Stand community organizers, Vallerie, Ivana, and Natalie, hosted a community conversation with 20 Denver parents, educators, students, and community members to discuss Denver Public Schools (DPS) new strategic plan, DPS Thrives.
Our team shared an overview of the plan, which the district is describing as a roadmap, including the mission, vision, and focus areas which include student, adult, and system experience. The actions outlined in the plan are described as being grounded in the following priorities: equity, accelerating learning, and transformative social emotional and academic learning. In a letter introducing the strategic roadmap, Dr. Marrero states:
In this strategic roadmap, we envision a new DPS experience. An experience that centers our students, with an intentional commitment to our marginalized students, while also elevating the experience of our adults. One that recognizes the role of systems in creating equity in education and justice in society. One that will turn our vision that Every Learner Thrives into a reality.
Participants engaged in a discussion sharing their experiences, concerns, and hopes for DPS. Multiple participants expressed a desire to strengthen family school partnerships and encourage families to engage in their schools and in the district. Some of the concerns expressed were about seeing a lack of focus on literacy improvement plans and feeling like there was lack of detail in the action steps outlined in the roadmap. Participants also connected with the plan by reiterating the need to support increased teacher pay and improving teacher diversity. Our team will use what we heard to identify opportunities to engage with the district.
If you want to learn more about DPS Thrives, you can read the full plan here, view DPS’s summary and video launching the plan here, or read Chalkbeat’s coverage here.
At Stand, we support families, educators, and community members to engage with the district by sharing their experiences, concerns and hopes through public comment at DPS Board meetings. You can sign up to deliver testimony at the Board’s Public Comment and Progress Monitoring meeting here. If you would like someone from our team to reach out to you to share more information, tell us here.
Interested in staying up to date on the DPS School Borad? Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter, This Month At the Board, here.
