With dismal dropout rates and lagging test scores, Denver’s North High School is in trouble, but the reaction of the school and the nearby community gives plenty of hope.
Another school in similar straits, Manual, was shut down earlier this year by Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet. It will return in just over a year as a “premier” high school, although no one can really say for sure what that might mean.
North High School isn’t waiting around to find out.
About 200 members of the North community gathered late last month, afraid their school and their neighborhood were on the Manual track.
They have every reason to be scared. Among the Class of 2005, about 32 percent dropped out, only 27 percent graduated and 27 percent supposedly transferred to other schools.
Parents are demanding a better education for their children, including more Advanced Placement courses. They want their children to advance to college, and to be adequately prepared when they get there. They want the resources and commitment to make North a “premier” high school now.
They want what all parents should want. And tomorrow is too late.
Bennet wouldn’t commit to keeping the school open, but was impressed by the community support and energy at the meeting.
“A gathering like this is long overdue,” he said. “It’s something that’s not happening enough in the entire country, much less in Denver.”
North is doing exactly what it should be doing – overdue or not. We encourage the school and the community to keep the pressure on and the energy up. The school’s future is at stake.
