Like a neighborhood beacon, the yellow steeple at 910 Galapago St. has attracted residents of Denver’s west side since it topped a stone United Methodist church in the early 1900s.
In much the same way a pastor ministers to souls, teachers now shape young minds in the same building. Where church members once bowed in prayer, PE students now bend in calisthenics at La Academia, a private school operated by the Denver Inner City Parish. Although it is not a religious organization, the Denver Inner City Parish is part of a decades-old grassroots movement that took over urban church buildings as the congregations moved to the suburbs. The nonprofit operates programs for seniors, a summer day camp, job counseling and a food bank, in addition to the school, founded in 1971.
Here, tucked behind West High School, the old stone building still houses leaders who see their work as a mission.
“You can’t change a community if you’re not educating the community,” says Todd Clough, La Academia principal. He came to the school 19 years ago, thinking he’d spend a couple of years there. “I discovered it’s a life’s work.”
La Academia’s 80 students – sixth- through 12th-graders – come mostly from Latino families who earn less than $15,000 a year. While 13 percent of Latino students attend college, according to a Colorado Children’s Campaign study, three-quarters of La Academia students go on to higher education.
Clough strides through the narrow halls greeting each child by name. The students, most of whom came to La Academia after attending other, more traditional schools, reply in kind, calling him by his first name. “What I like about here that’s different from other schools is the teachers understand you,” said JoAna Garcia, 13.
As they gather for a typical taco lunch in the building’s basement – decorated with a mural of an Aztec, a farmer and a baseball player holding a baby with a mission-style church and the downtown Denver skyline – the students are eager to share their pride in their school, community and school lunch menu.
“I don’t get tired of Mexican food. That’s what I’ve been eating since I was little,” says Bernadette Roybal, 18, a second-generation La Academia student. Her parents, Jose and Candy Roybal, both graduated from the school, and her dad painted the lunchroom mural.
Roybal says she is going to “go to college to deliver babies.” When asked if she’s planning to be a doctor or a nurse, she says: “Doctor. I’ve already been in school 13 years, what’s seven or eight more?”
The girls take turns holding 16-month-old Cheyanna Koch, baby sister of Natasha Koch, 16, who knew she could bring the little one to school rather than miss class to stay home and babysit. It’s the kind of welcoming place where students and parents know they’ll find support.
Nellie Salas, 33, a parent volunteer who answered a phone in the office one day and has stayed for two years, has three daughters, a younger sister, a nephew and a cousin in the school. The youngest member of the family, and the school community, is her 4-month-old grandson, Ivan Salas. His mother took a detour from her education, but the school is ready to help her get back on track, Salas and Clough say.
“I get so much out of this gig. I get to watch kids turn their lives around. Beat that,” Clough says.
Many of the school’s neighbors use the small food bank in the parish headquarters at 1212 Mariposa St.
The parish has applied for a Post-News Season to Share grant to enlarge the food bank (now the size of a small bedroom) and expand its hours.
Food bank manager Adrian Castro, 25, graduated from La Academia and sees his work at the food bank as a way of giving back. “I’ve been a member of the west-side community all my life,” he says, stacking canned beans on the shelves. “We have no borders. If people need food, we give it to them. A lot of people we help are working class, and we see a lot of repeat customers. If we could get more money, I would like to be open four or five times a week.”
The food bank is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday to Friday. Castro says he needs canned vegetables to help round out meals: “If people want to donate, we’ll never tell them no.”
Food editor Kristen Browning-Blas can be reached at 303-820-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost.com.