Team DPS strives to create a community in which our students and employees feel happy, healthy and authentically whole. We acknowledge that this support looks different for everyone. By providing targeted resources for our employees from underrepresented backgrounds, our hope is to create an inclusive environment so that all members of Team DPS feel a sense of belonging and are able to show up authentically. This includes feeling supported and accepted for our diverse values, beliefs and needs. 

In June 2019, DPS participated in Denver’s Pride Festival with over 100 employees, educators and families coming out to support our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQ+) community. In addition to a large turnout of DPS teammates marching in the DPS Pride Parade along with Superintendent Susana Cordova, DPS hosted a booth in Youth Alley where teachers, principals and DPS teammates had a chance to engage with countless community members who were both impressed and excited to see a school district take such a public stand in supporting all students. To ensure Every Child Succeeds, we are engaging in multiple initiatives to improve the inclusion of our LGBTQ+ community.

• The District's LGBTQ+ Toolkit is available for supports, and will be expanded upon in the next few months. You can find it on the Safe and Welcoming Schools Page.
• Professional Development: The CELT teams offers an LGBTQ+ SKILLS training at Central, and the LGBTQ+ Equity Program Manager offers a variety of ways to develop professional skillls. 
• Student Supports: The district has also been taking intentional steps to directly understand the experiences of LGBTQ+ students and support them in our schools
  
  • The CELT Team works to support inclusion for the whole child.
  • The Whole Child Survey allows students to report bullying based on perceived sexual orientation.
  • Currently, bully prevention programming is making significant strides in the district
  • Denver Public Schools is partnering with One Colorado’s GSA Network to support district Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA).
• CollaboRATE: Part of ensuring equity across the district is making sure everyone is counted. That’s why the LGBTQ+ Belong Group partnered with DPS to allow all employees to voluntarily and confidentially self-identify their gender and orientation through the 2020 CollaboRATE survey. This provided an opportunity to gather information regarding the experience of our LGBTQ+ community and develop and monitor initiatives that ensure an inclusive and equitable environment for some of our most marginalized community members.
• Glossary of Terms: DPS Belong groups have created a comprehensive glossary of terms to help further educate team members on equitable language. View the glossary.

We want to express our gratitude and appreciation to our Belong groups whose collaboration has helped put these resources together.