Helix Feed

Shoutout to DSST's awesome school directors for National Principals Month

October is National Principals Month, and at DSST Public Schools, we’re lucky to have a lineup of incredible school directors who bring heart, energy and vision to our schools every day.

Honoring our Immigrant Community -- A Conversation with DSST's Senior Manager of Multilingual Education, Margarita Colindres

This Latine* Heritage Month, Salvador Ramirez, DSST Senior Manager Of Equity, Inclusion, Strategy And Implementation, had the opportunity to sit down with one of our network leaders, Margarita Colindres, to ask her questions about her Latine identity and the work she is doing that primarily services our Latine communities across the DSST network as the Senior Manager of Multilingual Education. Learning more about her identity as an immigrant to the United States from Guatemala helps us understand the current challenges and opportunities that DSST faces as we work to serve our newly arrived students from across Latin American and Caribbean countries. 

DSST: Cedar High School named 2024 National Blue Ribbon School

We are thrilled to announce that the U.S. Department of Education has named DSST: Cedar High School a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School. This recognition places Cedar High School among the top schools in the country, celebrating its outstanding academic performance and commitment to closing achievement gaps.

Community events, celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month

We are excited to be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month as a DSST community. Our CEO, Nella García Urban, sent an email where she shared what this month means for her as a Latina and how she celebrates.

DSST Schools shine in latest Colorado School Performance Framework Results

We are thrilled to share some exciting news from the DSST community! The preliminary results for Colorado's School Performance Framework (SPF) are in, and we’re proud to announce that DSST schools are continuing to lead the way in excellence.

DSST launches 2024-25 with focus on Big 5 Success Outcomes

DSST has gotten off to a great start for the 2024-25 school year. We are excited to keep this positive momentum by focusing on our Big 5 goals.

Learn how you can get your bachelor's degree for free

We know one of the main barriers to becoming a teacher or leader for many of our staff is the bachelor's degree requirement. 

Empathy in Origami: AST students bring history to life through paper cranes

The Middle School Commons at Aurora Science & Tech (AST) is alive with a vibrant display of thousands of paper cranes, each carrying a story of empathy, resilience and hope. For the past four years, 7th-grade students in Allie Crites' Social Studies class have folded paper cranes as a kinesthetic project intertwined with their history lessons, creating a powerful tradition that resonates throughout the school.

The project began during the challenging 2020-21 school year when hybrid learning left both students and teachers weary of screens.

“I was SO tired of being online and in front of a computer screen. So were the students,” Crites recalls. Inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki and the legend of the thousand paper cranes, Crites introduced this hands-on activity to her class. “History is just a bunch of stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things that the time calls for,” she said.

Crites’ personal connection to the story of Sadako, which she read in middle school and later revisited during a poignant trip to Hiroshima, helped her see the potential impact on her students.

“I cried and fell to the ground seeing all the paper cranes from all over the world sent in memory of all the innocent children who have perished in wars,” she shared. This emotional experience fueled her desire to make history relatable and meaningful to her students. 

Each year, the project has taken on new significance, reflecting contemporary global issues. The first year’s cranes were dedicated to the victims of COVID-19. The following years honored children in Ukraine, oppressed black and brown children in the community, and most recently, children who have died in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Perspective: A blueprint for better schools

In the endless debates and rankings concerning great places to live, the Centennial State is often highly ranked and admired.

Known for its mountains and national parks, above average number of sunny days, strong economy, sports teams, and expansive brewery scene, Coloradans relish this positive attention.

However, one of the state’s most important assets is less known.

Many Coloradans are unfamiliar with the barrier-breaking success story of DSST Public Schools. DSST’s mission is to transform urban public education by eliminating educational inequity and preparing all students for success in college and the 21st century.

From starting high school on a basement couch to rising 'like a phoenix': The Class of 2024

Imagine starting high school. No tour. No assembly. No meeting new friends. That’s how it was for thousands in the class of 2024.

Three Cole seniors were featured in a CPR article as part of a larger NPR story of seniors graduating after starting their high school experience in the pandemic.