In a veritable pep talk, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet assured Bruce Randolph Middle School teachers Thursday that he will try to keep the troubled school open.
The northeast Denver middle school has been among the city’s worst-performing schools academically, ranking “unsatisfactory” two years in a row based on Colorado Student Assessment Program tests.
“You and I inherited each other,” said Bennet, who’s been at the DPS helm since July. “I feel very good about this school. … I’m convinced that in every sense it is a new school.”
Schools in Colorado are converted to charters if they have low test scores three years in a row. Another middle school, Cole – 2 miles from Randolph – met that fate last year.
In hopes of avoiding “another Cole,” as teachers say, then-Superintendent Jerry Wartgow last spring changed the principal, strengthened the curriculum and let the new principal, Kristin Waters, pick her own teachers.
Now, DPS is hoping that lawmakers believe the school is changed enough to get a clean slate, absent its old “unsatisfactory” ratings, Bennet said.
Science teacher Lisa Yemma said she worries every day about the school closing.
“I’ve been through this before,” said Yemma, who came to Randolph from Cole.
“It was nice today to hear that he (Bennet) supports the school, but I still worry.”
Eighth-graders Michael Vargas and Ryan Chavez, hanging out near the building after school, said teachers are tougher this year, but “seemed to care more,” Chavez said.
“They’re all worried about the CSAPs,” he said. “But that’s cool, because we want to keep our school open.”
Staff writer Allison Sherry can be reached at asherry@denverpost.com or 303-820-1377.
