Dress Code

Dress Code Guidance in Jeffco

Responsibility for student dress and appearance generally rests with individual students and their families. Students may wish to express themselves by the manner of their dress and appearance; however, students shall not wear clothing or affect an appearance at school or school-sanctioned activities or events that is disruptive to the educational environment. Jeffco Public Schools standards on student attire are intended to help students focus on schoolwork, reduce discipline problems, and improve school order and safety.

Disciplinary action for violating the student dress code shall include notifying the student of the violation and requiring that the dress or appearance be corrected before the student reenters the classroom, school environment, or school-sanctioned activity or event. At the discretion of the building-level administrator, a family conference may be held. More serious consequences may result from repeated or serious violations.

At Arvada High School (AHS), all students have a right to an equitable education and should be able to dress and style their hair for school in a manner that expresses their individuality without fear of unnecessary discipline or body shaming. Students are also expected to uphold the core values of trust and responsibility as they pertain to the daily school learning environment.

AHS seeks to create a culture of learning where a student’s personal appearance doesn’t interfere with the health or safety of any student. Enforcement of this universal dress code shall not create disparities, reinforce stereotypes or increase marginalization of any group, nor will it be more strictly enforced against students because of racial identity, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, gender nonconformity, sexual orientation, cultural identity, religious identity, household income or body type or size.

Students are responsible for managing and abiding by the dress code policy. Staff will encourage and support students’ self-management of the dress code policy.

Continued violation (more than three infractions) of this policy will result in parent or guardian notification of the violation and a support conference may be held. Consequences may result from repeated or serious violations, in accordance with policy.

Mandatory and Allowable Dress

Students must wear a top, bottom and footwear while on school premises
Tops must have straps
Entire area from the armpit to upper thigh must be covered (this includes skin and undergarments)
Some courses may require adjustments to attire and hairstyle to ensure safety during academic activities (such as science labs, PE, electives and CTE courses)
Some courses (such as PE, science lab, CTE and electives) and extracurricular activities may require specific attire and adjustments (such as safety gear, athletic attire, uniforms and hair tied back)

Non-Allowable Dress

Items that expose private parts of the body (genitalia, nipples or buttocks)
Items with sexually suggestive language or messages
Items that promote illegal, threatening or violent conduct, including but not limited to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, weapons or gang affiliation
Items that are profane or legally libelous
Items that make the student’s face unidentifiable (clothing or headgear worn for religious and COVID or medical purposes are excepted)

Expectations

Staff behavior expectations

To ensure effective and equitable enforcement of this dress code, school staff will:

Enforce the dress code consistently using the requirements outlined in this policy.
Not confront students on dress code violations in a manner that unnecessarily disciplines or publicly shames the student.
Call home and document in IC after three informal conversations with the same student.
Upon seeing multiple infractions documented in IC, add the student to the referral form for support conference followup with restorative practice liaisons or dean.

Student behavior expectations

Students shall only be asked to change, cover or remove their attire if they are wearing non-allowable items identified above. Under these circumstances students shall have the following options to comply with the dress code for the remainder of the day:

Wear their own alternative clothing, if available at school
Wear school-provided clothing from the resource room
Call a parent or guardian to bring alternative clothing