Superintendent Jerry Wartgow announced today the appointment of Darlene LeDoux as Assistant Superintendent - School / Community Partnerships, a new position charged with engaging parents, business and the broader community in a collaborative effort to improve student performance.

Assistant Superintendent LeDoux will coordinate the efforts of several departments, including Community Relations, Grants, Community Use, and Enterprise Activities. Darlene LeDoux is a former principal in Denver Public Schools and for the past seven years has worked as the Director of Human Resources in Cherry Creek Schools. She will begin February 1.

"Darlene LeDoux brings a wealth of experience to Denver Public Schools," said Wartgow. "She also brings keen knowledge about our community and she is aware of the many individuals, businesses and community organizations that are eager to assist DPS. We need to organize and focus the energy that's out there and this new position will help us do that in a way that makes the best sense for our bottom line and that's student achievement."

Superintendent Wartgow said the new position would also provide leadership in a key district strategy - to create a culture in which the district is recognized as an innovative, responsive, and user-friendly organization. An "informal inventory" of existing partnerships, said Wartgow, revealed a conservative estimate of 250 organizations and community groups that are providing services and volunteer activities in schools today.

The Assistant Superintendent - School/Community Partnerships will report to the Superintendent. The position will be funded through the vacant Grants Coordinator position and part of an existing vacancy for a district-wide staff development coordinator.

"When I first announced staff reorganization last June, I indicated that the final arrangement for managing our external affairs had not yet been settled," said Wartgow. "This announcement should not be interpreted in any fashion as a reflection on the quality of work being done in any existing office. It only reflects the fact that I believe we need to take a systematic, cohesive approach in all of our outreach efforts."

Darlene LeDoux began her career as an elementary school teacher in Brighton, Colorado in 1978. She has served as a bilingual resource teacher in DPS (1980-1983), a teacher on special assignment in bilingual and ESL education (1983-1984), an instructional consultant in bilingual and ESL education (1984-1986), and as principals of Del Pueblo, Barrett, and Cheltenham elementary schools (1986-1991) in Denver. She served as principal of Holly Ridge Primary and Holly Hills Elementary Schools in Cherry Creek Schools from 1991 to 1994 before accepting the position of Director of Human Resources in CCS.