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.

DPS Superintendent Susana Cordova answers questions ...

In first year, Denver Superintendent Susana Cordova tried to find common ground in a divided district

January 22, 2020 at 7:10 a.m.

Susana Cordova鈥檚 first year as superintendent of Denver schools was marked by what one observer called a 鈥渢orrent of change.鈥� A month after she took office last January, the Denver...

Language arts teachers Caitlin Weaver, middle, ...

More Denver teachers returned this fall, thanks to 15.7% average post-strike pay raise

January 13, 2020 at 2:01 p.m.

Far more Denver teachers returned to the classroom this fall than in previous years, a retention boost that district officials attribute to pay increases won after a聽teacher strike聽last year.

A new Denver school board takes a softer tone with low-performing schools

December 27, 2019 at 10:57 p.m.

The Denver school board is in the midst of radically changing its approach to school improvement, moving from an inflexible strategy that closed or replaced struggling schools to a more...

STRIVE Prep 鈥� Excel high school will close in spring 2020.

Denver charter school network STRIVE Prep to close northwest high school over low enrollment

November 20, 2019 at 11:05 a.m.

Denver鈥檚 second-largest charter school network has decided to merge two of its high schools, effectively closing one of them. The reason? Declining student enrollment, which is a districtwide issue affecting...

Handcuffs sit on a table at a hotel in Minot, N.D., on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. Sex trafficking has become a big problem in North Dakota amid an oil boom that has brought in money and oil workers. The Minot police sting ended with the arrests of 13 men, who answered ads on an escort website posted by the undercover officers.

Far fewer Denver students handcuffed in first months of school under new policy

November 17, 2019 at 10:38 a.m.

Denver campus safety officers handcuffed only three students in the first three months of school, an 87% reduction from last year, when officers used handcuffs 23 times in the first...

Teacher Jay Clark works with a student during a class at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver on January 20, 2012.

Which Denver schools have the most experienced teachers? A new report slices the data.

September 23, 2019 at 1:23 p.m.

Compared to teachers in district-run schools, those in Denver charter schools are more likely to be white and have less than five years of experience. Meanwhile, their students are more...

Eagleton Elementary School first grade teacher ...

The Denver teachers union will have a new president for the first time in 10 years

September 20, 2019 at 3:48 p.m.

A progressive young teacher who played a high-profile role in聽February鈥檚 teacher strike聽will be the new leader of the growing Denver teachers union.

Students at Lumberg Elementary School in Jeffco Public Schools work on their assigned iPads during a class project.

Jeffco back-to-school supplies include buckets, kitty litter for kids to use bathroom during lockdowns

August 21, 2019 at 11:01 a.m.

Beyond the supplies themselves, which she鈥檚 grateful to have, it was the nonchalant way the buckets, kitty litter, and Sharpie marker were handed out during a routine back-to-school training that...

More than twice as many Denver students were handcuffed than district originally reported

August 5, 2019 at 11:08 a.m.

After a family went public this spring with the story of their 7-year-old son being handcuffed at school, the Denver district reported that school safety officers had handcuffed students 58...

Rising third-graders attending Denver Public Schools' "summer academy" stop to inspect a mushroom during a nature walk.

Inside Denver鈥檚 attempt to slow “summer slide” for English language learners and struggling readers

June 30, 2019 at 11:56 a.m.

Denver Public Schools has for decades been under a federal court order to better serve English language learners, and the "summer academy" is part of its strategy to curb the...

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