DPS approves 8 new schools | Schools

Denver – After DPS issued its annual Call for Quality Schools earlier this year, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education has approved eight new schools to open in the fall of 2013, half of which will be district-run and half of which will be charter.

DPS presented the new-school recommendations to the Board of Education at its June 7 work session. (View full presentation of school recommendations). After hearing public comment on June 14, the Board voted in favor of the recommendations at last Thursday’s meeting.

“I am pleased to see a group of such talented, experienced educators who are offering these strong school models to our community. The fact that we received so many strong applications from local teams of educators and from proven leaders speaks to the district’s national reputation and to the outreach that we do to bring high-quality new schools to our communities,” said DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg. “We believe that these teams of educators will create new programs that broaden and strengthen the educational opportunities available to our students in neighborhoods all across Denver.”

The Board of Education approved the opening of the following schools in the fall of2013:

District-Run Performance Schools:

• Compassion Road Academy, to open in Near Northeast Denver and serve high school-aged students who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out.
• Denver Center for International Studies at Fairmont, to replace the existing Fairmont Elementary program and serve students in preschool through fifth grade.
• Denver Public Montessori Secondary School (DPMSS), to share a campus with Gilpin Montessori Public School in Near Northeast Denver. DPMSS will serve students in grades 6-12 for the first two years and grades 7-12 thereafter.
• Excel Academy, to open in Southwest Denver and serve high school-aged students who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out.

Charter Schools:

• Academy 360, to open in Far Northeast Denver and serve preschool through fifth grade.
• Downtown Denver Expeditionary School, to open in downtown Denver and serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
• Highline Academy, to open in Near Northeast or Far Northeast Denver and serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
• West Denver Prep High School, to open in Northwest Denver and serve up to 500 students.

Other previously approved schools slated to open in the fall of 2013 are Miller-McCoy Academy, an all-boys schools to serve grades 6-12 in Far Northeast Denver; and Denver School of Science and Technology at Byers, to serve grades 6-12 in Southeast Denver.

In addition to the approval of school openings, the Board of Education voted to approve a compromise resolution to allow for greater community discussion regarding the location of West Denver Prep High School in Northwest Denver. This will be the second high school in the West Denver Prep network; the first is located in Southwest Denver. Under the approved resolution, a committee of parents and school leaders will convene to discuss location options. They will then present the options to the Board of Education by September. The resolution specifies that, if no better option is found, West Denver Prep High School will locate in the 1913 building at North, currently being utilized by West Denver Prep Highlands middle school. That middle school would move to the vacant Remington building in the fall of 2013.

The Board of Education also granted conditional approval of a grade configuration change for Manual High School. Manual will serve grades 6-12 beginning in the fall of 2014.

Press Release