Helix Feed

Preparing for a Strong Start: What to know about TLI 2026

Each year, DSST’s Teaching & Learning Institute (TLI) provides dedicated time for learning, collaboration, and preparation before students arrive on campus.

All In Together: Everything you need to know about Infusion 2026

Every year, Infusion gives us an opportunity to pause before students return and come together as one DSST community. It's a chance to reconnect with our shared mission, celebrate the people who make this work possible, and launch a new school year with purpose and energy.

Four Years Strong: DSST Celebrates Its Leaders at the 4th Annual Leadership Pipeline Symposium

There's something that happens when a room fills with people who have spent a year doing the hard, intentional work of becoming better leaders. The energy is different. The conversations run deeper. The pride is palpable. That's exactly what filled the air at DSST's 4th Annual Leadership Pipeline Symposium, a meaningful evening of celebration, reflection and recognition for our incredible leaders growing across the network.

Supporting New Teachers: DSST's Mentorship Program Pilot Launches This Spring

 A new DSST Public Schools initiative to ensure every new educator is known, supported, and empowered to thrive

At DSST, we believe that thriving teachers lead to thriving students. That's why we launched a New Educator Mentorship Program Pilot this spring at four DSST campuses: College View High School, Cedar Middle & High School, Conservatory Green High School, and Aurora Science & Tech High School.

Feature Friday: Chad Heltzel knows what words can do

There's a poem Chad Heltzel wrote more than 15 years ago that almost never saw the light of day. It sat in a dissertation, then in a manuscript, then in a drawer - revised, resubmitted, rejected and nearly abandoned. Last September, it was finally published. The collection, Recording of Dead Languages, arrived quietly, without fanfare, after years of what Heltzel describes with characteristic honesty as "largely failing" to get it out into the world. And then, it was recognized as a finalist for the Society of Midland Authors Award for Poetry.

Opening a New Chapter: Celebrating the Student‑Led Creation of the DSST: Elevate Northeast Library

On a bright afternoon filled with pride, gratitude and a whole lot of joy, the DSST: Elevate Northeast community gathered to celebrate something truly extraordinary - the official opening of the Elevate Library, a space imagined, shaped and championed by students.

Teacher Feature Friday: Savianna Gonzales-Wagner knows that belonging is the foundation of learning

There's a question that sits at the heart of Savianna Gonzales-Wagner's work at DSST: Elevate High School:Do my students know they're wanted here?It sounds simple. It isn't. And for Gonzales-Wagner, an Apprentice Teacher in her first year at Elevate, answering that question - every single day, for every single student - is the whole job.

Feature Friday: How Salvador Ramirez cultivates belonging for DSST's diverse community

Every day, Salvador Ramirez shows up to work at the DSST Home Office with a clear sense of purpose: to build something better.

Introducing DSST Lab Classrooms: A new pilot program that focuses on learning from real classrooms

When we talk about great teaching, we often describe it through frameworks, videos or carefully curated examples. But the reality of teaching lives in the middle of a lesson, with real students, real curriculum and real decisions unfolding moment by moment.

Feature Friday: Raul Castillo Ontiveros opens doors through language and leadership

At DSST: Elevate Northeast High School, Raul Castillo Ontiveros teaches more than AP Spanish. He teaches students to see themselves as bilingual scholars. He teaches them that the language they already speak at home, the one they might have been told to leave at the door, is actually their superpower.