Community Engagement

A family smiling and posing for photo at school yard

What We Do

The Community Engagement team creates culturally relevant, transparent and authentic engagement strategies through consultation and strategic planning across the district. We are committed to creating shared accountability and decision-making through mutual trust with all of our community partners, families, students, school leaders and staff. Our approach is community-led and district supported, ensuring that those closest to the pain are closest to the decision-making. We are committed to honoring our communities through storytelling, listening to understand and creating community-driven processes across our family of schools. We also provide tools to create capacity across the district because we believe that community engagement is everyone’s responsibility.

Community Empathy Building Through Different Engagement Tactics

We have the opportunity to engage our families, our staff, our students and the broader community in meaningful and intentional ways using multiple tactics. We support our DPS team members through thought partnership and resources available on the DPS Commons.

Contact Us

Amanda Bouche, Manager of Community Engagement

Trevon Brandhorst, Director of Community Engagement and Outreach

Superintendent Community Gatherings

Every year, Denver Public Schools hosts an opportunity for the Superintendent to communicate and connect with schools and parents district-wide. Community gatherings will be offered across the District, including many neighborhoods and affinity groups.

Group of people sitting at Superintendent Community Gatherings

Three teachers looking at a laptop

Meeting-In-A-Box Toolkit

A toolkit for district staff with engagement best practices and the tools to authentically engage communities. This is one of several resources that we provide to internal departments and schools to support their community engagement work across the district.

Family with two kids at first day of school

Guide to Planning Engagement

This guide provides information about the logistics of planning community engagement, and is available to DPS team members.

Learn more about how to impact district and school decision making here!

Collaborative School Committee

Learn More

The Collaborative School Committee (CSC) brings together families, staff and community members to create and implement a plan to promote high achievement within a school. This committee meets on a regular basis throughout the school year and is an opportunity for key stakeholders to have a voice in their school. Colorado law requires all schools to have a CSC to increase the amount of accountability and family involvement in our schools.

District Accountability Committee

Learn More

Colorado law requires boards of education to appoint a district accountability committee to ensure parental and community involvement in the district’s educational program.

The DAC meets once a month, generally the fourth Tuesday, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., August through May. Certain times of the year the membership for DAC is open and notices of those open periods will appear on this webpage.

The District Accountability Committee (DAC) has several responsibilities that it is expected to accomplish annually; procedures for the DAC are outlined in the following two policies: School Board Policy BDFG – District Accountability Committee and BDFG-R. These procedures are designed to be consistent with the general purpose and principles outlined in Policy BDFG, as well as consistent with federal and state statutes, and local ordinances. Multicultural Outreach supports these meetings.

Multilingual Education District Advisory Committee

Learn More

The goal of the Multilingual Education District Advisory Committee (MLE DAC) is to ensure that culturally and linguistically diverse families are equipped with the information, training, and support they need to be active participants in all school and district committees, initiatives and events.

The Multilingual Education District Advisory Committee (MLE DAC) meetings take place once a month. Parents are informed of their rights and responsibilities and information specific to the academic progress of English Learners and the Multilingual Education Program.