A Message From The Principal

Dear Commander Families and Students,

We have had an uptick in reports of contagious illnesses, including COVID. Please read this note from Nursing Services and our very own Nurse Melissa:

COVID is in an Endemic Phase, meaning The COVID virus is not spreading out of control but at a constant presence in the community and still needs to be reported. If students or staff are sick with COVID, please stay home and follow COVID protocols including reporting all positive COVID tests to the school nurse.  

There have been some vomiting and diarrhea-like illnesses occurring in the community that are not related to COVID. If a student or staff member is ill with vomiting and diarrhea, please report the illness to the school nurse. If someone has vomiting or diarrhea they should stay home for 48 hours after the last episode to make sure they are no longer contagious.  Please see the attached document titled “How Sick is Too Sick” (ESPANOL, ENGLISH) published by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

P/SAT, SAT, and CMAS Makeups are next week, students and families will be communicated via personal phone calls, emails, and paper passes. We are trying to ensure that most of our students who need to test complete their makeups on 4/25, but we will have opportunities to make up assessments on 4/26 and 4/27 as well.

Please check out our 23-24 School Year Bell Schedule here. To find out more information regarding the DPS School Board Healthy Start Times resolution starting next year.

Safety continues to be our number one priority, please wear your IDs and follow our updated school safety protocols every day. 

Have a Commander Kind of Weekend!

Tiffany Almon, Proud and Grateful Principal

She, her, hers, and why they matter

tiffany_almon@dpsk12.net

SAT Suite and CMAS Science Make-Up Testing

When:  Tuesday 4/25/23 and Wednesday 4/26/23 (for CMAS)

Who: All students who still need to complete their SAT Suite (SAT\PSAT) and CMAS Science Assessments.

Why: 

• Student College Acceptance qualification

• Student Scholarship qualifications for College and Career

• Educators and Student’s feedback on testing skills and information to drive future instruction

• JFK Community School Performance Rating (SPF) Final Rating needs significant improvement

According to JFK’s SPF on the Colorado Department of Education website, significant gains have been made, but more is needed.  Our participation rates could be better for our scores and our ability to attract more students and families.

Framework Participation Rate Calculations: FACT SHEET (Use this link if you want to dive into the details)

Where: Students have all been individually notified and sent individual DPS Google Calendar invitations telling them where and when they will be testing on Tuesday (and Wednesday). Additionally, there will be an announcement during Advisory on Monday morning, paper passes given out to students during 7th and 8th period Monday afternoon, and text messages sent to students Monday evening.  On Tuesday morning, a schoolwide announcement will be made over the loudspeaker prompting students to report immediately to their testing room for make-up testing. Teachers will have access to the testing lists to help students get where they need to be.

MAKE SURE YOU BRING YOUR FULLY CHARGED CHROMEBOOK IF YOU NEED TO TAKE CMAS SCIENCE (11the grade only)

All the best, 

Mrs. Power

Class of 2023

• The Class of 2023 has earned $1.78 million in scholarships already! That is not counting the money they will also receive from DSF.
• Galaxie Galindo earned the Terry O’Connor (full-ride) to MSU Denver where she will study to eventually become a nurse!
• Daniel Hoang is a recipient of the Gates (full-ride) scholarship! He will be studying at Mines this Fall!
• Anchors Away was a success with several students committing to their college and a couple just completed their interviews for the Zdero trades scholarship.
• To date we’ve taken 16 Commandersto officially become CCD students and MSU Denver! They were able to get student ID’s and register for their classes.
• Future DSF Scholars will meet for our “Almost There Workshop” April 25^thduring lunch to talk through final scholarship enrollment steps with the DSF Scholarship team.
• Senior Signing Day celebration that will be held on April 28^th! We already have 20 RSVP from families and we look forward to celebrating with y’all from 10:15-11:40AM.

Almost There 

The Almost There event on Tuesday, April 25th, is a presentation/workshop that the Denver Scholarship Foundation gives to DPS seniors who have applied or will apply for the DSF Scholarship that covers scholarship requirements and the next steps they need to take to qualify for DSF. We consistently see that applicants who attend Almost There become DSF Scholars at a higher rate than applicants who do not attend. 

The DSF Scholarship is awarded to all students who qualify. 

Senior Meeting Slide Deck

       Click Here for more senior information and important dates!

Take Command of Your Future

*9-11th GradeCollege Access Program*

Mr. Miguel – Denver Scholarship Foundation

Important dates:

• April 27th – College Tour to CU Boulder (SKO Buffs)

• May 9th – College Access Program Ceremony

Summer School Opportunities 

Parents/Guardians – Registration for Summer School is now open. Summer school is an opportunity for students to make up a previously failed course(s) that is required for graduation. Please use this link to register – tinyurl.com/23summerschool. Space is limited, please sign up as soon as possible. Counselors will be visiting middle schools (Grant Ranch and Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy) to collect choice of studies for incoming 9th graders.

Denver International Airport Aviation Program

Commanders, are you interested in a career in Aviation?

John F. Kennedy High School has the opportunity to partner with Denver International Airport. This is a year long mentorship program that can lead to internship and apprenticeship opportunities. This program will start in the

2023 – 2024 school year. Please take this survey to help us identify interested students.

Commanders, there is less than a month left until yearbooks are delivered. Make sure you’ve reserved yours for the LOWEST PRICE!

Act now and use code ‘seniors23’ for $10 off.

Hurry and order by April 30th–prices to go up in May!

Attendance Matters!

Studies show that students who attend classes regularly are more likely to succeed academically, therefore, more likely to graduate and find good jobs. 

Congratulations Esports!!

On Friday, our Commander Esports varsity athletes, the JFK BOM Squad, went to championship playoffs at Local Host. Coming in as the underdogs, our team improved its standings in the overall ranking from 16 to 9 out of over 150 teams, in a close-loss to Mountain Vista High School, who went on to rank number 4.

Our Smash Brothers varsity team has moved from 63 in the rankings up to 9 in the course of just three seasons. That is thanks to the hard work and dedication of our athletes, and the commitment, skill, and efforts of Coach Jonesz, who has thrown himself 100% into supporting the success of the Smash Brother teams.
Please give a shout out to our Commander BOM Squad superstars:

Meagan Kreinbrink (MVP)
Zackary Cole (Team Captain)
Lansen Jaramillo (The Ringer)
Katie Kreinbrink (substitute player/team manager)

Take Command of Your Health & Safety