Supporting Manual Students - Overview
Support for Manual students began immediately following the closure announcement and is ongoing.
- Transportation - All 558 former Manual Students are eligible for a free RTD bus pass to get to their new school. In addition, all former 558 students are eligible to ride a yellow school bus to the following receiving high schools: East, George Washington, Kennedy, North, South or Thomas Jefferson.
- School Champions - Over 115 School Champions have been identified to track the grades and attendance of approximately five students throughout the year. School Champions are volunteers and are being asked to track approximately five students around grades and attendance through the year.
- School Support Teams - Counselors, School Social Workers, School Nurses, SPED Personnel, Administrators and Teachers and School Attendance Review Boards are available through the schools to assist with crisis intervention and identifying essential school and community personnel to address student challenges to educational success.
- Walk and Calling Campaigns - For several months this fall, DPS staff, volunteers, mentors, alums, and other community members supported five call campaigns to Manual students. Calls informed students and families about registration, transportation, and college options. Volunteers and staff have also supported students through an unprecedented eight week door-to-door effort to connect one-on-one with students and families.
- Mentoring - Approximately 274 former Manual students were paired with mentors. Nine area mentoring agencies collaborated in this extraordinary effort to ensure that every student requesting a mentor was paired with a caring adult to support them in their transition. Five mentoring events were held this summer and two were held this fall.
- The Manual Academic Resource Center (MARC) - The MARC exists to support all former Manual students and to coordinate service delivery with tutoring, college counseling, mentoring, and career and job information. Partnerships with community and non-profit agencies such as Family Directions and Lumumba Writing Centers are also supporting students. Such partnerships are supporting over 165 students (nearly all the seniors and many juniors) on college preparation including test prep, applications (including college essays), early admissions, and scholarship information. Also, Monday - Thursday mornings, the MARC provides English classes free of charge for parents and families. Contacts: Dan Reed at Dan_Reed@dpsk12.org / 720-423-6590 or Marge Lentz at marge_lentz@dpsk12.org / 720-423-6591.
- Youth Leadership Team - Former Manual students are providing leadership and initiative around an effort to identify student ambassadors in the large receiving high schools to support, provide recognition of, and involve new Manual students in school activities. Through door-to-door outreach, phone calls, and events, the Manual Youth Leadership Team has contacted nearly all 558 of their peers to offer support, troubleshoot issues, and ensure the school year is off to a good start. This Team is also nearly finished identifying School Ambassadors in the receiving high schools to offer another support network for students. Contact Michael Simmons at 720-423-3763 or Michael_Simmons@dpsk12.org.
- Dropout Prevention/Recovery - One-on-one support and outreach provided to the students most in need of additional help to stay in school. Support staff addresses school barriers and helps students find appropriate educational environments for 50 former Manual students. Contact Steve Dobo, Executive Director of Colorado Youth for a Change at 303-619-5276 or steve.dobo@comcast.net.
Error processing SSI file