Story 1: Attendance Awareness Month Our goal at DPS is to ensure every learner thrives. And one way we as the collective DPS Community can do that is by identifying and removing barriers that keep our students from coming to school each day. When students are not at school, they not only miss out on valuable learning opportunities for the time they were absent, but they can experience long-term impacts that hinder their development in reading by third grade, achieving in middle school and graduating from high school. You’ve likely heard the phrase “chronic absenteeism” before. Chronic absence is missing 10% or more of the time enrolled in school due to absence for any reason, including arriving late, leaving early, excused and unexcused absences, and suspensions. Missing 10% of school is approximately the equivalent of missing two days per month. If your child is experiencing obstacles that keep them from attending school, please let your school know. Schools may reach out to a family to learn about why a student was absent. This is to ensure that the absence is recorded correctly in the attendance system, as well as to help the school identify relevant and specific resources to connect families to. That being said, there are a number of reasons that students miss school, sickness being one of them. At the start of the school year and when returning from breaks, it’s common for students to get sick. The Attendance webpage (linked in our show notes) provides guidance on when to keep children home if they aren’t feeling their best and when to send them to school. If your child is too sick to come to school, please either call the school’s front office or submit an online absence by following the steps in this guide, linked in our show notes. Families are encouraged to plan ahead with calendars. Access the 2026-27 school year calendar via the link in our show notes to plan appointments and vacations around important days to ensure your child does not miss valuable learning time. Most schools have a school-specific calendar, so be sure to also check your student's school calendar for any important, school-specific dates. Our second story is about a Cognitive Testing Opportunity for all students. Story 2: Cognitive Testing Opportunity for All Students Each fall and spring, the Gifted and Talented Department offers cognitive testing for students in grades ECE through 12 to support data collection toward gifted identification or eligibility for gifted magnet sites. All first- and fifth-graders are tested automatically through universal screening. Families of all other students can register online. The form linked in our show notes is accepting responses for fall testing until October 2, 2026 by 11:59 pm by Oct. 2 Our third Story is about celebrating Colorado 150 with the DPS community. Story 3: Celebrating Colorado 150 at DPS All members of the DPS community are invited to attend EduKitchen, a student cooking competition and community event, on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 10 a.m.-noon, celebrating 150 years of cooking and culture in Colorado! This event is being hosted at the cafeteria on the DPS Mosaic Campus (7150 Montview Blvd., Denver, CO 80220). Earlier this year, students, staff and community members sent in their favorite recipes to help create a DPS Community Cookbook. On Oct. 3, Nine lucky DPS students will compete in a culinary competition, making three recipes from this Community Cookbook. Attendees will have the chance to test their historical and culinary knowledge with trivia, listen to the stories of inspiring guest speakers, watch local celebrity chefs judge the student dishes and of course, snack on delicious food! This event is free and open to the public, and we hope to see you there. You can RSVP for EduKitchen via the link in our show notes. Our fourth and final Story is about celebrating Harvest Week with DPS Sustainability. Story 4 : DPS Harvest Week Harvest week is September 21-25, and DPS Sustainability is asking school gardens to celebrate their harvest, but also celebrate the students, staff, parents, and volunteers who are growing food and building community in the process. If you are interested in planning an event during Harvest Week, reach out the Sustainability team via the form linked in our show notes. Participating schools will have the opportunity win prizes for your school garden! If you have questions, email the Sustainability team. That’s all for this week. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of DPS Snapshots. Please remember to like and subscribe to our show to never miss an episode. We’ll see you next time on DPS Snapshots.
