Denver Public Schools is Colorado’s largest school district, serving 93,000 students with a team of more than 20,000 teachers and staff. The Family and Community Engagement Division within Denver Public Schools Central Office is looking to get a better sense of who their employees partner with for engagement as a District (internally), as well as who those employees reach in our DPS community (externally). 

DPS needs to hear from and actively respond to families, students, and community partners to truly re-envision education and make changes that are culturally responsive and support the academic rigor students demand; ensure they are hearing from all our families and students, especially those that are disenfranchised and marginalized for Equity sake; and to build a partnership with educators, families, and students to address Social-Emotional and Mental Health.

The Transition Priorities need strong relationships and trust within the school communities and the collective future demands that all students succeed and develop a way to map and track their connections is a fundamental building block to sound engagement. It’s critical that DPS identify who their internal employees connect within the District and within the local community.  This ensures that connections are not lost when staff transition at the District. This gets at the heart of the District’s core values of Students First and Collaboration. When DPS knows who is connected and how, this will allow the District to leverage those connections for specific work efforts and do engagement by design, not by chance of who in the room had the right connections.

VNL is helping DPS map and track its engagement and community partnerships both internally and externally. Understanding DPS’s network and partnerships will reveal where there are gaps and how they can enhance outreach and engagement resources. Our two main overarching questions include:

• What is the value of collaboration between divisions and teams to enhance community engagement practices?

• What is the extent of collaboration between community partners and between community partners and DPS to ensure we are reaching all voices in the District?