The Anna and John J. Sie Foundation has donated $1 million to the Denver School of Science and Technology to fund the charter school network’s Teacher Career Pathway Program.
The program is described by the foundation as a groundbreaking initiative aimed at developing and implementing concrete ways to evaluate, develop and maintain outstanding teachers.
The gift also helps to close John C. Malone’s matching grant, a component of the largest donation in the school’s history. In July, Malone, a cable pioneer and chairman of Liberty Global, Inc., and Liberty Media Corp, pledged $7 million to the school including a $3 million matching pledge.
“John Malone is a dear friend and was my boss for several decades,” said John J. Sie, trustee of the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation and founder of the Starz Entertainment Group.
“We were also one of the first donors to help establish DSST, so this gift makes a lot of sense and will do a tremendous amount of good in developing outstanding teachers and future leaders,” said Sie.
In addition to this donation, the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation gave the capstone gift to complete DSST’s first building, Stapleton High School, which houses “Sie Hall.” The Sie Foundation also established the DSST Sie Faculty Excellence Award – an annual, monetized award presented to one outstanding teacher each year at the DSST graduation.
The foundation said that in developing a comprehensive Teacher Career Pathway, which includes the opportunity to become a “master teacher,” DSST seeks to keep outstanding teachers in the classroom.
“DSST is very grateful for the generous ongoing support of Anna and John Sie. Their support has been truly instrumental in the growth and success of our network of schools,” said Bill Kurtz, chief executive of DSST Public Schools.
“Not only will the Sies’ gift allow DSST to build an innovative career pathway for teachers, it will also inform and influence the ongoing regional and a national conversation about the retention of , and compensation for excellent teachers,” said Kurtz.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com or on Twitter @HowardPankratz
