Literacy Interventionists to help address the decline in reading assessment proficiency that educators are seeing at DSST and across Colorado.

Samantha Hakes is the literacy interventionist at our Aurora Science & Tech (AST) Middle School, where she works with students twice a week for 45 minutes to help them improve their reading and testing skills.

Hakes shares her perspective on reading rates, testing and the importance of the reading interventionists’ work.

1) Reading rates were shown to have dropped across schools in general. How do reading rates look at DSST?

If we look at the CMAS writing data for DSST middle schools, we can see that an average of 50% of students, at most campuses, scored a zero. This does NOT mean that they didn’t have access to the prompt/reading, but that they either lacked the stamina to complete the reading portion and have enough time for writing OR they did not attempt the prompt.

Testing fatigue is real, so we need to strategically think about which assessments our students truly need to take and which assessments guide instruction. It’s imperative that we find a way to encourage student and family buy-in with CMAS, while also not teaching to the test.

2) Your title is “literacy interventionist.” How is literacy intervention different than enrichment and how does that impact students?

The three literacy interventionists who are piloting the program this year at AST, DSST: Green Valley Ranch, and DSST: College View middle schools, are experts in their field. All three of us have over 10 years of instructional experience with an emphasis on literacy development, and experience with differentiating instruction to meet diverse needs. In addition, the programs that we are using – STARI, Words Their Way, and Wilson – are research-based interventions and most include professional development or training before implementation of the programs. With all of this in mind, we have the experience, background knowledge, and tools to truly identify the root causes of students’ literacy gaps and then create individualized plans to target and close gaps.

Therefore, this is different from enrichment, because literacy interventionists do not teach any other classes. Our sole focus is on intervention groups, which utilize specialized assessments and instruction to support all students.

3) Why do you think this work is important based on the current educational/literacy climate?

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

09/27/22

Back to School Nights give families a fun chance to connect with their students' teachers, school

Over the past couple weeks, each of our schools has held a Back to School Night, which is an opportunity for parents/guardians to meet their student(s)' teachers, get connected to their schools' communications, meet partners and just have some fun.

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Topics: Inside the Classroom

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