Rosa and Lindsay Gomez sat on the front row at West Denver Prep on Tuesday night, clutching each other and fidgeting in unison as though their lives depended on the enrollment lottery.
Finally, deep in the drawing of 150 future sixth-graders from 189 families, Lindsay’s name was called and worried grimaces turned to relieved sighs and ebullient smiles.
“It’s a really good school,” said the beaming 10-year-old, who wants to be a lawyer.
“It’s the best,” her mother added.
A room full of loving parents wanted the best for their kids. They wanted them to attend a charter school that has taken students from the poorest region of the city and turned them into academic stars, with no excuses and one goal: college.
Parents of current and future students said the modest building at South Federal Boulevard and West Jewell Avenue recruits passionate, dedicated teachers, allows them to help draft the curriculum, then puts its passion behind teaching rather than riding herd on behavior
Darren Rivera, 11, got in last fall. At his old school he was constantly treated as failure, he said. His mother, Tommy Rivera, said she felt like a failure as a mother because her son couldn’t learn as fast as others.
“I didn’t get much help,” Darren said. “They didn’t even really offer help when I asked for it.”
But that all turned around this year.
“He feels a sense of success, and it helps make him successful,” Tommy Rivera said. “At other schools, teachers don’t have the time or resources.”
And that’s the academic success Magda Figueroa Sugey, 10, is looking for on her way to becoming a doctor.
The tiny girl in the pink outfit grabbed her mother and squeezed so tight that her mother gasped when Magda’s name was called. Magda seized her mother’s cellphone and raced outside to call her father at work.
Her mother, Magdalena, speaks no English, but her tears said volumes.
Chris Gibbons, the head of school at West Denver Prep, watched the joy children exhibited when they were chosen.
“Kids don’t get enough credit for understanding their future,” he said. “They know this matters.”
He also kept watch on parent Sabrina Gutierrez, as she become more agitated and tearful as the lottery wound down.
“If her child doesn’t get in, it’s going to be bad,” he whispered.
But when Briann Gutierrez was chosen, her mother called out loudly, “Praise the Lord,” and raised her hand to heaven as her tears began to flow.
“All parents want the best education for their children,” she said. “And this is the best.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
