Collaborating with Our Health Partners for a Safe Return to In-Person Learning
We continue to work closely with our partners at Denver Health and the Metro Denver Partnership for Health (MDPH) to develop and approve our plans to ensure a successful second semester for our students and staff.
Keeping Our Community Safe and Healthy
The most important thing each of us can do to make our return to in-person learning safe and healthy is to carefully follow health and safety guidelines: Wear a mask over your nose and mouth. Wash your hands frequently. Keep physical distance. Stay home if you are sick. These simple steps remain crucial, and we all must do our part.
We will continue to monitor health conditions in Denver County and in DPS, and share that data with you on our COVID-19 dashboard. As we shared recently, school districts in the Denver metro area and the MDPH worked together to develop a common set of thresholds that align to the state of Colorado’s new COVID-19 dial. These new, aligned thresholds focus on the incidence rate in the broader community, which our experience has shown is the best indicator of how feasible it is to keep schools open for in-person learning. We’ll be updating our dashboard in the coming weeks to reflect the new dial and thresholds, so you can continue to be up-to-date with the latest health conditions in our community.
If you have questions about returning to in-person learning, please contact your school directly, or connect with our Family and Community Helpline at 720-423-3054 or FACEhelpline@dpsk12.org.
Vaccine Update for DPS Team Members
As Interim Superintendent Dwight Jones shared Tuesday, DPS is doing everything we can to make vaccines available to our school-based staff as soon as possible. Teachers and other “frontline essential workers in education” are expected to begin receiving vaccinations in early March.
Personal Protective Equipment
DPS is committed to providing the personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to make our schools safe. All schools have a large supply of PPE to launch the second semester and will receive more KN95 masks, student masks, hand sanitizer and face shields this week. Schools will be provided with more PPE as needed throughout the year, including a new KN95 mask every week for staff members.
Additional Information on COVID Testing
DPS is pleased to announce we are expanding our partnership with COVIDCheck Colorado to offer our free COVID-19 testing for students to support a safe return to school. Our full community of students and staff will now have the opportunity to take an initial COVID-19 test before coming back to school as well as ongoing screening tests every other week.
Registering for testing can be completed at any of COVIDCheck Colorado’s testing sites via this link. The tests are free, fast, and reliable. You can see an updated list of testing sites here including sites at DPS schools at the Montbello campus, Abraham Lincoln Campus, the North High School Campus, All City Stadium and a new site at George Washington High School. The test will be completed via nasal PCR test or SalivaDirect™, and results will be returned within 36-72 hours.
At any time, families and students can schedule a test at existing COVIDCheck Colorado sites. Any DPS student or employee should use our district link, while family members can continue to use the community link.
A special “Thank You” to Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health for the funding support that has made this program possible for our students, families, and community.