Melanie Asmar

Melanie Asmar covers Denver Public Schools. Asmar previously worked as a reporter for Westword newspaper in Denver and for a daily newspaper in her native New Hampshire. She joined Chalkbeat Colorado in 2015.

Hanzel Yanez, 16, a junior at North High School, looks at his phone in the hallway during a break between his classes on March 17, 2026, in Denver. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

Denver Public Schools committee recommends bell-to-bell cellphone ban

April 16, 2026 at 11:01 a.m.

DPS formed the 17-member committee in response to a new state law that requires all Colorado school districts to adopt a policy on student cellphone use by July 1.

Acer Bouchard, 18, a senior at North High School, left, and Brayden Sullivan, 17, also a senior, play the mobile game Brawl Stars on their phones during an off period at the school on March 17, 2026, in Denver. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

Buying a 鈥榣oot box鈥� in an online game? Some of the swag could help public schools under a Colorado bill.

March 21, 2026 at 6:00 a.m.

House Bill 1148 is a wide-ranging bill aimed at enhancing data privacy for children who use online gaming platforms like Roblox and Minecraft.

John F. Kennedy High School students perform during the dress rehearsal of "Mamma Mia!" at the school in Denver on Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

鈥楳amma Mia!鈥� performance a symbol of hope for Denver high school that could face closure

March 20, 2026 at 3:57 p.m.

John F. Kennedy High School is one of four schools that could face closure under a new Denver Public Schools policy that calls for shuttering schools with persistently low state...

Senior Riayn Wagner, 18, warms up with classmates in a dance class on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, at Denver School of the Arts in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)

DPS promised to expand and diversify its elite public arts school. It hasn鈥檛 happened yet.

February 12, 2026 at 10:34 a.m.

Cost concerns and competing priorities hindered a planned expansion that would have opened the school to more students without auditions.

The Denver Public Schools Foundation has given more than $100,000 to schools and the district抖阴ap six community hubs, which run food pantries and other services. (Helen H. Richardson / The Denver Post)

Denver schools foundation restarts pandemic-era food fund to help feed families during SNAP delays

November 11, 2025 at 12:31 p.m.

Conflicting and fast-moving court rulings mean the vast majority of SNAP recipients haven鈥檛 gotten their full benefits this month.

Sixth-graders from the Girls Athletic Leadership School, often called GALS, line up and cheer for their fellow students as they run the mile at GALS in Denver on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (Rachel Woolf for Chalkbeat)

Why an all-girls model works so well for this Denver middle school

October 5, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

鈥淚鈥檇 had a lot of trouble with boys in elementary school,鈥� Rory Chambers said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to go through that in middle school -- the boys being like, 鈥榊ou...

East High School on July 23, 2024 in Denver. (Photo By Kathryn Scott/Special to The Denver Post)

Denver’s East High converts boys’ bathroom to all-gender restroom amid Trump administration investigation

August 22, 2025 at 8:34 a.m.

DPS said in a statement that the new restroom was meant to address any disparity.

Kids sit on the school bus outside of Stephen Knight Center for Early Education as the school closed early due to extreme heat on Sept. 7, 2022 in Denver. Stephen Knight Center of Early Education is one of more than 30 public schools in Denver without air conditioning that are releasing students early this week or closing entirely due to the record-breaking heat wave sweeping through Colorado. Some of these schools were supposed to have cooling systems installed this summer, Denver Public Schools spokesman Scott Pribble said, but supply chain issues stalled the project. DPS hopes to have some of them completed by the end of September. 脪Mitigation strategies in place aren't expected to work like we hoped,脫 Pribble said, noting that the district has portable air conditioning units and large fans. 脪Because of that, we're making the decision to shut down early.脫 (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

Denver Public Schools predicts enrollment declines may necessitate more school closures by 2030

June 6, 2025 at 9:14 a.m.

The district is most likely to recommend school closures in the northwest, southwest, and central parts of the city.

Trump administration investigating Jeffco policy on sleeping arrangements for transgender students on overnight trips

June 3, 2025 at 10:58 a.m.

Jeffco鈥檚 policy says that in most cases, transgender students 鈥渟hould be assigned to share overnight accommodations with other students that share the student抖阴ap gender identity.鈥�

A Denver Public Schools emblem and sign on the Evie Garrett Dennis Campus that houses five separate schools with 1,600 students in Pre-K through 12th grade in Northeast Denver, Colorado on March 16, 2016.

Denver Public Schools declares impasse in contract negotiations with teachers union

May 7, 2025 at 8:37 a.m.

Three months into bargaining, Denver Public Schools has declared an impasse in contract negotiations with its teachers union.

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