The 2026 May Central Professional Learning Guide lists the centrallyprovided professional learning opportunities available to all Denver Public Schools educators on May 1st including required learning for each grade/content area, as well as additional development opportunities. Educators may select the dates and times that work best for their schedule. Sessions are listed by grade band and content area. For questions contact professional_learning@dpsk12.org.
May PL FAQ
If you need to request an ADA accommodation for any PL, complete these forms: May 1 Central / SSP PL Day ADA Accommodation Request
Site Guides
George Washington High School
John F. Kennedy High School
North High School
Elementary Educators Professional Learning
Arts & PE
Design for Belonging in Arts & PE
Audience: ECE-12 Dance, Drama/Theater, PE, Visual Arts, and Music Teachers
Learning Outcomes: Educators will be able to: 1. Analyze an upcoming lesson or unit plan to include Arts & PE Equity attributes as an instructional move to increase student belonging and engagement. 2. Name the specific student action chosen to be increased (student talk, asking questions, increased time of engagement, student voice and choice etc.) and create a plan to collect anecdotal data on effectiveness of instructional strategy. 3. Implement revised lesson or unit and collect anecdotal data on increase of named student action.
Time Commitment: 8:00 - 11:15
PE & Visual Arts Location: Virtual
Dance, Drama/Theatre & Music Location: North High School
Registration Link
Assessment
Data Driven Equity: Subgroup Populations
Audience: ECE-12 educators
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, educators will be able to create reports in the Performance Matters system at both a birds-eye level and granular level, using reflective language to drive purposeful decision making for all levels of instruction and leadership. Participants will: determine next steps using the guiding questions: “What has the report you created and/or analyzed informed you of this subgroup population? What are your next steps with leaders, with your ILT, in the classroom?” Participants will leave the session with instructional next steps and/or ILT next steps.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Early Childhood Education (ECE)
ECE: Music for Literacy and Self-Regulation
Audience: ECE-5 teachers, paraprofessionals and music teachers supporting ECE
Learning Outcomes: The session will highlight evidence-based practices and data demonstrating how music-based instruction improves attention, language acquisition, self-regulation, and engagement, particularly for diverse learners. By the end of this session, educators will: 1. Understand how music supports measurable student outcomes in cognitive, linguistic, social-emotional, and physical development, grounded in early childhood and neuro-musical research. 2. Experience how music creates inclusive learning environments that honor diverse cultures, languages, and abilities, while examining student impact data and classroom examples showing how musical strategies increase participation, belonging, and collaborative learning. 3. Develop a personalized toolbox of culturally responsive and accessible musical activities that can be confidently integrated into daily classroom routines, with a focus on tracking student outcomes, documenting engagement, and using music intentionally as an equitable instructional strategy to support all learners.
Learning Outcomes: Canva allows educators to create visual supports such as visual schedules, step-by-step picture directions, choice boards, social stories, and communication supports that increase access to instruction. In this session, we will include data that explains the “why” for this work by highlighting student outcomes and barriers addressed for specific populations, including multilingual learners, students with developmental differences, and students with language or processing challenges. Research and classroom data show that visual supports improve comprehension, task completion, independence, and classroom participation by reducing language demands and cognitive load. These tools help remove barriers for multilingual learners by providing visual context for vocabulary and routines, and they support students with developmental or processing differences by making expectations predictable and accessible. By designing these tools in Canva, educators can create equitable learning supports that ensure all students—not just highly verbal or neurotypical learners—can understand instructions, communicate choices, and fully participate in classroom activities. The session will emphasize how visual supports contribute to measurable student outcomes such as increased engagement, improved communication, and greater independence in learning tasks.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
The 7 Habits of Effective ECE Planning
Audience: ECE-5 teachers
Learning Outcomes: Inspired by The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, this professional learning session, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Early Childhood Education Lesson Planning,” is presented by experienced early childhood teacher Hipolito Polo Garcia and focuses on planning through an equity-centered lens. Participants will explore seven practical habits that promote intentional, developmentally appropriate, and culturally responsive instruction. The session will include data and research that explain why this work is needed, highlighting student outcomes and the barriers that commonly impact young learners from diverse linguistic, cultural, and developmental backgrounds. By examining evidence related to access, engagement, and early learning outcomes, participants will better understand how intentional planning can reduce inequities and support success for all students. Educators will explore how to design lessons that honor diverse identities, languages, and abilities; remove barriers to learning; and ensure every child has access to high-quality experiences. As an actionable next step, participants will apply the seven habits to their own lesson planning by using practical planning tools and strategies that support inclusive practices, equitable outcomes, and meaningful engagement for all young learners. Participants will leave with concrete approaches they can immediately implement to strengthen equitable and responsive instruction in their classrooms.
Time Commitment: 8:00 - 9:30
Location: Palmer Elementary
Registration Link
Close Out and Level Up: Designing Schoology for Access and Equity
Audience:
K-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to audit and redesign their Schoology course environments in order to actively remove navigational barriers and provide personalized learning pathways that ensure our most marginalized learners have the clarity and support they need to succeed, as demonstrated by utilizing the differentiated work time to build an inclusive Sandbox course featuring accessible course cards, intentional grading groups, and individualized assignment options. Participants will leave ready to securely close out the current school year’s data and launch fall courses that provide every student with equitable access to content from day one.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
AI 101- AI for Equitable Instruction
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Educators will be able to: 1. Form a foundational understanding of AI, DPS’ AI instructional priorities, policies, and opportunities for integration that ensure equitable AI access across all classrooms for both students and teachers. 2. Engage in self-reflection on current state of AI use in your planning and instruction and identify next steps in your AI integration to increase opportunities for equitable student instructional practices aligned with UDL. 3. Collaborate with colleagues around ways to co-create safe, humanizing, joyful, and equitable learning and working environments by applying AI literacy to your classroom context.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30 or 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
AI 201- Utilizing AI for Equity in Learning
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Educators will be able to: 1. Imagine ways to engage students in rigorous, joyful, and differentiated tasks and lessons that infuse AI into current curriculum. 2. Explore generative AI platforms and creative AI practices that position students as sources of expertise for solving complex tasks or issues. 3. Reflect on contextualized design considerations for student interactions with AI based on their assets, identities, and needs.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30 or 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
NotebookLM for Equity Inclusion & Impact
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Educators will be able to: 1. Design and organize a personalized NotebookLM system to advance instructional coherence and promote equitable access to meaningful learning experiences. 2. Analyze and apply AIsupported knowledge synthesis tools to support differentiation, reduce bias in instructional planning, and strengthen culturally and linguistically sustaining (CLS) practices. 3. Reflect on and articulate how intentional, equity-centered AI integration can increase inclusion, belonging, and opportunity for marginalized students.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30 or 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
11 | DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Family & Community Engagement (FACE)
Engaging Families: A Teacher’s Role
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Participants will be able to structure authentic two-way communication and track engagement data tied to academic progress, in order to eliminate barriers to student achievement, attendance, and classroom equity, as demonstrated by drafting a culturally responsive communication example and a brief action plan aligned to a specific instructional goal. Participants will leave ready to implement their refined engagement systems and utilize new data-tracking methods to maintain ongoing, value-add partnerships that strengthen student outcomes and teacher morale.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Foundations of Engaging Families
Audience: ECE-12 STLs
Learning Outcomes: Participants will be able to analyze students’ lived experiences and map existing school practices onto a family engagement continuum, in order to recognize and interrupt deficit-based assumptions and shift from transactional communication to authentic two-way partnership, as demonstrated by collaborative reflection on school-based scenarios and the development of a written, initial action plan. Participants will leave ready to implement their refined engagement strategies with FACE team support and use the continuum as an ongoing reflection protocol to embed equity-centered expectations into school improvement planning.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Gifted and Talented
Beyond GT: Strategies to Bridge the Gap
Audience: ECE-12 GT Teachers, School Counselors, School Psychologists, and STLs
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify the gap between cognitive ability and executive function (EF) and implement three specific “bridge” strategies, in order to ensure students are supported, engaged, and challenged as demonstrated by mapping an EF skill to classroom struggles and planning a year-end support routine and/or “Day 1” routine for the fall. Participants will leave with tools to identify “heavy EF tasks” to plan for more proactive scaffolding and an “environmental support” checklist that can be adapted for individual students.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
Growth & Performance
The Learning Brain: Equity in Action
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to identify the neurological mechanisms caused by systemic stressors and design instructional “on-ramps” rooted in neuroplasticity, in order to disrupt inequitable patterns of disengagement. Participants will leave ready to leverage expertise in brain science to ensure their classrooms offer and support affirming, high-level instruction that balances cognitive load with psychological safety.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
13 | DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Internal Pathways and Development
Leading for Equity
Audience: ECE-12 STLs (Who have not taken our Leading for Equity Onboarding Course)
Learning Outcomes: Participants will be able to: 1. Recognize how their identities shape their leadership, and translate this identity awareness into a formal Leadership Vision and Action Plan. 2. Audit a specific school-based practice (such as coaching cycles or staff meetings) using an Equity Walk tool. 3. Draft a Leadership Vision Statement naming three specific anti-racist behaviors to be modeled. 4. Apply a coaching framework to address a real-world inequity observed in their current adult learning data.
Audience: K-5 Literacy, Math, Science and Social Studies Teachers
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the session, participants will be able to analyze and enhance an elementary curricular lesson using Gholdy Muhammad’s Five Pursuits and DPS’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Tier 1 Instruction framework in order to ensure rigorous instruction that cultivates identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy for all students, especially those historically underserved and underestimated. Building on insights from the planning practices of other DPS teachers, participants will demonstrate their learning by annotating an upcoming lesson and drafting strategic adaptations (e.g., revised questions, added perspectives, or discussion structures) aligned to at least one of the Five Pursuits. Participants will leave prepared to implement their enhanced lesson this spring or embed these planning moves into a fall unit preparation to ensure equitable, identity-affirming experiences for all students. This session features a workshop design allowing teachers the opportunity to plan across content areas (Language Arts, Math, Science, or Social Studies) with guided application and support.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: John F Kennedy High School
Registration Link
Enhancing Lessons for Equity & Rigor
Audience: K-5 Literacy, Math, Science, and Social Studies Teachers
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the session, participants will be able to analyze and enhance an elementary curricular lesson using Gholdy Muhammad’s Five Pursuits and culturally responsive-sustaining frameworks in order to ensure rigorous instruction that cultivates identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy for students historically underserved and underestimated. Building on insights from the planning practices of other DPS teachers, participants will demonstrate their learning by annotating an upcoming lesson and drafting strategic adaptations (e.g., revised questions, added perspectives, or discussion structures) aligned to at least one of the Five Pursuits. Participants will leave prepared to implement their enhanced lesson this spring or embed these planning moves into fall unit preparation to ensure equitable, identity-affirming experiences for all students. This session features a workshop design allowing teachers the opportunity to select a content area (Language Arts, Math, Science, or Social Studies) for planning application and support.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: John F Kennedy High School
Registration Link
ISA Redesignation: Overview and Planning
Audience: ECE-12 ISA Members
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to evaluate student caseload data and complete ISA Redesignation forms, in order to eliminate the systemic delays that stall MLL academic progress and ensure equitable access to rigorous, grade-level coursework. This will be demonstrated by the development of a personalized evidence tracker and a set of evidence-based redesignation recommendations. Participants will leave ready to submit finalized bodies of evidence before the end-of-year deadline, ensuring no eligible student is overlooked and every learner is positioned for academic independence.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Sí Pueden- Strategies for English Instruction in Bilingual Classrooms
Audience: K-5 ELA-S Teachers in TNLI and Dual Language Elementary Schools
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to implement effective language supports during English instruction to provide bilingual students access to grade-level content and opportunities to demonstrate their learning in English. Participants will annotate an upcoming lesson with 1–2 scaffolding strategies and leave with a lesson ready to teach at school.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30 (Grades K-2) or 9:45-11:15 (Grades 3-5)
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Access for MLLs by Design
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Educators will evaluate current classroom practices and apply targeted strategies to support MLLs at different ACCESS levels. This shifts the focus from deficit to what teacher moves they can do to support MLLs to be successful. During the session, educators will pull data for their MLLs and write tangible strategies they currently use and tangible strategies they learn during the session and will try. They will bring this back to do the same thing in August with new students.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
Enhancing Lessons for Equity & Rigor
Audience: K-5 Literacy, Math, Science, and Social Studies Teachers
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the session, participants will be able to analyze and enhance an elementary curricular lesson using Gholdy Muhammad’s Five Pursuits and DPS’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Tier 1 Instruction framework in order to ensure rigorous instruction that cultivates identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy for all students, especially those historically underserved and underestimated. Building on insights from the planning practices of other DPS teachers, participants will demonstrate their learning by annotating an upcoming lesson and drafting strategic adaptations (e.g., revised questions, added perspectives, or discussion structures) aligned to at least one of the Five Pursuits. Participants will leave prepared to implement their enhanced lesson this spring or embed these planning moves into a fall unit preparation to ensure equitable, identity-affirming experiences for all students. This session features a workshop design allowing teachers the opportunity to plan across content areas (Language Arts, Math, Science, or Social Studies) with guided application and support.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: John F Kennedy High School
Registration Link
Social Studies
Enhancing Lessons for Equity & Rigor
Audience: K-5 Literacy, Math, Science, and Social Studies Teachers
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the session, participants will be able to analyze and enhance an elementary curricular lesson using Gholdy Muhammad’s Five Pursuits and DPS’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Tier 1 Instruction framework in order to ensure rigorous instruction that cultivates identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy for all students, especially those historically underserved and underestimated. Building on insights from the planning practices of other DPS teachers, participants will demonstrate their learning by annotating an upcoming lesson and drafting strategic adaptations (e.g., revised questions, added perspectives, or discussion structures) aligned to at least one of the Five Pursuits. Participants will leave prepared to implement their enhanced lesson this spring or embed these planning moves into a fall unit preparation to ensure equitable, identity-affirming experiences for all students. This session features a workshop design allowing teachers the opportunity to plan across content areas (Language Arts, Math, Science, or Social Studies) with guided application and support.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to analyze the impact of evidence-based family engagement strategies on student learning, particularly those that strengthen relationships with families, increase families’ understanding of grade-level expectations, and support literacy development at home. Participants will examine how these practices help advance equitable outcomes for Latine students by positioning families as essential partners in literacy development, in alignment with the Latine Student Success (LSS) literacy goal. During the session, participants will reflect on examples of family engagement “safe-to-fail” experiments implemented by educators in the LSS network and identify high-impact strategies that strengthen academic partnerships with families focused on literacy learning. Participants will leave the session prepared to select one highimpact family engagement strategy and develop a plan to implement it as they close out the current school year or launch the next year with stronger partnerships with families.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Native Education: Policy and Equity
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: In this session, participants will analyze the “Unique Political Relationship” established by the U.S. Constitution and treaties, explore the institutional impact of the “Wall of Invisibility”, and review the federal and state policy frameworks that distinguish Native education from general DEI initiatives. By understanding that Native education is a Federal Trust Responsibility and a matter of sovereign status rather than race-based ideology, educators will increase their ability to uphold the statutory rights of Native students. Participants will move from a narrative of deficit to one of “Sovereignty and Success” by engaging in a “Narrative Shift” Case Audit. They will evaluate common educational scenarios—ranging from curriculum gaps and classroom representation to policy compliance—to identify where “Invisibility and Erasure” occur and propose specific, policy-aligned actions to provide an affirming educational experience. As a result of this session, educators will return to their buildings as “Allies in Action” capable of auditing their own instructional environments for erasure. They will be prepared to advocate for Native-centered resources and partner with the NACE team to implement strategic supports that enhance the educational journey of Native students.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Secondary Educators Professional Learning
Arts & PE
Design for Belonging in Arts & PE
Audience: ECE-12 Dance, Drama/Theater, PE, Visual Arts, and Music Teachers
Learning Outcomes: Educators will be able to: 1. Analyze an upcoming lesson or unit plan to include Arts & PE Equity attributes as an instructional move to increase student belonging and engagement. 2. Name the specific student action chosen to be increased (student talk, asking questions, increased time of engagement, student voice and choice etc.) and create a plan to collect anecdotal data on effectiveness of instructional strategy. 3. Implement revised lesson or unit and collect anecdotal data on increase of named student action.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
PE & Visual Arts Location: Virtual
Dance, Drama/Theatre & Music Location: North High School
Registration Link
Data Driven Equity: Subgroup Populations
Audience: ECE-12 educators
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, educators will be able to create reports in the Performance Matters system at both a birds-eye level and granular level, using reflective language to drive purposeful decision making for all levels of instruction and leadership. Participants will: determine next steps using the guiding questions: “What has the report you created and/or analyzed informed you of this subgroup population? What are your next steps with leaders, with your ILT, in the classroom?” Participants will leave the session with instructional next steps and/or ILT next steps.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Interpreting Data to Drive Instruction
Audience: 6-12 Literacy Teachers
Learning Outcomes: Facilitated by i-Ready Specialists, participants will analyze i-Ready Diagnostic 2 (MOY) Reading data to project end-of-year growth and performance. Moving beyond a standard data review, educators will interpret key reports to assess progress toward READ Act and grade-level expectations. Participants will identify high-leverage instructional pivots to maximize student growth before Diagnostic 3 and explore strategies for fostering student-led data engagement. By the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1. Predict EOY performance/project likely Diagnostic 3 outcomes by analyzing current MOY data trends. 2. Prioritize support/pinpoint students requiring strategic interventions to meet READ Act goals and individual growth targets; 3. Drive instructional action/ design targeted, high-impact instructional shifts to accelerate progress in the final weeks before Diagnostic 3; 4. Optimize testing conditions/implement best practices for preparing and engaging students for a successful spring diagnostic.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30 (Grades 6-8) or 9:45-11:15 (Grades 9-12)
Location: Virtual
Grades 6-8 Registration Link
Grades 9-12 Registration Link
Career and College Success
CTE Industry Sponsored Projects
Audience: 9-12 CTE Educators
Learning Outcomes: Teachers will be able to outline an industry-sponsored project proposal for one semester-long course and specify what needs they have for their proposed industry partner. Teachers will also map out a proposed calendar to ensure all necessary parties understand the full scope and timeline before August 2026. This session will assist educators in expanding access to work-based learning experiences for marginalized students. Participants will leave the session with documents that support the project development and to use in their classrooms after the session.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30
Location: North High School
Registration Link
CTE Drop in with Regional Specialists
Audience: 9-12 CTE Educators
Learning Outcomes: During this session, CTE teachers and administrators will collaborate with their regional specialist and other CTE teachers in their region to determine program outcomes, backwards planning strategies, and supports needed as a region for next school year. By the end of this session, each region of CTE educators will be able to determine the CTE industry certifications, CE courses, and WBL opportunities that will be offered for each program and school, and document any supports needed from regional specialists. Educators will review disparities across schools to determine what barriers may be preventing students from pursuing certification, CE courses and work-based learning with the goal of norming equitable opportunities for all students.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: North High School
Registration Link
Close Out and Level Up: Designing Schoology for Access and Equity
Audience: K-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to audit and redesign their Schoology course environments in order to actively remove navigational barriers and provide personalized learning pathways that ensure our most marginalized learners have the clarity and support they need to succeed, as demonstrated by utilizing the differentiated work time to build an inclusive Sandbox course featuring accessible course cards, intentional grading groups, and individualized assignment options. Participants will leave ready to securely close out the current school year’s data and launch fall courses that provide every student with equitable access to content from day one.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
AI 101- AI for Equitable Instruction
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Educators will be able to: 1. Form a foundational understanding of AI, DPS’ AI instructional priorities, policies, and opportunities for integration that ensure equitable AI access across all classrooms for both students and teachers. 2. Engage in self-reflection on current state of AI use in your planning and instruction and identify next steps in your AI integration to increase opportunities for equitable student instructional practices aligned with UDL. 3. Collaborate with colleagues around ways to co-create safe, humanizing, joyful, and equitable learning and working environments by applying AI literacy to your classroom context.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30 or 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
AI 201- Utilizing AI for Equity in Learning
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Educators will be able to: 1. Imagine ways to engage students in rigorous, joyful, and differentiated tasks and lessons that infuse AI into current curriculum. 2. Explore generative AI platforms and creative AI practices that position students as sources of expertise for solving complex tasks or issues. 3. Reflect on contextualized design considerations for student interactions with AI based on their assets, identities, and needs.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30 or 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
NotebookLM for Equity Inclusion & Impact
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Educators will be able to: 1. Design and organize a personalized NotebookLM system to advance instructional coherence and promote equitable access to meaningful learning experiences. 2. Analyze and apply AIsupported knowledge synthesis tools to support differentiation, reduce bias in instructional planning, and strengthen culturally and linguistically sustaining (CLS) practices. 3. Reflect on and articulate how intentional, equity-centered AI integration can increase inclusion, belonging, and opportunity for marginalized students.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30 or 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
33 | DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Family & Community Engagement (FACE)
Engaging Families: A Teacher’s Role
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Participants will be able to structure authentic two-way communication and track engagement data tied to academic progress, in order to eliminate barriers to student achievement, attendance, and classroom equity, as demonstrated by drafting a culturally responsive communication example and a brief action plan aligned to a specific instructional goal. Participants will leave ready to implement their refined engagement systems and utilize new data-tracking methods to maintain ongoing, value-add partnerships that strengthen student outcomes and teacher morale.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Foundations of Engaging Families
Audience: ECE-12 STLs
Learning Outcomes: Participants will be able to analyze students’ lived experiences and map existing school practices onto a family engagement continuum, in order to recognize and interrupt deficit-based assumptions and shift from transactional communication to authentic two-way partnership, as demonstrated by collaborative reflection on school-based scenarios and the development of a written, initial action plan. Participants will leave ready to implement their refined engagement strategies with FACE team support and use the continuum as an ongoing reflection protocol to embed equity-centered expectations into school improvement planning.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Gifted and Talented
Beyond GT: Strategies to Bridge the Gap
Audience: ECE-12 GT Teachers, School Counselors, School Psychologists, and STLs
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the session, participants will be able to identify the gap between cognitive ability and executive function (EF) and implement three specific “bridge” strategies, in order to ensure students are supported, engaged, and challenged as demonstrated by mapping an EF skill to classroom struggles and planning a year-end support routine and/or “Day 1” routine for the fall. Participants will leave with tools to identify “heavy EF tasks” to plan for more proactive scaffolding and an “environmental support” checklist that can be adapted for individual students.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
Growth & Performance
The Learning Brain: Equity in Action
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to identify the neurological mechanisms caused by systemic stressors and design instructional “on-ramps” rooted in neuroplasticity, in order to disrupt inequitable patterns of disengagement. Participants will leave ready to leverage expertise in brain science to ensure their classrooms offer and support affirming, high-level instruction that balances cognitive load with psychological safety.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Higher Ed
Equity of Access to Rigorous Courses
Audience: 9-12 School Counselors, Concurrent/Dual Enrollment and AP Instructors
Learning Outcomes: Participants will analyze DPS AP and Concurrent Enrollment data to identify equity gaps, connect findings to their leadership responsibility for expanding access, demonstrate learning by naming a root cause at their school, and apply this analysis to improve scheduling for student access to rigorous courses. Participants will understand the purpose and structure of new AP access courses and Concurrent Enrollment options, connect these options to their roles in increasing equitable participation, demonstrate learning by identifying at least one aligned course for their school, and apply this knowledge in academic planning decisions. Participants will leave with an equity-focused action step to increase access to rigorous courses, connect this strategy to their responsibility to remove systemic barriers, demonstrate learning through a drafted implementation plan, and apply it during upcoming enrollment and master scheduling cycles.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:45
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Internal Pathways and Development
Leading for Equity
Audience: ECE-12 STLs (Who have not taken our Leading for Equity Onboarding Course)
Learning Outcomes: Participants will be able to: 1. Recognize how their identities shape their leadership, and translate this identity awareness into a formal Leadership Vision and Action Plan. 2. Audit a specific school-based practice (such as coaching cycles or staff meetings) using an Equity Walk tool. 3. Draft a Leadership Vision Statement naming three specific anti-racist behaviors to be modeled. 4. Apply a coaching framework to address a real-world inequity observed in their current adult learning data.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to evaluate student caseload data and complete ISA Redesignation forms, in order to eliminate the systemic delays that stall MLL academic progress and ensure equitable access to rigorous, grade-level coursework. This will be demonstrated by the development of a personalized evidence tracker and a set of evidence-based redesignation recommendations. Participants will leave ready to submit finalized bodies of evidence before the end-of-year deadline, ensuring no eligible student is overlooked and every learner is positioned for academic independence.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Collaboration & Coherence in SLA
Audience: 6-12 Spanish Language Arts Teachers
Learning Outcomes: In this session, SLA and AP Spanish teachers will reflect on the successes and challenges they’ve faced during the 25-26SY and the impact these have had on student learning. Teachers will analyze language proficiency data, along with high level trends from spring instructional observations. Using this information, participants will develop actionable instructional next steps as they begin planning for the 26-27SY.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual Registration Link
Dissect Data, Design Next Year’s Growth
Audience: 6-12 World Language Teachers
Learning Outcomes: In this session participants will analyze disaggregated proficiency data to uncover specific achievement gaps and growth trends, and investigate the instructional variables contributing to performance disparities among student subgroups. In order to address inequities, participants will explore high-leverage instructional strategies proven to bridge equity gaps and foster improved engagement across all student groups. Finally, participants will evaluate existing curricular resources through the lens of linguistic imperialism and ensure the representation of the full geographic and linguistic diversity of the target language-speaking world. By the end of this session, educators have formulated a targeted instructional goal for the upcoming school year which includes the implementation of one specific, evidence-based strategy designed to foster growth across all student groups as well as an action plan to diversify their materials and dismantle prestige-language biases.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual Registration Link
Access for MLLs by Design
Audience: ECE-12 All Educators
Learning Outcomes: Educators will evaluate current classroom practices and apply targeted strategies to support MLLs at different ACCESS levels. This shifts the focus from deficit to what teacher moves they can do to support MLLs to be successful. During the session, educators will pull data for their MLLs and write tangible strategies they currently use and tangible strategies they learn during the session and will try. They will bring this back to do the same thing in August with new students.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: Virtual
Registration Link
Middle and High School OpenSciEd End-of-Year
Audience: 6-12 Science Teachers
Learning Outcomes: Educators will be able to: 1. Analyze year-long unit assessment data to identify trends in student growth and conduct a comprehensive physical lab inventory to ensure resource readiness for the upcoming year. This role-specific work allows educators to use data to drive equity-focused action by redesigning future feedback systems and ensuring that the lack of organized physical materials never becomes a barrier to rigorous, grade-level science instruction. 2. Produce a “Year-in-Review” Equity Audit—a tangible artifact that maps specific assessment successes against the physical resource needs required to sustain those successes in the fall. 3. Submit their finalized inventory requests to their building leads and integrate one specific data-driven instructional shift into their Fall 2026 “Unit 1” planning to better affirm student brilliance and mastery.
Learning Outcomes: In this session, participants will analyze the “Unique Political Relationship” established by the U.S. Constitution and treaties, explore the institutional impact of the “Wall of Invisibility”, and review the federal and state policy frameworks that distinguish Native education from general DEI initiatives. By understanding that Native education is a Federal Trust Responsibility and a matter of sovereign status rather than race-based ideology, educators will increase their ability to uphold the statutory rights of Native students. Participants will move from a narrative of deficit to one of “Sovereignty and Success” by engaging in a “Narrative Shift” Case Audit. They will evaluate common educational scenarios—ranging from curriculum gaps and classroom representation to policy compliance—to identify where “Invisibility and Erasure” occur and propose specific, policy-aligned actions to provide an affirming educational experience. As a result of this session, educators will return to their buildings as “Allies in Action” capable of auditing their own instructional environments for erasure. They will be prepared to advocate for Native-centered resources and partner with the NACE team to implement strategic supports that enhance the educational journey of Native students.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Special
Education & Special Service Providers (SSPs)
Counseling
Elementary School Counselor Collab
Audience: K-5 School Counselors
Learning Outcomes: School Counselors will: 1. Intentionally look at disproportionality rates of behavior incidents in their school data to ensure small groups are being designed for proactive skill and knowledge building for positive behaviors at school. 2. Collaborate with each other to share resources for Tier 2 strategies including, but not limited to growth mindset, positive peer relationships, healthy habits for school and attendance, coping strategies, etc. 3. Leave the session with a concrete plan to proactively schedule small groups into their 26-27 school year, and have a chosen group curriculum they hope to facilitate.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: Center for Talent Development at Greenlee
Registration Link
High School Collaboration
Audience: 9-12 School Counselors
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to analyze school-based counseling data, identify high-impact practices from across high schools, and develop an equity-centered action plan to implement shared strategies in their own buildings. Counselors will examine how collaboration with ESS, MTSS, and school teams, along with intentional use of time and resources, can ensure that students with the greatest needs, especially those from historically underserved backgrounds, receive targeted, timely, and culturally responsive supports. Participants will leave prepared to apply cross-school best practices, strengthen access to curriculum, community partnerships, post-secondary planning tools, and facilitate consistent, equity-driven systems that ensure every student has what they need to thrive academically, socially, and life after high school.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
| DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Equity of Access to Rigorous Courses
Audience: 9-12 School Counselors, Concurrent/Dual Enrollment and AP Instructors
Learning Outcomes: Participants will analyze DPS AP and Concurrent Enrollment data to identify equity gaps, connect findings to their leadership responsibility for expanding access, demonstrate learning by naming a root cause at their school, and apply this analysis to improve scheduling for student access to rigorous courses. Participants will understand the purpose and structure of new AP access courses and Concurrent Enrollment options, connect these options to their roles in increasing equitable participation, demonstrate learning by identifying at least one aligned course for their school, and apply this knowledge in academic planning decisions. Participants will leave with an equity-focused action step to increase access to rigorous courses, connect this strategy to their responsibility to remove systemic barriers, demonstrate learning through a drafted implementation plan, and apply it during upcoming enrollment and master scheduling cycles.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30
Location: George Washington High School
Registration Link
Middle School Counseling Collaboration
Audience: 6-8 School Counselors
Learning Outcomes: Middle School Counselors will begin outlining programming to support middle school students with accessing equitable opportunities to prepare for “The Big 3”, including outlining programming, analyzing student interest and outcome data, and creating a plan for ALL students that meet individual needs. Middle School Counselors will leave the session with a plan of practice to prepare and support with engaging students in at least one of the three “Big 3” pathways in Middle School to prepare for the transition to High School.
Time Commitment: 9:45-11:15
Location: Montbello Middle School
Registration Link
Pathways Counseling Collaboration
Audience: 9-12 School Counselors
Learning Outcomes: Pathways Counselors will begin outlining programming to support pathways school students with accessing equitable opportunities to prepare for “The Big 3”, including outlining programming, analyzing student interest and outcome data, and creating a plan for ALL students that meet individual needs. School Counselors will leave the session with a plan of practice to prepare and support with engaging students in at least one of the three “Big 3” pathways in Pathways Schools.
Time Commitment: 8:00-9:30
Location: Montbello Career and Tech
Registration Link
Supporting Students with Disabilities
Audience: ECE-12 School Counselors, Special Education Professionals
Learning Outcomes: School Counselors will learn with and from the Atlantis Center about the disability rights movement and current work being completed in Denver. Post-secondary partners from the Auraria campus will partner with School Counselors to create strategies that will move with our students from high school to college (and beyond) setting our students up for success and with advocacy tools. At the end of the session, counselors will be able to make individual student plans in partnership with special education educators in their buildings that align with ICAP and IEP/504 plans.Middle School to prepare for the transition to High School.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: The Atlantis Center
Registration Link
49 | DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Mental Health and Student Well-Being
Mental Health Professional Learning Day
Audience: ECE-12 School Psychologists and Social Workers
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this session, participants will be able to use referral pathways to connect students and families to critical substance use prevention and intervention services that can be significant barriers to learning as demonstrated by reviewing and engaging with keynote speaker content and activities. In addition, participants will be exposed to high level practice through recognition of our School Psychologists and School Social Workers of the year who model equity-driven practices in their assignments serving students, families, and school communities.
Time Commitment: 8:00-11:15
Location: John F Kennedy High School
Registration Link
Nursing
Health Equity through the Nursing Lens
Audience: ECE-12 Nurses
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the sessions, participants will be able to learn how to assess with the lens of health equity and to refer students for varying health needs. This will be demonstrated by role playing in groups and reflective feedback within multiple practice teams.
