Superintendent Jerry Wartgow announced today that Northeast Area Superintendent Nancy Sutton has accepted the position of Director of the Small High Schools Network at the Colorado Children's Campaign (CCC) effective August 1, 2002. Sutton, who has been with the district for six years, will be working with high schools across Colorado and the nation interested in turning into small learning communities.

"This, as many of you know, is my passion," said Sutton. "I have decided to accept this offer, which comes at a time when I've completed what I set out to do at Manual."

The Manual High School Educational complex was recently redesigned from one large high school to three separate high schools under the leadership of Sutton and other district staff.

The Colorado Children's Campaign Small Schools Networks supports large urban schools and school districts in creating small, high-performing high schools. Funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the project will support the development of 14 schools across Colorado over the next five years.

"We're excited to share Nancy's experience working in large urban districts and her expertise on high school redesign efforts with other schools across the state," said CCC Vice President for Education Initiatives Van Schoales. "Nancy's commitment to creating high quality learning environments is a perfect fit with CCC's mission."

"Nancy has been a tremendous asset to our district," said Superintendent Jerry Wartgow. "She's a visionary leader with the initiative and the courage to make reform happen. We can all learn from her efforts at Manual High School. And while her creativity and willingness to try new things will be greatly missed by DPS, I am pleased that her talents will be available to a greater range of schools."

For more information, please contact Heidi Hattenbach from the Colorado Children's Campaign at 303-839-1580 x226.