New K-8 School For Green Valley Ranch

City and DPS will team up resources for joint community use

The Board of Education this week approved construction of a school in Green Valley Ranch that would allow joint community and student access to the new facility’s recreation center, playing fields, and gymnasium.

In a word: synergy.

The construction will occur under a “design/build” contract with Oakwood Homes in fast-growing far northeast Denver, where enrollment has grown at a fast clip in recent years.

Oakwood Homes will manage construction of the school, gymnasium and recreation center. Mike Langley, Executive Director of Facility Management, said the design and construction will be done to existing district specifications for educational and technology needs.

The idea is for the recreation facilities to be available to the students during the school day and open to the community after the school day ends. Operating agreements are being developed between the district and the city of Denver for the staffing and management of the recreation center.

“ This is something we have never done before, but something that should be done,” said Board of Education President Elaine Gantz Berman.

A target date of August 1, 2004 is being eyed – in time to serve students for the 2004-2005 school year. The school, slated for property on the northeast corner of 48th Ave. and Tower Rd. in an area known as “Town Center,” would serve students from kindergarten through eighth grade. Projected enrollment is 650 to 800 students.

If the district waits to begin work on the school until after the passage of a new general obligation bond in November 2003 – and passage of a bond isn’t guaranteed – the school wouldn’t be ready until 2005.

Oakwood Homes, through its Foundation for Educational Excellence, has offered to pay 27 percent of the first year’s debt service on the Certificates of Participation that the district would issue to raise money for the school’s construction. If the bond is approved, bond funds would repay the certificates. A construction budget of $11.5 million is planned.

The collaboration has projected benefits for the school district, too. Sharing the construction costs for the joint facilities could save DPS, at a minimum, $535,000.

City Councilwoman Happy Haynes, whose district includes Green Valley Ranch, said she and city officials have worked on such “dreams” for nearly a decade. “I think we have before us the best opportunity we’ve ever had to have real cooperative effort,” she said, praising the private sector for its willingness to step forward. The developer, she said, will be extremely vested in the outcome of the project.

Board member Michelle Moss asked Councilwoman Haynes about the city’s commitment to resolve co-management issues and to the city’s long-term support for the project. Haynes reassured the Board that the city hopes the approach serves as a model for future projects.

Kelly Leid, representing Oakwood Homes, predicted that the opportunities for joint use of the new facility would be “quite unlimited.” The entire development will also include a lake, amphitheater, and plaza for events like farmers markets and other uses, he said.

Added Board member Kevin Patterson: “We can really show the citizens what we can do when we work together ... this is a neighborhood that is looking for a center, a heart. This school will be it.”

The vote, taken at Academia Ana Marie Sandoval where the Board was meeting, was unanimous.

 

“Choice” Process Runs Through Friday, January 31

The district’s annual “Choice” process, which allows parents and students to apply for a seat in any neighborhood school in the district on a space-available basis, runs through Friday, Jan. 31.

Parents wanting the best chance to secure a seat in a school outside their neighborhood school boundary should have completed enrollment forms for the 2003-2004 school year returned by that date. “Choice” forms are available at all schools. A lottery will be conducted if there are more applicants than space available in any school.

After Jan. 31, “Choice” forms must be completed at the school of interest and are considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

The “Choice” process differs from the many magnet programs throughout the district. Magnet programs conduct their own admission and application process. Some magnet applications deadlines match the Jan. 31 deadline for the “Choice” process. Other deadlines have already passed for the 2003-2004 school year.

However, several proposals pending before the Denver Board of Education could, if approved, begin with the 2003-2004 school year.

The proposals include a new International Preparatory Magnet (IPM) program at Smiley Middle School (2540 Holly St.); adding high achieving students to the Highly Gifted program at Gust Elementary School (3440 W. Yale Ave.); and adding Carson Elementary School (5420 E. 1st Ave.) to the list of schools serving highly gifted and high achieving students in southeast Denver.

At the Board meeting this week, groups of parents and school staff supporting the proposed changes for Carson and Smiley strongly urged Board support of the plan. Final approval could come at the Board meeting Thursday, Jan. 16.

Under the plan for the Smiley IPM program, students who attend Morey, Cole, Gove, Randolph, King, and Noel middle schools and who successfully apply to the magnet would be eligible for transportation. The program would be modeled after the highly successful IPM at Hamilton Middle School. The Smiley program would begin with sixth-graders in 2003-2004 and expand to about 150 students over the following two years.

At Gust Elementary School, about 25 additional “high achieving” students would be eligible to apply to attend the Highly Gifted program. Gust’s Highly Gifted feeder schools are Barnum, Castro, College View, Doull, Force, Godsman, Goldrick, Grant Ranch, Johnson, Kaiser, Knapp, Munroe, Newlon, Sabin, Schenck, Schmitt, Traylor and Valverde elementary schools. Transportation would be provided under district guidelines.

In the Hilltop neighborhood in east Denver, Carson Elementary School would join Cory Elementary School (1550 S. Steele St.) and Southmoor Elementary School (3755 S. Magnolia Way) as schools serving highly gifted and high achieving students in southeast Denver.

At Southmoor, highly gifted students are served in a self-contained program. At Cory, groups of highly gifted students are placed in classrooms throughout the school. The program at Carson would place highly gifted and high achieving students in up to three designated magnet classrooms.

Another group of schools that provide a variety of choices to parents in Denver are the district’s 10 charter schools and the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning (a school co-managed by four school districts) at 1700 S. Holly St.

Three more charter schools are scheduled to join the DPS charter school family with the 2003-2004 school year.

The three new charters are Northeast Academy (to be located in Montbello), Denver Big Picture High School (scheduled to open at 5900 E. 39th Ave.) and the Life Skills Center of Denver (at an undecided location near central Denver).

For more information about Denver Big Picture High School, call Miguel Bernal or Jeff Parks at the Colorado Children’s Campaign, 303-839-1580, ext. 224; for more about Northeast Academy call Janet Darnell at 303-307-8837; for more about Life Skills Center contact Pierre Jimenez at 303-618-9750.

For more enrollment information, please visit the DPS Today website.

January 19 Fair At The Pepsi Center Will Showcase 200 Metro Denver Schools

The School Fair Jan. 19 at The Pepsi Center will give parents and students the chance to explore more than 200 Metro Denver schools – all at once.

“ This is a community-wide event for parents to find their way through the maze of educational opportunities that are out there,” said fair coordinator Margo Branscomb.

The School Fair will run from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 19. Admission is free; parking at The Pepsi Center is $5.
This fourth-annual event is the largest of its kind anywhere in the country – bringing together public, charter, and private schools under one roof. Last year, more than 8,000 parents attended the event.

Throughout the day, students from schools will perform on a stage at one end of the event, held on the floor of the Pepsi Center.

The event is supported by Denver Public Schools, the Colorado League of Charter Schools, the Piton Foundation, the Lazarus Foundation, and the Seaman Foundation.

For more information, please call Margo Branscomb at 303-770-4717.

 

21st Century Community Learning Grant Application Would Benefit Six Schools

The Board of Education this week approved two grant applications to the Colorado Department of Education to fund a variety of after-school programs at Cole, Lake and Smiley middle schools and Barnum, Harrington and Columbine elementary schools.

Under the 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant, the three middle schools would offer after-school programs for students and working parents.

For all six schools, programs would include research-based activities designed to improve student achievement in literacy and math, enrichment activities including art and music, recreational activities, and programs for adult family members of participating students.

Two of the selected sites, Cole and Lake, are based on the “Beacons” model and are managed by a community-based organization in collaboration with the Department of Community Education (DCE). The Urban League of Metropolitan Denver operates the Cole site; the Lake site is operated by Mi Casa Resource Center for Women.

The third site at Smiley is based on a neighborhood center model and is operated in partnership with Mile High United Way and several community partners.

For the middle schools, $450,000 is being sought the first year and $1.8 million over five years.

At the elementary level, DCE operates the current after-school programs at Barnum, Harrington and Columbine elementary schools. An identical amount to the middle schools – $450,000 the first year, $1.8 million in all – is being sought.

At a minimum, each site would offer after-school programs 15 hours each week during the school year.

 

 

 

 

Denver Public School
Board of Education

Elaine Gantz Berman, President
Lucia Guzman, Vice President
Sue Edwards, Secretary
Kevin Patterson, Treasurer
Michelle Moss, Board Member
James Mejia, Board Member at Large
Les Woodward, Board Member at Large

BoardNews is published after each Board Meeting. For a free subscription contact the DPS Public Information Office 900 Grant St., Room 402, Denver, CO 80203

Phone: 720-423-3414 • TTY/TTD: 720-423-3741 • Fax: 720-423-3413