Most school days during lunchtime, freshman Jessica Garcia heads out the doors of West High School, makes her way to a friend’s car and hustles to McDonald’s.
But that could change beginning next school year. As part of sweeping secondary school reforms proposed for Denver’s public schools, freshmen and sophomores such as Garcia would be forbidden to leave campus.
The move, part of a restructuring that Superintendent Michael Bennet said will help Denver Public Schools students perform better and keep them on campus longer, is just one of many proposals that could change student life in the city’s middle and high schools.
For years, district officials have discussed ways to ease students’ transition from middle school to high school. Those efforts, reform backers have said, could improve graduation rates and increase the numbers of students who go to college.
“There are a lot of pieces to (the DPS plan) that make sense, but you have to get all those pieces together to make them work,” said Trish McNeil, executive director of the Commission on Secondary School Reform, who has discussed reform efforts with Bennet. “The real challenge is engaging these kids in learning.”
In addition to restrictions on the youngest high schoolers, sixth-graders could be paired with mentors; eighth- graders could have more access to algebra classes; and new ninth-graders could attend summer academies to help them prepare for high school.
DPS also plans to work on a districtwide grading policy in grades six through 12, meaning students would be expected to meet the same standards at every school.
Bennet said students from struggling schools too often have received high marks in classes but were scored unsatisfactory on statewide assessment tests.
For their part, Garcia and her sister, 17-year-old Ivet Garcia, said students often leave for lunch and don’t return until the next day.
Restricting lunchtime choices, they said, would come as a relief to their mother.
“I know she wants us in class,” Ivet Garcia said. “She’s always saying that fast food is bad for us, anyway.”
