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Board of Education Update – November 12, 2018 Work Session

Applicants for the Greater Park Hill Stapleton Middle School Present; Staff Shares Recommendations on Quality Review

At the November 12, 2018 Work Session, the Denver Board of Education heard presentations on the 2018 Supplemental Call for New Quality Schools (known as the Call), the process through which DPS will select a new middle school for the Greater Park Hill Stapleton area.

As part of the Call process, the board first determines if each new school applicant meets the district’s quality bar. Applicants approved by the board will then go through a community matching process to determine which new school is the best fit for this particular community and district need.

The three applicants for this Call include Beacon Network Schools, Denver Green School – Northfield and High Tech ECE-8 School. Both Denver Green School – Northfield and High Tech ECE-8 School presented about their school applicationsat the work session. As Beacon’s new school application was reviewed and approved for quality through the spring 2018 Call, they did not present,  though they participated in the community feedback component of this fall’s quality process.

Staff presented their recommendations to the board on whether the two new applications met the district’s standards for quality and should move forward in the community matching process. The full presentation, including an overview of the decision making process and framework, is available here.

The District Accountability Committee (DAC) also made recommendations about the quality of the new applicants here.

The complete 2018 Supplemental Call document, application resources and more information about the process are available here.

Under state statute, DPS is required to accept applications for new charter schools every year, and DPS uses the Call to extend the same opportunity to district-run schools and to make clear the rigorous, transparent quality review process to evaluate the quality of applications regardless of governance type.

Staff Recommendations for Charter Renewals

District staff made recommendations to the board for 17 schools’ charter renewals. The full presentation, including an overview of the process and decision-making framework, is available here. These are the renewal recommendations by region (with contract extensions for meeting performance conditions):

Far Northeast:

  • DSST Green Valley Ranch — 5-year renewal
  • KIPP NE Leadership Academy High School — 3-year renewal with opportunity for 2-year extension
  • KIPP NE Elementary — 2-year renewal with opportunity for 3-year extension
  • KIPP NE Middle School — 2-year renewal with opportunity for 2-year extension
  • Monarch Montessori — 1-year renewal with opportunity for 2-year extension

Near Northeast:

  • Rocky Mountain Prep Creekside — 5-year renewal
  • Roots Elementary — 1-year renewal with opportunity for 1-year extension

Southwest:

  • DSST College View HS — 3-year renewal with opportunity for 2-year extension
  • Rocky Mountain Prep Southwest — 2-year renewal with opportunity for 3-year extension
  • STRIVE Prep – Federal — 5-year renewal
  • STRIVE Prep – SMART — 1-year renewal with opportunity for 2-year extension

Northwest:

  • Academy of Urban Learning – 1-year renewal with opportunity for 1-year extension

Southeast and Central:

  • Denver Justice High School — 2-year renewal with opportunity for 1-year extension
  • Downtown Denver Expeditionary School — 2-year renewal with opportunity for 2-year extension
  • REACH — 2-year renewal with opportunity for 1-year extension
  • RISE UP — 1-year renewal
  • Wyatt Academy — 2-year renewal with opportunity for 2-year extension

The District Accountability Committee (DAC) also made recommendations for charter renewals here.

The board will vote on charter recommendations after public comment at its meeting Thursday, Nov. 15.

DPS Celebrates Veterans Day 

Each Veterans Day, school communities and students throughout DPS honor our service men and women, learning about their many contributions to our great democracy.

“We celebrate Veteran’s Day each year as a time to be dedicated to the cause of world peace. Today, we thank all of our veterans for serving and giving to make our country free, peaceful and strong,” said Board Member Lisa Flores.