Montbello High School will receive a federal grant to support its ongoing revitalization effort – a bit of good news announced Thursday in the wake of a shooting that left a custodian slightly injured.
Principal Antwan Wilson said the shooting Wednesday night points to the necessity for continued improvement at Montbello, which he wants to transform into an “early college.”
“We have some kids where that type of thing is the reality for them,” Wilson said about the violence. “That speaks to the need for us to be a place to challenge them so that’s no longer a reality.”
Wilson, in his third year as principal of the 1,600-student northeast Denver school, has led a transformation that has built from a low point in January 2005, when a student was stabbed to death in the cafeteria, to Thursday’s announcement of an $854,700 grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
This year, Wilson established a strict school uniform policy. He has seen numbers of suspensions drop by 40 percent and attendance at parent-teacher conferences increase from 5 percent to 45 percent.
Two minutes before class bells ring, students are nudged by the theme song from “Rocky” over the loudspeaker to remind them they need to be on their way.
“This speaks to the culture of change,” Wilson said during Thursday’s news conference as the trumpeting sounds of “Gonna Fly Now” began playing.
Wilson said further evidence of that change is in the decreasing numbers of unsatisfactory scores on Colorado Student Assessment Program tests, although the school still struggles academically.
“I’m excited to see what Montbello’s future will be like,” said senior Victoria Simpson, 17, who has been accepted at two Southern universities.
Simpson said she does not believe Wednesday’s incident will change the public’s perception of Montbello.
Denver police have no suspects in the shooting, which they believe was an act of vandalism, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.
The gunshot, which police say was from a low-powered shotgun, shattered windows but didn’t break the skin of the victim – who worked for 20 minutes before she realized she had been shot. She was treated at a hospital and released.
Wilson on Thursday wanted the focus to be on the grant and what it means for the future of Montbello. The grant will help establish three small learning academies at the school – a ninth-grade academy, an early college academy and a technology innovations academy.
Wilson said the goal for 2010 is to have 80 percent of Montbello students successfully complete college- level classes while in high school.
The school is working with Community College of Aurora to develop a dual-enrollment program, in which freshmen would sign up to go to school for five years and graduate with a high school diploma and college associate’s degree.
“This is a model,” said City Council President Michael Hancock. “If we can keep this high school moving forward, we can really rejuvenate this community.”
“This will send ripples throughout Denver Public Schools,” said Superintendent Michael Bennet.
