This summer, 45 soon-to-be ninth-graders in Denver are expected to retain a lot more of what they learned in the last school year.
The immigrant students from across the world are the first to graduate from Denver Public School’s summer academy hosted with the University of Denver. On Thursday, students finished the 17-day academy on the college campus.
Pablo Joucovsky, dean of academics at South High School, helped run the academy with teachers from South and said during the short time, students seemed more responsible and engaged.
“It’s unbelievable,” Joucovsky said. “They are incredibly resilient. You give them a way to get more success and they are able to make it happen.”
The 45 students come from DPS’s newcomer centers, which provide extra support to students who are new to the country, and all are going to South this fall.
The academy was not required. Of 120 students who were invited, 45 signed up.
“A lot of these kids are very antsy about going to high school or about thinking of college,” Joucovsky said.
Now, students will start high school knowing Joucovsky and other teachers and have an idea of how to get into college so they can stay motivated.
The DPS part of the academy is meant to sharpen English skills through English, math and advisory classes.
Students in one math class last week not only found equivalent fractions, but had to write a paragraph about how they found their answer. Then they traded notebooks to edit each others’ work.
In the last week of the academy, most students easily wrote a paragraph in less than a minute.
Fridays during the academy, DU professors and staff gave students a taste of college life — touring campus, taking a science class from a university professor, and meeting alumni who shared their experiences as first- generation college students, or as English learners.
“It’s not necessarily a recruitment tool,” said Adrienne Martinez, assistant director for student access and success programs at DU. “But the more familiar they are with a college campus, the more likely they are to go to college and be able to really identify what school is the best fit for them.”
before, but it’s the first time they partnered with a university. In the future, officials want the academy to last longer, reach more students and track how much of an advantage students really might be getting.
“We do really believe they’re getting something out of it academically,” said Christine Muldoon, director of English language development programs for DPS. “But it’s also really about getting them used to that college campus. Letting them know it’s not that scary and they can do it.”
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372, yrobles@denverpost.com or twitter.com/yeseniarobles
