Twenty letters of intent for new school programs for Denver’s 2009-10 school year include proposals from successful charter school organizations KIPP, Cesar Chavez Academy and Edison Schools.
Organizations submitted letters in late June, responding to the district’s request for proposals.
Twelve are proposed as charter schools and eight as “innovation schools,” a classification of separate district programs within a typical district school.
Among programs being suggested:
• KIPP Denver High School. This would expand the successful KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, which operates a fifth- through-eighth-grade school in southwest Denver. The expansion would add a grade every year for a total of 600 students by 2014.
• Cesar Chavez Academy K-8. The charter-school network started in 2000 with schools in Pueblo and has expanded to Colorado Springs. It would be the first Chavez school in the Denver metro area, starting with kindergarten through fifth grade and adding a grade every year for full enrollment of 418 by 2013.
• Denver Center for International Studies Elementary School. DCIS has run a successful 6-12 school in Denver, teaching international and intercultural affairs and world languages. The principal wants a primary school with a total of 300 students by 2011. The organizers suggest locating the school at the old Del Pueblo Elementary School site.
• Edison Schools K-8. The for-profit charter school company already has two schools in Denver — Wyatt-Edison and Omar D. Blair schools. The new school would be in southwest or northwest Denver and have an emphasis on remediation for middle school students.
• Southwest Neighborhood Academy K-8. This charter school is being proposed by Classic Schools Inc., the organization that created the Cherry Creek Academy in 1994. The school would have 400 students and is being proposed for the neighborhood that serves Kaiser Elementary School in southwest Denver.
The district had received a similar number of letters of intent in March.
In June, the board approved two charter schools, the expansion of West Denver Prep and the creation of Envisions Charter Schools. It also gave tacit approval to two other programs — a science and technology innovation school being proposed by the teachers union and a language immersion program being proposed by the Stapleton Foundation.
Formal applications for this round of programs must be delivered by Sept. 2. Presentations will be given to the school board Sept. 18.
The board will approve or deny the programs at the Nov. 20 meeting.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
