Commander Communicator 2/26/2023

Posted February 26, 2023

Commander Communicator

A Message From Principal Almon

Dear Commander Families, 
Last week was filled with so many celebrations! Our Black Student Alliance entertained and educated our student body with the first-ever Black History Month assembly. Special shout out to Lauren Hawkins and her husband for cooking up some amazing food for our BSA and BVIS visitors to enjoy before the assembly.

On Thursday night, our IB Diploma Candidates were celebrated for completing their extended essays, Community Activity and Service projects, and Theory of Knowledge exhibitions. These students, over the last two years, have written over 40,000 words for their extended essay, completed 120 CAS projects, 120 completed internal assessments, and a group 4 project. Our eSports team is showing tremendous growth and is highly competitive! Our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate teams are both currently 2-0 and ranked 10 & 11 in the league with over 150 teams!

JFK HOSA Future Health Professionals represented themselves at the HOSA State Leadership Conference last week with great professionalism, responsibility, and class! Over 1300 students from around the state of Colorado were in attendance, and the students who attended were outstanding! I also want to give a special shout-out to all of the parents who attended our PTSA meeting on Wednesday; we already have some exciting projects in the mix. 

Let’s continue to show our Commander PRIDE by attending the season opener and first Boys’ Volleyball game as a CHSAA-sanctioned JFK Sport on Thursday at 6:30 pm.


Have a Commander Kind of Day!

Tiffany Almon, Proud and Grateful Principal

She, her, hers, and why they matter

tiffany_almon@dpsk12.net

Take Command of Your Future!

Upcoming Dates!


  • Tuesday, February 28th

    • Food Pantry

      • 2:45 PM to 4:00 PM

    • IB Diploma & IB Career-Related Programme Info Night

      • 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM

  • Thursday, March 2nd

    • Home Opener, Boys Volleyball, Varsity @JFK v. Kipp Collegiate

      • 6:30 PM

  • Wednesday, March 8th

    • Collaborative School Committee / Commander Conversation – Town Hall

  • Thursday, March 9th 

    • Commander Connection – PTSA

      • 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM

      • Community Room 103B

IB Diploma & IB Career-Related Programme Info Night

Did you know that John F. Kennedy High School is one of only 32 schools in Colorado, and one of only 3 schools in DPS to offer the IB Diploma Programme? And, we’re the only school in DPS to be in candidacy to offer the IB Career-Related Programme!

For current 10th grade students–rising juniors–this is an especially important year as students decide to enroll in these programs during their Choice of Studies process taking place on Thursday and Friday.


In order to ensure that students and families have all the info they need to make this decision, we’d like to invite you to learn more at our information session happening this Tuesday. We’ll explain what IB looks like at JFK and the different ways that students can participate in IB courses. If you’re a current 10th grader, or parent/guardian of a 10th grader, you may have received an email from Ms. Warren as well.


Interpretation services in Spanish and Vietnamese will be available!


We hope you will join us!

IB Diploma & IB Career-Related Programme Info Night

Tuesday, February 28th

5:30-6:30 PM 


Take Command Of Your School Year

Reminder of JFK’s Attendance Policies

John F Kennedy High School Attendance Policies: 2022-2023
At Kennedy, we believe that every minute of instruction matters; therefore, we have created the Attendance protocol
to encourage all Commanders to be in all class periods, every day unless excused through school-related activities
or for medical reasons.

At Denver Public Schools it is essential for students to attend school daily in order to acquire the knowledge, skills,
and confidence needed to be college- and career- ready.

Attendance Expectations:
At John F Kennedy High School and in Denver Public Schools, students are expected to maintain:

● Higher than 93% attendance
● Less than 3% tardies – no more than 3 tardies
   per class per 6 weeks


Click here to see the full Attendance Policy

Take Command of Your Involvement!

Events & Activities Calendar 
JFK Athletics Website
JFK Events Calendar


Take Command of Your Health and
 Safety!

Vaping Prevention – Resources for Parents 

Parents play a critical role in preventing vaping, so make time to talk with your child today. This handout has great tips for starting that conversation. Catch My Breath has great resources including a Parent Training Video (also in Spanish) and a Parent Toolkit with information on how to support your child, how to spot a vape, six signs your child may be vaping and other tools for tackling the vaping epidemic. For students needing vaping intervention, MyLifeMyQuit, is a free, confidential quit line. Additional resources for adolescents using substances can be found here.

***Safe2Tell***

DPS has been seeing a rise in the number of misused and malicious reporting on our Safe2Tell safety tip lines. The Safe2Tell tip line is not a resource for general complaints and should only be used in cases of emergency. False reports are a felony, and subject to criminal penalties according to Senate Bill 21-081. If you have a complaint, please reach out directly to the JFK leadership team directly for more information on how you can receive help or new accommodations.