The scene at the Manual High Education Complex on Thursday evening felt like a cross between a pep rally and a college recruitment fair.
High school principals from across the city boasted about their graduates getting full rides to college. They sold their special marine-biology class or their drafting club. Some even brought students donning letter jackets to talk up the school.
It was the first “choice fair” for the 600 or so Manual students who must find somewhere else to finish high school. School-board members voted last week to close the historic building for a year because of plummeting enrollment and low academic achievement. They plan to reopen the school in 2007 with a new program.
“We did this so soon to give them (students) hope,” said Brad Jupp, senior policy adviser to Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet. “There was no time to waste with this. … We needed to get them thinking about the future.”
The lobbying efforts spilled out into the hallways. One school had a boombox playing music to lure in students. North High brought students to have heart-to-hearts with those from Manual. DPS’s Online High School gave out chocolate.
“Looking for a school?” a worker from North High said in Spanish to a handful of boys.
For many Manual students, who less than a week ago found out about their school’s closure, the scene felt overwhelming and sad.
Junior Jesus Ontiveros walked the halls with his two friends. “My mind is going in all directions,” he said. “I’m confused. Which is the best school? I’m going to have to finish somewhere else. I’m thinking North and maybe CEC (Middle College). But I don’t know.”
Manual sophomore Luis Garcia sat on a couch with his mother, Maria, to hear about the programs at East High. He silently translated for her.
“It’s kind of scary,” Garcia said. “I’m used to a small school. … I know all my teachers. I have a personal relationship. This (East) just seems so big.”
Manual students are guaranteed a slot at one of the higher-performing high schools in the city – Thomas Jefferson, East, South, George Washington and John F. Kennedy. But because enrollment is open districtwide, principals from other schools anticipate getting some Manual students.
Eddie Simon filled out the choice form in the dark of the auditorium while school principals gave speeches. He hopes his two boys – one will be a senior, the other a sophomore next year – get into East.
“I hope they get into East and they can just be stable,” Simon said. “They just need to be stable and to finish.”
DPS officials hope to make the transition easier for students by assigning an adult mentor to each Manual student.
Staff writer Allison Sherry can be reached at 303-820-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com.
