Parent Council

As part of Teacher Appreciation Week this past week, our faculty & staff were showered with a new surprise each day as a token of gratitude from our parent community. Thanks to the generosity and thoughtfulness from our Parent Council Reps, parents, and families, they were treated with Summer Self-Care bags including goodies from Topo Designs, lunch in the courtyard from Cochina Taco, coffee cart & pastries, snack station & succulent plants, and for a grand finale, dinner gift cards and individual hand pies! Along with encouraging notes sprinkled throughout our hallways, there was certainly much warmth and gratitude in the air for all who make our community a beautiful place to learn and thrive.

Below is a letter from our school director, Kelly Church:

Dear Parents and Parent Council Reps,
The support you have shown to all of us here at the school this year has been amazing! Throughout the year, each time you have recognized our efforts it has put a new spring in step and a swagger in our walk! Your acknowledgement of our work in this challenging year has made a huge difference. We so love being with your children and we are honored to spend our days with each of them. Thank you for taking the time to share and show your appreciation, we feel truly loved.

With gratitude for you all,
Kelly

There were many, many words of appreciation shared amongst our faculty & staff, including:

• “Yummy, Yuuuuumy, Yummmmy! This is the best week ever!” – Christa Gustafson
• “Thanks to Parent Council for all of your work on all of this” – Mike McHenry
• “Many thanks to parent council for the goodies. I feel the love!” – Sarah Meyer
• “The coffee lady had everything I wanted & more! I’m even trying something I’ve never had before, which is saying something because coffee is my religion!” – Brie Kaiser
• “Thank you so much for all the surprises this week. They have really been helping me.” – Sarah Boyer
• “This is the best thing that’s ever been done! The Topo bags are so cute and I need to get some for all my girlfriends! Amazing.” – Brie Kaiser
• “The abundance is so striking. I’m speechless.” – Deb Wolf
• “It sort of feels squishy, like being hugged by parent council!” – Dawn Archer
• “Thank you, I feel so loved – this year has been so hard.” – (through tears) Milandra Pfister
• “Your little gifts throughout the year were wonderful and greatly appreciated. Your support means a lot. Thank you.” – Faustina Pfister
• “I feel so supported and seen. There was such thoughtfulness behind each surprise” – Jessie Cartwright
• “With our hearts, hands, and bellies full, we feel so much love from this incredible community. Thank you!” – Jen Lamboy

This would not have been possible without Carrie Tentori & Nicole Reinan spearheading the efforts, Parent Council Reps collecting sentiments about all of our faculty & staff, and of course our caring parents & families for donating so generously.

We would also like to thank the wonderful businesses in our greater Denver community for helping make this week a success, including Cochino Taco, The Espresso Affair, Hinman’s Bakery, Topo Designs, Keith’s Coffee, Denver Beer Co, Mod Market, and also the following businesses from months past including Snarf’s Sandwiches, Phia Alchemy, Santiago’s, Tokyo Joe’s, Crock Spot, and Steam!

Thanks to all for the care, commitment, and intention that is shared within our wonderful community each and every day.

For our last meeting of the school year, the DWS Parent Council was joined by Student Support Coordinator Dr. Sarah Boyer, Health and Safety Manager Christa Gustafson, and Advancement Coordinator Hannah Ronan-Daniell. Please enjoy the recording, minutes, and student support resources below.

We also came across this article you might find valuable from The Atlantic titled There’s a Better Way to Parent: Less Yelling, Less Praise.

Meeting Minutes

Click the button below to download the minutes from the April, 2021 Parent Council meeting.

Recorded PC Meeting and Student Support Presentation

Student Support Resources from Dr. Sarah Boyer

For our first meeting of the new year, the DWS Parent Council was joined by School Counselor Jenny Thompson to discuss mental health through Covid-19 for both students and parents. Her presentation covered:

• Mental health trends she’s seeing related to how COVID is affecting children
• Tips to parents about how we can be one step ahead of these problems
• Ways parents might engage in self care.

Following the mental health presentation and live Q&A, parents broke out into smaller groups by their children’s ages. Scroll down to watch the recorded meeting and presentation. Or visit Jenny’s Corner to access tips for parents and students, mental health resources, and more!

Resources for Talking About Racism

We also want to share some resources from the Center for Racial Justice in Education for talking with kids about race, racism, and racialized violence.

Meeting Minutes

Click the button below to download the minutes from the January 2021 Parent Council meeting.

Recorded PC Meeting and Mental Health Presentation

Accreditation Discussion with School Director Kelly Church

We would also like to share a discussion on independent school accreditation with Kelly Church from a Parent Council meeting held last Spring.