Fairmont Elementary School Proposes New Dual Language Program

On the heels of the popular Academia Ana Marie Sandoval, where waiting lists are evidence of enthusiasm for the Dual Language model, district staff and Fairmont Elementary School proposed this week adding a new program that would bring students along in two languages as they learn.

At Fairmont (520 W. 3rd Ave.), the Dual Language program would be offered as a school-within-a-school. It would begin with the 2003-2004 school year for 48 students in two kindergarten classrooms. Depending on demand, an Early Childhood Education program might also be offered in 2004-2005. The ECE offering would likely include some tuition.
One grade level per year would be added until an entire “strand” of Dual Language classrooms is established.

“ Initially, literacy instruction will occur in the native language, while literacy in the second language will be incrementally phased in during later years,” said the proposal forwarded to the Board. “By grade four, Spanish speakers in the program will be expected to gain sufficient proficiency in English language literacy to perform well in CSAP (Colorado Student Assessment Program) assessments in English.”

The plan will be formally considered by the Board at the Feb. 20 meeting.

Fairmont principal Melanie Byers told the Board that the Academia Ana Marie Sandoval staff is offering the Fairmont staff the opportunity to participate in graduate level training and ongoing consultation. In fact, six teachers are already enrolled for the January 2003 class.

Byers also told the Board that the Baker neighborhood that her school serves is changing. Since 1998, the school has seen enrollment drop from 632 students to 388 students as the result of less low-income housing and fewer rental properties in the area.

Nonetheless, said Byers, the addition of Dual Language would not disrupt the school’s current offerings. Today, 50 percent of the student population receives Transitional Native Language Instruction (TNLI) consistent with the English Language Acquisition program.

Board member Lucia Guzman praised the Fairmont staff for “embracing” cultural and economic diversity and for offering a model that works. Evidence from Chicago, San Antonio and Denver’s own existing program, said Guzman, show that “these programs offer the greatest hope for our Latino children who speak Spanish.”

New Programs for Smiley, Carson and Gust Approved

Three new choices were added to the district landscape this week as the Board approved a new International Preparatory Magnet for Smiley Middle School and changes to the Highly Gifted program that impact Carson and Gust elementary schools.

Responding to concerns from parents, the approval of the Smiley IPM came with a major modification. Next school year, when sixth-graders only will start the Smiley IPM, those students who reside in the catchment area for Smiley may choose for one year to attend either Smiley or the existing IPM at Hamilton Middle School.

Transportation will be offered to either school under district transportation guidelines. Next year’s sixth-grade, Smiley-area students who opt for Hamilton would be provided with transportation for all three years. Following year students from Smiley would receive transportation to Hamilton only on a space-available basis.

The Smiley IPM is designed to respond to the strong demand created by the Hamilton program. Hamilton’s IPM serves 440 students. Overall enrollment at the school, now at 1,039 students, is capped to neighborhood students because of a lack of capacity.

The new Smiley option, said Superintendent Wartgow, is a product of Hamilton’s success. “Hamilton is an absolutely outstanding school,” he said, adding appreciation for Hamilton’s willingness to help launch a new site at Smiley.

Feeder schools to Smiley (2540 Holly St.) will be Morey, Cole, Gove, Randolph, King and Noel middle schools (as well as Smiley). The program would start for sixth-graders next year when the IPM starts; seventh grade and eighth grade would be added in the following two years.

The Board also approved adding Carson Elementary School (5420 E. 1st Ave.) to the schools serving highly gifted and high achieving students in southeast Denver and expanded the existing highly gifted program at Gust Elementary School (3440 W. Yale Ave.) in southwest Denver to include high achieving students.

Strategic Planning Role Eyed For CDM’s

The CDM Commission, now deep into a discussion and analysis of the future of site-based management in Denver, may recommend that CDM teams focus in the future on strategic planning.

Under a draft “Purpose of CDM” shared with the Board of Education this week, the Collaborative Decision-Making (CDM) teams would focus on the School Improvement Plan as its primary responsibility at the school.

The CDM concept is being re-evaluated as a joint effort of the district and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.

“This moves a CDM into a strategic planning mode within a school and away from day to day operational mode,” said John Leslie, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services. Leslie is the staff representative on the CDM Commission.

Ultimately, any changes in the definition of CDM teams would need to be forwarded for negotiation between the district and the DCTA. Leslie said the CDM could make its recommendations by late February or early March.

Among 15 charges that would be given to CDM in the draft given to the Board, the CDM teams would:

• Use multiple measures and align resources to support the School Improvement Plan (SIP) and the school’s program design.
• Provide guidance, evaluate and approve the school budget to insure its alignment with the SIP and the school’s program design.
• Act as the School Improvement and Accountability Council (SIAC) for the building.

Renewals Underway For Odyssey And Wyatt-Edison Charter Schools

Two charter schools – each in the middle of their fifth year of operation – are applying for renewal of their charter status.

The Board of Education this week listened to summaries of the two renewal applications – one from Odyssey, the other from Wyatt-Edison. Formal approval is scheduled for Feb. 20.

Odyssey Charter School presented a portrait of an academically successful school that enjoys strong parent support.

Odyssey serves 214 students in northeast Denver. The school draws its direction from ten Expeditionary Learning/Outward Bound Design Principles. Those principles are: The Primacy of Self Discovery, The Having of Wonderful Ideas, The Responsibility for Learning, Intimacy and Caring, Success and Failure, Collaboration and Competition, Diversity and Inclusivity, The Natural World, Solitude and Reflection, Service and Compassion.

The curriculum is designed around rigorous, purposeful, project-based learning expeditions tied to Colorado State Standards.

Nelson Chase, Executive Director of Odyssey, told the Board that the school is working to improve from “average” to “high” on the state School Accountability Reports. Chase cited some upbeat trends in achievement, including a jump from 52 percent to 81 percent in third-grade reading proficiency levels.

The school is scheduled to move to the new Stapleton Elementary School with the beginning of the 2003-2004 school year. Odyssey will share space at Stapleton with a new elementary school that will offer the Core Knowledge curriculum.
Wyatt-Edison Charter School is a partnership between Edison Schools’ private, national system and a local community organization. The national Edison design provides a blueprint for the school.

The school draws its direction and strength from Edison Schools’ Ten Fundamental Principles. Those are: Schools organized for every student’s success, a better use of time, a rich and challenging curriculum, teaching methods that motivate, assessments that provide accountability, professional environment for teachers, technology for the information age, partnership with families, schools tailored for the community and the advantage of system and scale.

“I have never been as happy as I’ve been at Wyatt-Edison,” said third-grade teacher Eva Hernandez. “We’re really focused on our students as far as their achievement is concerned. We haven’t lost our arts, we haven’t lost our music program…all the programs that Wyatt Edison offers really help our students achieve.”

Added assistant principal Kathie Garvey: “When I tell people about Wyatt-Edison, I smile…I think about the amazing teachers, our consistent academic growth and our phenomenal students…Our staff is absolutely relentless in the pursuit of student achievement for our kids.”

Board Notes...

In other action this week, the Board of Education:

• Approved a contract that continues the working relationship with the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Learning. The Institute’s Sally Mentor Hay is the district’s Chief Academic Officer.
• Approved a list of recommended Spanish-language textbooks. Wayne Eckerling, Assistant Superintendent for Research, Planning and Special Projects, said the new list means that the district’s Spanish language textbooks are now “parallel in almost every area” with English language textbooks as guidance to schools.
• Approved submission of a $300,000 grant to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The grant would support violence prevention activities through a broad community-based coalition at two middle schools (Noel and Merrill) and two high schools (South and Montbello).
• Recognized five teachers who recently completed the National Board Certification process: Kelly Babcock (Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School), Susan Carey (Abraham Lincoln High School), Robert Katz (Hamilton Middle School) Priscilla Shaw (George Washington High School) and Wendy Ward Hoffer (Odyssey Charter). “We all know that the key to student success is a highly qualified, dedicated and caring teacher in every classroom,” said Human Resources Executive Director Robin Kane, who lauded the five for their hard work at completing the certification process.
  
  
  

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

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