DJDS Updates Dress Code, Hopes to Crack Down on Violations

This year, a new dress code came to DJDS- crafted by 11th and 12th grade dean, Melanie Knowles and ninth and tenth grade dean Heidi Markenson.

There are several changes in the dress code this year, compared to last year, including the kippah policy, prohibited items, and enforcement. Part of this change was to be more inclusive to all DJDS students. 

The content of the prohibited items section has been cut down by nearly half. Last year the rule written out in the handbook was “Shorts and skirts must be no shorter than three inches above the center of the knee cap,” however this has been excluded in this year's dress code and changed to “hemlines that can be excessively revealing during normal activity.”

Sleeveless tops, pajamas, and sagging pants are still prohibited, however, the section about tight clothing and slippers has been taken out. 

Not only that, but the handbook has taken more of an inclusive approach, removing strict gender terms. For example, the wording of the kippah policy has changed from “male students” to “students who identify as male” and from “optional for female students” to “optional for students who do not identify as male.” 

While this language has changed, a pattern of not wearing kippot will still result in disciplinary consequences. While slight wording has been changed in the dress code, Knowles said that some of the things in the dress code don't need to be changed on paper, but there needs to be a change with the enforcement of the rules. 

For example, tank tops used to be foreign territory in the dress code, but now, on any given day there are a number of people in the school with shoulders showing. Knowles clarified that the school will be taking more of an aggressive approach, compared to past years. 

While the new dress code places more emphasis on communication and a formal process for addressing violations, the overall consequences in both dress codes remain relatively similar.

Emmie Cohen, an eighth grader emphasized how the dress code can still implement respect, while not completely limiting teens' creativity to choose their outfit. “I would rather have a dress code, than a uniform,” she said.

On the contrary, however, Shoshana Sax, also a DJDS eighth grader, argues that the dress code, now and always, has limited student expression to some extent, “Being at DJDS for eight years, [I] have many tank tops, but I’ve never gotten to wear them at school,” she said. 

Despite this, compared to Upper Division Social Studies Chair Brian Welling's point of view, the lack of tank tops is

not the problem. Both Welling and Knowles agree that enforcement needs to be stricter, but the question is where to start. 

“After teaching at Arapahoe Valley High School and seeing the public school's version of a dress code, I would have thought that this school would be stricter on dress code,” Welling said. “I firmly believe DJDS should crack down on a firmer enforcing of the dress code.” 

Overall, these changes hoped to provide clearer guidelines, while allowing for the most appropriate student expression possible. “We need to respect the learning environment, our fellow students but mostly ourselves,” Knowles said.