The Northwest Denver Education Collaborative is inviting parents, students and community members to share their “dreams and visions” for the future of schools in north Denver, particularly those that feed into North High School.

“If you could create an ideal school, what would it look like?” is the question across the top of a paper placemat being widely distributed throughout north Denver. The questionnaire (in English and Spanish) offers community members a chance to describe their ideal school and to identify what is happening now to move schools toward that ideal vision.

The process is called a “Community Café” and is the first step in an eight-month process that is designed to build the base for significant changes and improvements for education in northwest Denver.

The responses to the surveys will be played back at a Community- In-Gathering meeting from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Nov. 8 at North High School (2960 N. Speer Blvd.).

The Northwest Denver Education Collaborative is made up of six organizations that are all working to improve public education in the area. These groups include Earthforce, Northwest Coalition for Better Schools, Padres Unidos, Youth as School and Community Organizers (YASCO), and Denver Public Schools. The collaborative is facilitated by Regis University’s Institute on the Common Good. For a copy of the placemat / questionnaire contact the Northwest Denver Education Collaborative c/o YASCO, 2120 West 33rd Ave., Denver, CO 80211 or contact Northwest Area Superintendent’s office, c/o Academia Ana Marie Sandoval, 3655 Wyandot St., Denver, CO 80211. (Telephone: 303-855-7868)