McMeen Elementary

Dear McMeen Community,

• Overall, an overwhelming majority (85-95%) of families feel a strong connection and communication with their teachers, as well as welcomed in the school. I am very proud of this.
• There were many comments about not liking the earlier start time for school this year. Unfortunately, this is something out of our control and was decided by the district as part of the Healthy Start Times initiative.
• Families seem to have mixed feelings about communication - some feel it is too much while others think it is not enough. We will continue to refine our communication structures to try and find the right balance.
• I heard a strong desire to hear more directly from me as the Principal. This is what has sparked the creation of this message, which I will strive to send out weekly with any updates families need to know.
• There is a concern about student behavior. I promise you that I also share this concern. We are continuing to refine our practices around making our school safe and welcoming using the Capturing Kids Hearts model. We also continue to work with the district on discipline policies that are supportive of all students. As part of this, we have seen a big rise in students retaliating against peers in order to "defend themselves" and not understanding that some of the things they are retaliating against are accidents (for example, a student bumping into them, or them getting pushed when a student is running and accidentally runs into them). I ask that as parents you also help us by talking to your kids about the difference between accidental incidents and intentional.
• Growing class sizes were also brought up. We are actively addressing this with staffing for both this year and next year. I encourage you to review the CSC notes from this past week where we discussed the budget for next year.

Thank you again for taking the time to provide us with some honest feedback. We use this to continually grow and improve as a school.

I also wanted to take a moment to share updates regarding the CBS news series McMeen in the Middle. The City of Denver has received more than 38,000 migrants from the southern border in the past year and many of those newcomers arrive as families. CBS News Colorado is producing a series of reports “McMeen in the Middle” following how we are responding to a dramatic rise in the enrollment of students who are new to the country, and may have endured long and traumatic journeys to get here. In this series, they look at the hope many newcomer families bring, the determination of teachers and volunteers to meet families’ needs well as the challenge of disruptions caused by the continuous arrival of new students.

While we were unsure about what allowing the news to follow our school would mean, it has resulted in quite a few things that support our McMeen community as a whole. As a result of the coverage, we have been able to partner with several donors and organizations in order to provide much needed food and resources for families. We also received a $50,000 donation through the Denver Foundation that we will use to continue to pay for paraprofessionals and other staff to support all students at McMeen. We are very pleased with the outcomes and will continue to partner with CBS this school year to shed light on what is happening here in Denver.

Thank you again,