One of the first things the new sixth-graders at Denver’s new all-boys public school learned last week was the school cheer. And unlike what you might expect on the first day of a school that drew kids from 31 different elementary schools from all corners of the city — kids who were, for the most part, strangers in matching T-shirts — they were not at all timid.
The first time they tried the cheer, their voices boomed as loudly as tween boys’ voices can.
“I am!” school leader Nick Jackson shouted with the enthusiasm of a summer camp counselor.
“We are!” the boys answered in kind.
“I am!” “We are!”
“I am!” “We are!”
Two claps. Loud. “Boys School!”
In the seconds of silence that followed, Jackson held out his arm.
“Feel this! Feel this!” he said. “Those are goosebumps.”
The Boys School of Denver is one of five new schools opening this fall in Denver Public Schools. The five schools are opening for a variety of reasons ranging from a need to accommodate a growing number of students in certain neighborhoods to a desire to provide families more high-quality options in a city that prizes school choice.
The school districtap first day was Monday but The Boys School, a charter with autonomy over its schedule as well as other aspects of its program, started a few days early.
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