Denver’s mayor, its school superintendent and Colorado’s governor ushered in the district’s first day of school Wednesday with pomp and circumstance in the courtyard of scrappy Stedman Elementary.
But the truth is that Stedman, on the city’s north side, has been open for weeks.
Teachers have been leading “jump-start” academies for third-graders, hosting summer school for others and even tending to the school’s garden while everyone else in Denver Public Schools has been on break.
“This is not the first day of school here,” said John Simmons, an instructional superintendent for the district. “This is a continual year-long process.”
Third-grade teacher Dawn Romero said the school’s culture is focused on collaboration. She credits principal Deb Graham and a dedicated staff.
“The students, it’s like they are contagious, they just want to learn more and more,” Romero said.
Stedman was chosen as the showcase school because its academic growth is among the best in Colorado.
Students grew 25 points faster than the rest of the state in math. In reading and writing, students also outgrew the state by double digits.
Enrollment at Stedman is expanding too, even with a magnet school program, Knight Fundamental Academy, opening nearby.
However, Stedman’s students still sit below 50 percent proficiency in all subjects on the Colorado Student Assessment Program. School officials expect that to change.
“This is an extraordinary elementary school,” said DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg, touting Stedman as an example of the district’s reform efforts.
Boasberg said the district’s growth in CSAP scores has outpaced the state four years in a row and the district’s enrollment of more than 75,000 is the highest in 30 years.
“This is a day of tremendous optimism and hope,” Boasberg said with Gov. Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper at his side.
Yet, the district’s proficiency remains below 50 percent in all CSAP subjects; only half of DPS students graduate on time; and minority students have scores 35 points lower than those of their white peers.
The district is busy employing myriad reforms, including new school programs intended to raise achievement and increase enrollment.
On Wednesday, DPS opened a new arts magnet school in southwest Denver, a teacher-led school on the west side and several new charter schools across the district.
DPS also introduced shared campuses, in which charter schools and traditional district schools are together in one building — a plan intended to offer more choices and use up empty space.
One of those is Rishel Campus, where three school programs share one building: the teacher-led Math and Science Leadership Academy; a high school run by the Knowledge Is Power Program charter school organization; and the Rishel Middle School program that is being phased out.
Leaders from each school have gathered to talk about how to build an effective campus for the students.
“It’s much smoother than I had expected,” said Rishel principal Craig Harrer.
School areas are separated by flights and hallways. There are bylaws and agreements on how to share the space. Also, students wear separate uniforms and have different lunch schedules.
Yet, staff members have trained together, and high schoolers may end up tutoring the elementary students.
“Everybody in this building cares about kids,” said KIPP principal Richard Barrett. “All these misconceptions about three separate schools washed away. We just have different names.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
It was backpack-to-school day
Wednesday went smoothly for many Colorado students swapping summer sandals for backpacks filled with school supplies.
Like Denver Public Schools, which enrolled more students than it has in 30 years, Adams 12 Five Star Schools saw its student count go up.
Last year, 40,818 students were enrolled in Adams 12. When final figures are recorded in October, Adams 12 probably will swell by 2,682 students, district spokesman Joe Ferdani said.
“A large part of that increase is from students attending Colorado Virtual Academy, an online school, but we’re still seeing an increase,” Ferdani said.
Adams 12 includes schools in Broomfield, Federal Heights, Northglenn, Thornton and Westminster.
In the Boulder Valley School District, some grades returned to class Monday, and the rest will trickle in through the end of the week.
District spokesman Briggs Gamblin said total enrollment is expected be down by about 150 students, although the final tally won’t be known until mid- September. Annette Espinoza, The Denver Post
