Weekly Roundup February 21

ASSESSMENT – SAT, PSAT 9 and PSAT 10/SAVE THE DATE
This April, all freshmen, sophomores and juniors will participate in Colorado School Day accountability testing. These assessments are critical to understanding student growth and school-level trends. The Colorado Department of Education requires at least 95% of our students take these assessments. Please be sure your student is in school and on time for the following assessments:

• Wednesday, April 12 – All juniors take the SAT
  • There will be no school for freshmen, sophomores, or seniors
• Thursday, April 13 – All freshmen take the PSAT 9
  • There will be no school for sophomores, juniors or seniors
• Friday, April 14 – All sophomores take the PSAT 10
  • There will be no school for freshmen, juniors or seniors

Important attendance requirement: Juniors attending Prom must participate in (1) CMAS Science on April 5, and (2) SAT School Day on April 12. Sophomores who are invited by an upperclassman to attend Prom must participate in PSAT 10 on April 14. Starting February 1, all juniors, seniors and invited sophomores attending Prom must have no more than four (4) unexcused absences this semester, which includes participation in our assessment days.

If you have questions about exempting your student from these assessments, please refer to these guides in ENGLISH or SPANISH. Students who have been exempted from these assessments must have no more than three (3) unexcused absences this semester to attend Prom. The deadline to exempt your student from these assessments in Parent Portal is February 28.

2023-2024 SCHOOL CHOICE ROUND ONE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 21
DPS SchoolChoice for the 2023-2024 school year is open through February 21 at 4:00pm. DPS’s annual open enrollment process is for any student who wants or needs to attend a new school for the following school year, particularly incoming kindergarten, sixth- and ninth-grade students. All incoming ECE-3 students, as well as incoming students who reside in an enrollment zone, must complete an application in order to list enrollment preferences. Research your school options using School Finder, the Enrollment Guide, or by contacting schools directly. Once you have your preferred schools in mind, rank them in order of preference (up to 12) and submit your SchoolChoice application by the deadline. There is no advantage to submitting early. Simply submit your application anytime between now and 4:00pm on February 21. Families will be notified of their results in late March. Call 720-423-3493, email schoolchoice@dpsk12.org or visit schoolchoice.dpsk12.org for more information.

• Rising Sophomores: February 23
• Rising Freshmen: April (TBD)

GWHS BASEBALL FUNDRAISING NIGHT AT TORCHY’S TACOS
Come out to enjoy a great meal at Torchy’s Tacos (at Boulevard One in Lowry) and support GWHS baseball! A 15% portion (note this is a new percentage) of all sales made on Thursday, February 23 from 10:00am to 9:00pm (note this is a new time period) will go toward the GWHS baseball program. 

“9 TO 5,” OUR SPRING MUSICAL!
Our Spring Musical is “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton. It features three amazing leading ladies backed up by a wonderful chorus. The songs are catchy and fun, and you won’t want to miss this high-energy performance! Opening night is Thursday, March 2 at 7:00pm, with shows on Friday, March 3 at 7:00pm, and two shows on Saturday, March 4 at 2:00pm and 7:00pm.   Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students, and $5 for children under 8 and Thespians. You can purchase advance tickets HERE, or in person at the show with cash or Venmo. Check out our promo poster HERE, and thank you for supporting the Patriot Players – we can’t wait to entertain you!

CHOIR CONCERT/POETRY ART NIGHT
Please come enjoy the Choir, various artists and poets here at GWHS for a celebration of original work. The Choir will perform original pieces and arrangements of popular songs, while artists paint and draw and poets read their work. This is a celebration of ALL things artistic, and we can’t wait for you to join us on Wednesday, March 8 at 6:30pm in the GWHS Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public!

HELP MAKE OUR ASSESSMENT DAYS FUN!
To encourage our students for our P/SAT (April 12, 13 and 14) and CMAS (April 5) administration days, we need your help! We have plans to celebrate our students’ hard work through breakfast, testing room prizes and snacks, and some major giveaways (think a PlayStation5 and a set of AirPods Max per grade level). If you would like to donate to the fun, there are two ways: you can sign up HERE to bring in snacks or gift cards, or donate through MySchoolBucks HERE (select “Proceed as Guest” if you haven’t yet created a MySchoolBucks account). Submit your donations by Monday, March 20, and we’ll get them in the hands of our amazing students! Questions? Contact Dr. Bolz or Ms. Hunter.  

DSF GRADE-LEVEL CHECKLISTS
Our Future Center wants to support all students in their path to college and career! Here are some checklists for freshmen (in ENGLISH and SPANISH), sophomores (in ENGLISH and SPANISH), and juniors (in ENGLISH and SPANISH) to help guide students and their families through intentional choices in high school programming and planning. You can also find these checklists on our website’s “Future Center” tab under “Students & Families.”

GET PAID TO GET YOUR COVID VACCINATION
Denver Health School-Based Health Centers (SBHC) are offering $30 Visa gift cards to any DPS student or sibling of a DPS student who gets their COVID-19 vaccine! To receive a gift card, DPS students or DPS siblings must receive their COVID-19 vaccine at an SBHC site during a provider visit. A Visa gift card is gifted for EVERY COVID-19 vaccine dose (first, second, or booster); however, The Pulse (the SBHC at GWHS) ONLY has Pfizer bivalent booster doses at this time, which can only be given after the primary vaccine series has been administered. Multiple Visa gift cards can be gifted to the same family (for example, if one DPS student and one sibling are scheduled, the family is gifted one $60 Visa gift card or two $30 Visa gift cards. Funds for additional family members receiving doses will be loaded to the initial Visa gift card provided two weeks after a visit completion.

GWHS FOOD PANTRY
GWHS is proud to announce its Food Pantry is now open for the 2022-2023 school year! All students and staff are eligible to participate. Each Wednesday, food will be distributed at the Food Pantry (located in room 3 in the sub-basement) from 2:45 to 3:30pm. Family-sized bags for weekend meals are available by signing up in advance, and special distributions will be make for holidays, winter break, etc. Interested in participating, or in volunteering or making a donation? Click HERE for more information.

GWHS LANDSCAPING COMMITTEE MEETING
Want to help beautify GWHS or plan the 2023 Go Green Day? Join us Wednesday, February 22 at 5:00pm at the Chop Shop in Lowry for our next GW Landscaping Committee meeting. Questions? Email Lisa Emerson.

GWHS LANDSCAPING COMMUNITY SERVICE DAYS
Mark your calendars for upcoming GWHS Landscaping Community Service Days! We will be cleaning up campus and preparing for Go Green Day. This is a great way to get community service hours working outside and beautifying the school! Upcoming dates are February 25, March 11, March 18, April 8, April 22 and April 29, all from 10:00am to 12:00pm. We’ll also host Go Green Day on May 6 from 8:00am to 1:00pm! Please bring water and sunscreen, wear layers and closed-toed shoes. Meet at the GWHS Community Garden.

ATHLETICS WEEKLY UPDATE
Patriots perform highly in academics and athletics! See our weekly athletics update HERE. Don’t forget to come cheer on our top-ranked girls basketball team tonight as they start their run at a state championship!