D’Evelyn School Improvement Plan (SIP)�For 2025-26 School Year

Prepared and Approved by the

D’Evelyn Accountability Committee

April 21, 2025

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As prescribed by the D’Evelyn Founding Document

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Agenda

1. SIP Basis and Process
2. Assessment of 2024-2025 School Improvement Plan (SIP) Goals
3. New 2025-2026 SIP Goals and Suggestions
4. Overview of Performance Data
5. Suggestions to Consider for 2025-2026
6. Backup Slides
• 2024-2025 Detailed Goals Assessment
• Sampling of online reviews

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Basis for School Improvement Plan

The D’Evelyn Accountability Committee’s main responsibility is the development of an annual School Improvement Plan (SIP) for D’Evelyn (D’Evelyn Founding Document, p.41)

This specifically includes the following:

• Assessing needs and setting goals: “Planning ways to enhance the quality of education in the school by assessing needs; evaluate, set and monitor building-level goals”
• Coordinating input from stakeholders: “Coordinate input from the principal, staff, parents, parent/teacher organizations, community residents and others interested in improving education”
• Developing annual School Improvement Plan: “Participate with the principal and staff in the cooperative development of an annual school improvement plan and approve the resulting plan.”

The Founding Document states (p.40) that “The Accountability Committee will have the responsibility to prioritize areas needing improvement so that issues may be addressed in a timely manner.”

Specific areas to evaluate are listed in the Founding Document (p.39) to include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Graduation rate
• Achievement
• Attendance Rate
• Effectiveness of Curriculum
• Advanced Level Courses

• Student/Parent Perceptions
• Geographical Neighborhood Relations
• Post-graduate success
• Management Style

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SIP Process

• The first school year of this updated process (2022, applicable to 2022-23) was the first “pilot” year.
• The second school year (2022-2023), work was started earlier compared to 22-23.
• Third year (2023-2024), work was integrated with UIP efforts and targeted a short, clear list of goals.
• Current year (2024-2025). We have created a clear outline with dates & deadlines which have been upheld, see Accountability website.
• The team compiled a list of data parameters that would be ideal to evaluate, starting with the Founding Document’s recommendations and then adding additional areas of suggested analysis. The team then gathered as much data as possible, using JeffCo public data, D’Evelyn public data, data provided by the D’Evelyn administration, and survey data as available.
• The data points being used to inform the development of a SIP is publicly available. The information is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wqwy61LjxiEMLRHex_Pvp0UUE4uZXTrsztO5l9exFyY/edit?usp=sharing
• Qualitative input was taken from members of the subcommittee and others, and that was also brought into the analysis. These in some cases led to areas of future recommended study, and in other cases to recommendations.
• Based on the data available, initial conclusions were drawn and some recommendations made.
• Where possible performance data was used or the need for more data in each area was highlighted.
• UPDATE for 2025-2026: Further refine data to narrow in on metrics/goals and clean up data used to develop SIP

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2024-2025 SIP Goals Assessment

2024-2025 D’Evelyn School Improvement Plan

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1. Administration will ensure the Accountability Committee has access to all data required for the evaluation process per the Founding Document pages 39-40

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• Create a comprehensive communication and public messaging plan with feedback from all stakeholders

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• Evaluate Honors/AP coursework, including a look at the English Department

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• Continue improving the sense of belonging

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Complete

Great progress but modify. Focus on attrition

Evaluation Complete

Great progress but modify. Focus on student and family experience

See Backup Slides for detailed analysis of each goal

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New 2025-2026 SIP Goals

1. Work on attrition

Increase focus on transition from middle school to high school and high school attrition

2. Focus on student's overall well-being and monitor workloads

Balance academics and the whole student experience; intellectual, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual wellness

3. Continue working on the family experience and sense of belonging

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2025-2026 SIP Goal #1: Work on Attrition

Founding Document Quote: Student/Parent Perceptions – “Students transferring into or from the high school will be surveyed. These comments will be used during the evaluation process to determine aspects of the school that are worthy of praise or in need of improvement. The perceptions of the school community will be monitored on informal and/ or formal bases to indicate the level of satisfaction with the school. A waiting list for admittance will be viewed as an indicator of school success.”

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Concerns:

• D’Evelyn doesn’t add students after 9^th grade – every student lost cannot be replaced
• Attrition directly impacts budget
• D’Evelyn loses 65-70 students/yr (all grades)
• Students with lower GPAs are more at risk of leaving, especially in 6^th grade. Growth in number of students with GPA <2.0 from first to second term. Average GPA is falling in 6^th and 11^th grade.

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Work and documentation requested:

• Accountability Committee needs exit survey data for evaluation purposes
• As a school, suggest further refining tracking of student, teacher, and parent collections
• Additional mentoring and support for students who are struggling.
• Additional ways to communicate and monitor how students are doing and feeling, middle school and high school.

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Goal #1: Waitlist Data by Year

• Source: D’Evelyn Admin

Overall waitlist continues to increase, though 7^th saw a decrease from 2023/224 – 2024/25

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Goal #1: Attrition Data by Year/Reason

Attrition Data was added this year. Focus is on transfers to another public school in JeffCo.

• Source: D’Evelyn Admin

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Goal #1: Attrition Data by Year/Grade

9^th grade is historically the largest loss

• Source: D’Evelyn Admin

9^th Grade

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Goal #1: Attrition Data 9^th Grade Focus on Top 4 Reasons, 2018-2025 Totals

• Source: D’Evelyn Admin

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Goal #1: Attrition in relation to GPA

• Source: D’Evelyn Admin

Students with lower GPAs are more likely to leave, especially in middle school.

Seeing a growth in number of students with GPA <2.0 from first to second term.

Average GPA is falling in 6^th and 11^th grade.

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Goal #1: Recommendations to Work on Attrition

Suggestions:

• We believe addressing goals #2 and #3 will also help with attrition.
• Consider additional mentoring and support for students who are struggling.
• Consider additional ways to communicate and monitor how students are doing and feeling, middle school and high school to reduce attrition.
• Staff and administration should consider using informal methods to gauge perceptions or sentiments of students and the community at D'Evelyn throughout the year. FD “The perceptions of the school community will be monitored on informal and/ or formal bases to indicate the level of satisfaction with the school....”

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2025-2026 SIP Goal #2: Focus on student's overall well-being and monitor workloads

Founding Document: This focus aims to “...address the whole student, his emotional and spiritual sides as well as his rational”. “Teachers will have the responsibility to assign homework which is purposeful and relevant.”

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Founding Document: “Physical activity is an important aspect in a balanced education... Team sports provide opportunities for cooperation and competition... We will require each student to participate in some form of activity, leading to the goal of balanced physical activity.”

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Goal #2: Focus on student's overall well-being and monitor workloads

Homework has been cited as a source of stress and anxiety in surveys for years (surveys and conversations).

• Part of our charge is to address the emotional health and well-being of the student body at D’Evelyn. Studies show when kids feel good, they achieve more academically. 
• We see a challenge for D'Evelyn students to balance their homework loads and test loads with physical activities, especially when it comes to participating in team sports, even at D'Evelyn High School. We discussed this at the 12/10/2024 meeting with the head of Athletics, Adam Kelsey Athletic Director: Sports and course offerings. It is an extreme challenge for D'Evelyn students to get their homework and tests done, achieve good grades, get enough rest, while still participating in a sport or club. 

Feedback from attendees stressed the challenges faced by students at D'Evelyn to maintain a balance between academics and participation in extracurricular activities and sports. Many cited a lack of sleep to balance their activities. Attendees included:

10/08/2024 National Honor Society.

11/12/24 Sources of Strength. Kelly Benninghoff - Social Emotional Learning Specialist.

12/10/04 HS Student Council. Discussion with Adam Kelsey.

2/11/2025 Jessie McKerley, D'Evelyn Jr/Sr High School, Counselor 6-8, A-K. We also heard concern from Dennison parents at the PTA meeting on 1/9/2025.

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Goal #2: Supporting Data (2024 SEL)

• Source: D’Evelyn Counseling Dep’t

What causes you stress?

What areas are impacting your learning?

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Goal #2: Supporting Data (2024 SEL)

• Source: D’Evelyn Counseling Dep’t

Personal areas you need help in?

Academic areas you need help in?

Goal #2: D’Evelyn Healthy Kids Data from Counseling Dep’t Presentation to Accountability 11/12/24

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Goal #2: Focus on student's overall well-being and monitor workloads

Proposed Strategies for Monitoring Workloads for Consideration:

• School: Gather data regarding homework loads across the spectrum of students for use in discussions with teachers, admin and committees to determine a school philosophy on workloads. 

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• Administration: Study how homework workloads contribute to academic success, attrition, and stress/depression for all students (for example: are high-achieving students elevating the school’s high performance? Which classes have high scores despite low homework? Which have lower scores while also having high homework, etc.).

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• Students: Audit homework loads. For example, get 3 random days of homework assignments from 3 students in every grade, 1 student at low-achievement level, one at mid-level, one at high) and evaluate the amount of time it will take for students to complete homework for those 3 nights. Also, evaluate the extent to which the homework was purposeful.

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Goal #2: Focus on student's overall well-being and monitor workloads

Suggestions:

• Homework audits as noted on the previous slide.
• Create (or use) calendars that teachers can check to avoid multiple tests falling on the same day. Surveys have shown that students have 2 or more tests a day, with some examples of up to 5 tests in one day.
• Students could practice stress-reduction techniques in the classroom. If possible, allow students to move during class as this can help improve their overall wellness as well as boost academic success.
• Continue to promote social-emotional learning and visibility of the SEL program at D'Evelyn.
• Encourage regular presentations from Counseling staff to teachers and administration about how they are perceiving student stress indicators and how students are coping with work expectations at school.
• Ensure consistency in homework loads within courses.

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2025-2026 SIP Goal #3: Continue working on the family experience and sense of belonging.

Founding Document: ”The D’Evelyn Program has been conceived by parents, and they will continue to be an integral part of its functioning. Parental involvement will be strongly encouraged.”

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Concerns:

Some indicators on Panorama Family Survey are showing up lower than we want. Will be noted in further slides

Work and documentation needed: More research on why D'Evelyn families are giving DHS lower scores in specific categories on the Panorama Family Survey (2023, 2024).

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Goal #3: Family Survey Data

Family Panorama Survey

2024

303 Parents Took Survey

DHS higher

Highest differences: How well is your school preparing your student for next academic year?

DHS 93% Jeffco 70%

Respect for staff: DHS 88% Jeffco 78%

How fair or unfair of system for evaluating students: DHS 78% Jeffco 72%

Discipline work: DHS 75% Jeffco 69%

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DHS lower

How well do activities match their interests?

48% DHS Jeffco 56%

Responses are less than 66%

To what extent does your child enjoy going to school? DHS 52% Jeffco 70%

How much does the school value diversity DHS 52% Jeffco 64%

How much are individual differences viewed as assets DHS 35% Jeffco 47%

Are your child’s strengths recognized 42% Jeffco 60%

Goal #3: Family Experience Data

Panorama Family Survey Results

2023/24 compared to 2024/25

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Suggestions to continue working on the family experience and sense of belonging

• Find ways to improve school, community and family relationships. Seek more ways to involve and engage parents; set events at other times than weeknights, consider providing food or childcare; parent volunteers may get mixed signals from administrators and staff on whether their help is wanted. 
• Set expectation to know every student’s name, strengths, and needs to create inclusive school culture. Teachers could send parents an email at the start of the year to get to know their students better.
• Solicit and publicly acknowledge student and family feedback, such as an anonymous suggestion box, with results and responsive actions reported back publicly.
• Ensure that the school climate is optimal with strict anti-bullying policies. 
• More approachability of administration in general. Also, teachers and administrators in hallways during passing periods to socialize with and see students.
• Continue to support multicultural night or anyway to support families. Continue to communicate and find parent volunteers. 
• Review guides provided by staff member on: Family School and Community Partnerships Framework Rubric User's Guide* 1) Create an Inclusive Culture, 2) Build Trusting Relationships 3) Design Capacity Building Opportunities 4) Dedicate Necessary Resources. Links and resources have been added to the Accountability website. 

* https://www.cde.state.co.us/familyengagement/p-12_fscp_framework

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D’Evelyn School Improvement Plan�for the 2025-2026 School Year

Performance Data Analysis

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Data: Areas of Study and Data Presented

• Data is as of the end of the 2023/2024 school year (the latest available) unless otherwise indicated.
• Areas without data are not presented while additional areas may be included.
• The Founding Document outlines the following study areas:

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• Graduation Rate
• Academic Performance
• Attendance Rate
• Effectiveness of Curriculum
• Advanced Placement
• Student/Parent Perception (attrition data added this year)
• Management Style
• Post-Secondary Matriculation

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1. Graduation Rates Remain Strong

• “We expect students to maintain a graduation rate at least equal to district average.” (From Founding Document)
• D’Evelyn performs well in this metric compared to the district and state.

Source: https://www.cde.state.co.us/code/gradvisual2223

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2. Academic Performance Remains Solid

• “We expect mean test scores on ACT, PSAT, SAT to exceed the national average for any given year.” (From Founding Document)
• D’Evelyn meets this metric.
• PSAT National averages (2024) range around 480/760 for math and around 500/760 for English.
• In 2024 the National average SAT score was 505 for math and 519 for English.
• Math SAT scores (11^th graders) dipped compared to previous years.

This is great news! Many Universities are going test-blind or test-optional, although this is in flux. This should no longer be our only metric of success.

Source: https://public.tableau.com/views/DISHDirectLinks/schPostsecondary?%3Apublish=yes&%3AshowVizHome=no&%3Aembed=true&distnum=1420&schnum=2120

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3. Attendance Rates are excellent.

• “We expect the attendance rate to equal or exceed the district’s average.” (From Founding Document)
• D’Evelyn exceeds the JeffCo average by several percentage points in attendance.
• Attendance continued an upward trend in 2023-24 to 97% (pre-Covid levels) while the district also increased.

Source: https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiNGExZmY3OTYtYzBiYi00MzgwLTljNTUtZTlkMjViZmUyODkxIiwidCI6ImM1MTNjMmNjLTBjYzUtNDVkMC04ZTY4LWFjNGVhNGJkN2UxOCIsImMiOjF9

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4. Effectiveness of Curriculum Description

“The school will monitor the effectiveness of the curriculum with gradually increasing complexity.” (From FD)

• This area has limited data collection as of now.

The Founding Document specifically states that the following indicators should be tracked and followed:

• Maintenance of student GPA across years
• Student’s interest and eagerness to master the required content
• Teacher’s evaluation of appropriate levels of skills in each department
• Normed tests in individual subject areas

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4. Effectiveness of Curriculum

• 6th Grade GPAs are going up meaningfully over the past 3 years (expectations better matching performance)
• Grades 7-9 GPAs (unweighted) have moved up slightly, not necessarily statistically significant.
• Grades 10-12 GPAs (unweighted) have moved down slightly, not necessarily statistically significant
• All HS weighted GPAs have gone up over the past 3 years. Honors weighting began in the 2021-2022 year.

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4. Effectiveness of Curriculum: GPA <2.0

It is worth noting that while overall GPA is high and being maintained, there is a group of students in every grade with very low GPAs. These students should not be lost in the mix, but efforts taken to provide tools to help them succeed. It is encouraging that it appears that by the time students make it into high school, the % of students with GPA <2.0 drops significantly. May be a result of low GPA students leaving. 6^th grader % may be trending up from 6^th – 7^th grade.

Source: D’Evelyn Admin

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4. Effectiveness of Curriculum:

GPA Progression

• To monitor Maintenance of GPA across years, we continue to monitor each cohort (class) overall GPA, looking at 4 years of data based on a 6^th grade start.
• These need to be unweighted at least 2 more years, as there was a shift to honors weighting in 2021-22
• We have 4 years of data. GPA generally improves as students move through the school year over year, with some exceptions for the current 9th graders (dropped slightly through Jr. HS) and the current 11th graders.

Source: D’Evelyn Admin

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4. Effectiveness of Curriculum

(HS) test indicators are strong.

High School scores continue to be excellent as a metric.

Source: https://public.tableau.com/views/DISHDirectLinks/schAchievement?%3Apublish=yes&%3AshowVizHome=no&%3Aembed=true&distnum=1420&schnum=2120

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4. Effectiveness of Curriculum

(Jr. HS) test indicators are strong.

Junior HS test scores are above the district averages.

Source: https://public.tableau.com/views/DISHDirectLinks/schAchievement?%3Apublish=yes&%3AshowVizHome=no&%3Aembed=true&distnum=1420&schnum=2120

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Jr. HS “Growth” indicators are low but there�may be mitigating factors.

One area of ongoing concern is the consistently low score for Median Growth Percentiles (MGP) in the Junior High School grades.

• At a high level, this data seems to indicate that D’Evelyn students in those grades are not demonstrating the same level of academic progress in 7^th and 8^th grade as their comparably-assessed peers in other schools.
• We would anticipate students making greater (not lesser) academic progress in their initial years.
• The opposite trend emphasizes the need for further inquiry, but no conclusions can be drawn.
• Recommendation: Continue to monitor the academic growth indicators of Junior High School students in English and Math to ensure weak growth indicators are not a problem.

Source: https://public.tableau.com/views/DISHDirectLinks/schGrowth?%3Apublish=yes&%3AshowVizHome=no&%3Aembed=true&distnum=1420&schnum=2120

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5. Advanced Placement

• Source: D’Evelyn Admin

Number of students taking and passing remains high

Number of AP courses available remained the same from last year

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6. Student/Parent Perception: Waitlist

• Change to applications minus accepted; need to stay consistent
• “Students transferring into or from the high school will be surveyed. These comments will be used during the evaluation process to determine aspects of the school that are worthy of praise or in need of improvement. The perceptions of the school community will be monitored on informal and/or formal basis to indicate the level of satisfaction with the school. A waiting list for admittance will be viewed as an indicator of school success.” (From Founding Document)

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• Focus on middle school (new students are not accepted in high school)
• Waitlist continues to increase overall, though 7^th grade decreased significantly from 2023-2024.

• Source: D’Evelyn Admin

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6. Student/Parent Perception: Enrollment

• Ninth grade enrollment remains steady
• Overall enrollment has increased with the help of 6^th grade

Source: D’Evelyn Admin

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Post-Secondary Matriculation Rates

• Matriculation rates to post-secondary education shows record lows for the 2021-22 year, but increased in 2022/23

Source: https://public.tableau.com/views/DISHDirectLinks/schPostsecondary?%3Apublish=yes&%3AshowVizHome=no&%3Aembed=true&distnum=1420&schnum=2120

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Data on Student Experience and Balance

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D’Evelyn Culture Data Narrative Process

2024

Main differences

2022/23 2023/24

UP:

School Engagement:

Up from 29% to 35%

School Belonging:

Up from 40% to 41%

Teacher-student relations:

Up from 57% to 63%

Academics: 67% to 69%

Rigorous Expectations:

70% to 71%

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DOWN:

School climate

57% to 56%

School safety:

77% to 76%

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D’Evelyn Culture Data Narrative Process �2024

Panorama Student Survey Results 2024 Scores under 50%

Main differences

2022/23 2023/24

UP:

Question 1. How excited are you about going to classes:

Up from 15% to 24%

How much do you matter to others?

Up from 35% to 38%

Disrespectful 41% to 47%

Other students respectful: 41% to 46%

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DOWN: How connected to you feel to the adults in your school?

37% to 35%

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D’Evelyn Culture Data Narrative Process �2024

Panorama Student Survey Results 2024 Scores top scores

Suggestions Summary

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Suggestions to Consider for 2025-2026

1. Reduce Attrition:

• Accountability Committee needs exit survey data for evaluation purposes
• As a school, suggest further refining tracking of student, teacher, and parent collections
• Additional mentoring and support for students who are struggling.
• Additional ways to communicate and monitor how students are doing and feeling, middle school and high school.

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2. Focus on student's overall well-being and monitor workloads

• Homework audits.
• Create (or use) calendars that teachers can check to avoid multiple tests falling on the same day. Surveys have shown that students have 2 or more tests a day, with some examples of up to 5 tests in one day.
• Students could practice stress-reduction techniques in the classroom. If possible, allow students to move during class as this can help improve their overall wellness as well as boost academic success.
• Continue to promote social-emotional learning and visibility of the SEL program at D'Evelyn.
• Encourage regular presentations from Counseling staff to teachers and administration about how they are perceiving student stress indicators and how students are coping with work expectations at school.
• Ensure consistency in homework loads within courses.

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3. Improve Family Experience

• Find ways to improve school, community and family relationships. Seek more ways to involve and engage parents (multi-cultural night is a huge success!)
• Set expectation to know every student’s name, strengths, and needs to create inclusive school culture. Teachers could send parents an email at the start of the year to get to know their students better.
• Solicit and publicly acknowledge student and family feedback, such as an anonymous suggestion box, with results and responsive actions reported back publicly.
• Ensure that the school climate is optimal with strict anti-bullying policies.

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Backup Slides

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Assessment of 2024-2025 Goals

1. Accountability Recommendation: Improve GPA and Waitlist data gathering process.

Steering Committee goal: Administration will ensure the Accountability Committee has access to all data required for the evaluation process per the Founding Document Pages 39-40.

Do we have everything listed on pg 39 as per the Founding Document for SIP 25-26?

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Seth LaLiberty held a presentation on 8/10/2024 on how we collect data and why it is important, the presentation is on the Schedule page of Accountability website.

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These areas to be evaluated from the Founding Document (pg. 39):

Identified Gaps (proxy or data we can point to).

Effectiveness of curriculum (remediation rates/maintaining GPA); Geo-neighborhood relations (feeder schools non-Dennison).

Post grad success (colleges from counseling).

Management style - (survey the accountability/steering/admin)

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Agreed that data isn’t a goal but Accountability will continue to collect and monitor data in accordance with our operating procedures.

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Assessment of 2024-2025 Goals

2. Accountability Recommendation: Create Vision/Public Messaging Subcommittee, and recruit Facilitator to begin Vision/Public Messaging planning process.

Steering Committee goal: Create a comprehensive communication and public messaging plan with feedback from all stakeholders.

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The following measures and actions were taken by the school to improve goal #2: So much has been accomplished, can we remove as a main goal/issue for 25-26?

The Accountability Committee, invited Adam Kelsey, Athletic Director and course offerings; he attended the meeting on 12/10/2024. He answered questions and provided a lot of information.

Erin Simm, Dennison PTA co-Chair was invited and attended the D’Evelyn Accountability meeting on 9/10/2024

Officers Magdalena Arbat-Pennington and Bill Kottenstette attended the Dennison PTA meeting on 1/9/2025 and will attend one more meeting second semester in order to improve/maintiain relations between both committees

New Jagtracks, shared weekly. Accountability a very active participation. It includes a lot of information about the school and allows different sectors, activities and clubs to be shared.

New websites, Social improvements which were inactive are now updated and reach more kids.

Announcements changed. Adam working with coaches (groupme chat). Work with Stuco/Sprague to improve student voice.

Incident reporting/transparency. Attended Accountability meeting: 1/14/2024 Safety Discussion and to answer questions: Jeff Pierson, Jeffco’s Dept of School Safety’s Executive Director. (SRO) Deputy Everhart

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Assessment of 2024-2025 Goals

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3. Accountability Recommendation: Broaden access to Honors/AP coursework, especially with a closer look at the English Department and related Honors possibilities.

Steering Committee goal: Evaluate Honors/AP coursework, including a look at the English Department.

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Accountability invited English Department: Lynn Hobbs, Heather Sprague and Kristen Monzel who attended the meeting on 12/10/2024 to speak about the English Dept and present, past and future.

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News are that new teacher Heather Sprague might want to teach and offer AP English Language in the future, but not this year.

Revise to elective offerings aligned with founding principles and scope and sequence.

Guitar; two master schedules, looking at schedule to try to free up teaching; hire additional supports; imbalance in class sizes.

With most colleges accepting students based on GPA rather than SAT scores, grading is important. Some classes are still not being Honors classes.

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Assessment of 2024-2025 Goals

4. Accountability Recommendation: Create D’Evelyn School Culture Subcommittee to look at ways to implement proposed actions and improve Panorama Survey outcomes.

Steering Committee goal: Continue improving sense of belonging.

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Accountability meetings had the following guests to get feedback from students and the counseling dept. All information is listed in Accountability minutes.

9/10/24: Student Voice attended and talked about their experiences. Student Council had offered to speak at the beginning of each meeting but this did not happen.

10/8/2024: National Honor Society member attended.

11/12/2024: Sources of Strength attended 2) Kelly Benninghoff - Social Emotional Learning Specialist: Presentation

12/10/2024: Student Council Update. 1/27/2025 with the entire Counseling Dept.

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We have discussed separating Sense of Belonging vs Student life/work balance and well-being (or Academic balance).

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Please review slides later in the presentation to compare data from the Panorama Survey.

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Assessment of 2024-2025 Goals

4. Accountability Recommendation: Create D’Evelyn School Culture Subcommittee to look at ways to implement proposed actions and improve Panorama Survey outcomes.

Steering Committee goal: Continue improving sense of belonging.

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Progress and monitoring of Sense of Belonging:

Sense of Belonging had the same lower score in Panorama survey 41% vs 40% , but higher than district avg 35%.

In 2024/2025, School Belonging is now at 50% (10% increase), and School Engagement is now at 35% (9% increase)

School Engagement did have an improvement. 35% in 2024 vs 29% last year. 25% district avg.

Should there be a renewed focus on Mentoring?

These groups continue to have good participation: Sources of Strength, Student Voice and Social Inclusion.

Counseling shared that main stresses that they see are balance of workload/schoolwork. 

Continue to look at SEL.

Multicultural night was a success and will occur again this year. .

Diff clubs and activities did have more recognition as well. Social media/athletics - recognition - working with yearbook, Jag tracks – pics. Robotics.

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Online reviews (Niche & Great Schools):

4.1 out of 5

Academics: A

Teachers: A

College Prep: A

Diversity: B+

Admin: B+

Sports: B+

Resources & Facilities: B

Food: C+

Clubs & Activities: C+

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Excellent: 93

Very good: 125

Average: 45

Poor: 11

Terrible: 3

Example 5-star reviews from students 2024- 2025 (93):

*D'Evelyn is a school that provides its students with a rich amount of connection to their learning, their teachers, and the students they share their classes with. It was personally very hard for me to make friends before coming to this school, but through the people I met I learned how to better not only my academic standing but also my connections with others. I cannot see myself in a better position, and I am grateful for the opportunity D'Evelyn has provided me.

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*D'Evelyn is rated as the top high school in Colorado because of the high test scores and achievement. It challenges intelligent students and holds them to high academic standards with the expectation that students will rise to meet the challenge. This brings out the best and the worst in students. In my experience, D'Evelyn nurtured me to become a successful student, an adventurous learner, and a hard worker. However, myself and others also experience the drawbacks of this environment which deters creativity, destabilizes mental health, and perpetrates the toxic aspects of American work culture. Overall I'm grateful to attend this school and take advantage of the benefits of being surrounded by brilliant minds available in students and staff.

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*The curriculum is great. Teachers are highly experienced and train us to d’evelyn system of education. I greatly enjoy studying at d’evelyn.

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*The teachers at D'Evelyn are knowledgeable, friendly, and inspire a love for learning. The work is rigorous and pushes me to be the best student I can. I feel completely prepared for college, both because I'm more than prepared for any workload thrown at me, and because I've developed a keen love for my education through D'Evelyn.

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D’Evelyn Culture Online reviews:

4.1 out of 5

Example 4 star reviews from students 2024-25 (125):

*D'Evelyn in a choice public school, which means that I have been able to experience the diversity of a public school along with the more sheltered aspect of a private school. At D'Evelyn, bullying is a rarity, and I'm not sure I've ever heard of drugs and alcohol on campus. I've felt very safe and supported throughout my D'Evelyn experience. The teachers are all incredibly passionate about their subjects and our small class sizes allow us to connect with our teachers easily. Additionally, D'Evelyn offers the most rigorous liberal arts education in the state. We have hours upon hours of nightly homework which can often feel overwhelming. However, I appreciate the challenge and I will be incredibly well-prepared for college. That said, I think D'Evelyn could do with more flexibility, as they can occasionally expect too much of a teenage student with responsibilities outside of school.

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*I enjoyed the staff they were dedicated to students and had great class management. Personally I was not a fan of how many lecture based there are. If students had more hands on learning it would teach them interpersonal skills how to work with the world around them.

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*It is a great school that allows students to develop intellectual skills. The teachers are friendly and helpful, but admin tends to be more restrictive.

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*Attending D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School has been a truly unforgettable experience for me, for both good and bad reasons. Because DHS has been ranked the number one high school in Colorado by U.S. News & World Report for many consecutive years, students who attend the school face numerous difficulties that come with an extremely rigorous curriculum. Most upperclassmen spend three hours or more completing their homework each night, on top of time-consuming extracurricular activities, leaving students with very little time to take proper care of themselves. Many of my senior classmates get five hours of sleep each night on average because they spend so much time doing homework. Plus, there is a lot of pressure to succeed academically to meet the school’s high standard for excellence. Despite this, I do not regret all of the sleep deprivation and mountains of stress and homework because it has prepared me immensely for the challenges of college, and had showed me true community.

55

D’Evelyn Culture Online reviews:

4.1 out of 5

Example 3-2-1 star reviews from students (59):

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*3 star: 2024 It's a great school for college readiness and gifted kids who need to learn what 'challenge' is. But be aware that it will mean 4-5 hours of homework nightly, on top of sports. Please include your kids' opinion on going to the school, because if they aren't prepared to push themselves that hard, it will take a huge toll on their mental health and their grades could tank. The community is great for students who are rather intellectual, as most kids WANT to talk about their opinions on coursework and their studies, but for athletic-focused kids, it might not be a great fit unless they're interested in track and field, as sport opportunities are limited and smaller communities.

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*2 star: 2021 Sure, it's a good school for kids who are more academically inclined and don't want a real high school experience, or for parents who don't care much about their kid's mental health and only care about how they perform academically. However, their curriculum is incredibly outdated and they refuse to change it because of how high their testing scores are and how many glowing recommendations they have in Colorado. The textbooks are extremely outdated and have many errors. They don't focus on sports or any of their clubs at all. It's also crazy how common cheating was: so many people ask around for the answers, talk about cheating, and I witnessed cheating so many times. I guess it prepares you for college (probably why so many people who graduated here say that college is now easy for them), but I don't think it's worth the stress and toll it takes on a kid's mental health. Also, too many of the teachers are burnt out and don't care. The school also lacks diversity and very elitist.

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*1 star: SO MUCH HOMEWORK and all the teachers care about is the grades and not the students.

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