Friends of Denver’s North High School claimed Sunday that it is headed for extinction unless the school changes drastically over the next several months.
North opens its doors today to freshmen to start the 2006-07 school year – like other Denver public high schools. But several parents, students, former students and community advocates said North may disappear because of a dismal academic environment.
“This is a disgrace,” Denver Public Schools board member Lucia Guzman said. “We should have done something about this sooner.”
Many who gathered at Viking Park near the school’s front doors said they want North redesigned, with teachers reapplying for jobs and pledging to push for tougher and higher standards for students. The school, some say, should be converted to a charter school that emphasizes academic rigor.
Anything is better than what is going on now in the school’s classrooms and hallways, they claim.
“The environment at North is simply not conducive to learning,” said 19-year-old Eva Bonilla, a North graduate.
Soon after she arrived at the University of Denver two years ago, Bonilla said, she knew North had left her unprepared for college study.
“It was a constant struggle to do average work,” Bonilla said.
She and others worry that North will suffer the same fate as Manual High School. The DPS Board of Education in February voted to shutter Manual for a year and retool it because of low test scores.
Proponents of North’s revamping said Sunday that a schoolwide push for better test scores is not producing results quickly enough. Two North students scored advanced in math on the 2003 Colorado Student Assessment Program test, while six climbed to the advanced category in 2006, Guzman said.
“It’s hard for me to be satisfied with this,” Guzman said.
Meanwhile, parents are sending their children to higher-performing schools, said Ricardo Martinez, co-director of Padres Unidos, a northwest Denver advocacy group.
More than 1,500 kids enrolled at the school in 2002, but this fall, enrollment is projected at 1,100 students.
“We cannot accept more students leaving North,” Martinez said.
But some Sunday defended the school’s efforts, saying that reform takes time and that the school’s administrators are moving forward in aligning teacher training with state standards.
“The school will only succeed if we stay busy and stay with the work we’ve been doing,” said Ruth Hartvigson, whose three children went to North.
Denver Superintendent Michael Bennet said Sunday that he is pleased so many people are interested in seeing North succeed.
“I wonder if Manual had the same type of turnout two or three years ago the results for it would have been different,” he said.
No formal discussions about North’s future have been made. But Bennet said he is certain about one thing: “I don’t think anyone wants to see the school closed.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
