Dunstan Newsletter

October 30, 2026

Greetings Wonderful Dunstan Parents,

I hope you have had a good week! We enjoyed Halloween here at school which is always an excellent expression of our student’s creativity and imagination!

In this newsletter, it is important that we recognize our 80+ WEB Leaders, Ms. Baker, Ms. Fisher, and Ms. Golgart for the 6th Grade Social they hosted last Friday! As you know this event includes all students and is free for all students! Please see the photos below - a good time was had by all!

As promised, here is a report of the data we have collected about our On/Off Track reward events (3-4 per school year).

We wrote 2 surveys, one for our 7th and 8th grade students (who experienced our reward field trips last year) and one for our current 6th graders (who have not yet experienced our reward field trips).

Here is a the results of the 7th & 8th grade survey:

We had 370 7th & 8th graders respond. 93% agree that rewards should continue in the future and should be earned by students. 75% found the reward trips to be motivating. Only 2.7% said they are not motivating. Additionally 75% of our students prefer to have this event during the school day to include as many students as possible, as opposed to after school when many could not attend due to family or commitments to athletics that they have outside of school. 98% responded that they know about our support system such as Advise Travel Days (every Tuesday and Thursday) and Dunstan’s redo policy because we allow students to redo assignments, tests, etc. - so long as it is accomplished before that unit closes.

Here are the results of the 6th grade survey:

201 6th grade students took the survey. 76% of students are aware of the reward field trip. 95% of the 6th graders find this reward to be motivating for them. 94% prefer to have the event during the school day.

Suggestions from our students include adapting the system to include more student recognition of growth. For example, if we adapted the appeals system by opening the appeal window a month before the field trip and teachers evaluated what students need to do to be included in the trip, and this is clearly communicated to students, they responded this would increase their motivation.

After we gathered student survey data, our Counselors and Social Emotional Learning Specialist interviewed 7th and 8th grade students from 4 categories:

• Students who were always on-track and who participated in the events

• Students who were not on-track, filled out an appeal, and were included in the events

• Students not on track, who filled out an appeal, and were not included in the events

• Students who were not on track, didn’t fill out an appeal, and were not included in the events

Here is a summary of the student interviews:

The themes across the interviews convey strong support for the rewards-based system. Students view this system as motivating and helpful in terms of academics and behavior. They also stated they appreciate specific coaching from their teachers regarding how to improve.They would like to see longer appeals windows, student support for submitting appeals (in terms of modeling how to write and submit and appeal), and on-track support rooms that are framed with a positive, supportive environment.

The initial concern asked us to reevaluate how we address the learning needs of the students who are on 504 plans and IEPs and redesign our system to include more students who are on these learning plans. The specific feedback from our students and from our staff who know this system well, will guide our next steps in determining specific steps and interventions we will take to better address the needs of our students to include more in the future. I will meet with our Accountability Committee parents and members of our Positive Behavior Supports Committee members to finalize our plans, which I will include in future newsletters.

When Positive Behavior Supports are articulated at the highest level, schools implement earned reward-based experiences. I am proud of the systems we have built at Dunstan and also the ways we are refining and adapting it to include more students than we have in the past.

In the meantime, our students continue to enjoy our drawings and prizes during lunch times. Our PBST team also wants to create a school store for students and we are looking for volunteers who would be willing to run this once a week during our lunch times which occur from 11:30-2:00. Please let me know if you are interested in this volunteer opportunity that will help us build a more robust PBST system.

Today is joyful and tremendous fun with the students! Please have a safe weekend everyone! Thank you for your ongoing support!

Happy Halloween!

Jen Pennell, Principal of Dunstan Middle School

• Monday, November 2nd: Musical auditions 4-6 PM @ DMS
• Tuesday, November 3rd: Musical auditions 4-6 PM @ DMS
• Wednesday, November 4th: Musical call backs 4-6 PM and SAC Meeting 6-7 @ DMS (library)
• Thursday, November 5th: GM Choir Festival @ GMHS 6:30 PM
• Monday, November 9th: On Track letters go out to students in Advise and Musical cast/crew meeting in choir room from 8:30-8:45 AM
• Wednesday, November 11th: PTA meeting 5:30 PM @ DMS (library)
• Thursday, November 12th: Jeffco All County Choir 4:30-6:30 PM
• Friday, November 13th: WEB Activity with 6th grade students during Advise, Jeffco All County Choir from 9 AM-7 PM, and Google Field Trip from 8:15-1:00 PM
• Wednesday, November 18th: Dunstan's Day of Gratitude and Dunstan Showcase from 5:30-7:00 PM
• Monday, November 23rd-Friday November 27th: NO SCHOOL FOR THANKSGIVING BREAK
• Monday, November 30th: On Track letters go out to students during Advise

In collaboration with the Marmot team fundraiser for Up, Pup, & Away, Mr. Clark's AMP'ED classes are creating trading cards for dogs in foster with the hope of helping them get adopted. They used their creative skills around digital design to create the trading cards that will be delivered to Up, Pup & Away at their adoption event next weekend by Ms. Pruitt. Thank you for all your support with Team Marmots fundraiser!

As a reminder, please do not send students to school with body sprays, perfumes, or colognes. Strong scents can be distracting and may cause discomfort or allergic reactions for others in the school environment. We encourage families to help students establish good hygiene habits by using stick deodorant instead. Thank you for your support in helping us maintain a comfortable and respectful learning environment for all students!

Drop-in volunteer day for teens in 6th through 12th grade at the Belmar Library (555 S Allison Pkwy) on Saturday, November 14th from 9am-noon. This is a casual volunteering opportunity that doesn’t require any sign up ahead of time- teens can just show up at the library if they want to participate.

Please click HERE to sign up to support Dunstan's PTA through King Soopers Community Rewards. This is a quick and easy way to support our school!

Jeffco has officially launched ParentSquare as our primary platform for school communication. Families will now receive messages through email, app, voice or text, helping everyone stay informed and involved.

An account is automatically created for each parent or guardian using the contact information in Infinite Campus, our student information system. We encourage you to activate your account to download the free mobile app, set your language preferences, and choose how and when you’d like to receive messages.

What you can do with ParentSquare:

• Receive updates from your school via email, app, or text notification

• View posts, photos, calendars, and important announcements

• Communicate in your preferred language with automatic translation

• Comment on school posts and stay engaged with your school community

• Send direct messages to teachers and staff

• Participate in group conversations

Thanks to Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA), Jeffco Public Schools will continue to provide all students with one breakfast and one lunch at no cost through the 2026-27 school year, regardless of income eligibility. Research shows that students who are not hungry perform better in school. Even though meals are free for all students, families are strongly encouraged to complete a Student Benefits Application.

We use SchoolCafé to:

Families Who Need Meal Modifications - You need to communicate your needs with our new Kitchen Manager, Sandra Bartle at Sandra.Bartle@jeffco.k12.co.us. Also click for the district special diets link with info.