News Release
August 12, 2004
Mayor, Superintendent Pair Up For School Visits On Opening Day - Monday, Aug. 16
Mayor John Hickenlooper and Superintendent Jerry Wartgow will welcome students back to school on opening day for Denver Public Schools - Monday, Aug. 16. In addition, officers from the Denver Police Department will be on hand at all elementary schools to meet and greet students as they arrive for school.
The first day of school for early childhood education, elementary, sixth-grade and ninth-grade students is Monday, Aug. 16. The next day -Tuesday, Aug. 17 - is the first day of school for all other middle and high school students.
Opening Day School Visits
Superintendent Wartgow will arrive by yellow bus at 8 a.m. Monday, Aug. 16 at Steck Elementary School (425 Ash St.). Mayor Hickenlooper will join Superintendent Wartgow at the elementary school. The two will visit Cole Middle School at 9 a.m. (3240 Humboldt St.).
Following the first two school visits with the Mayor, Superintendent Wartgow will visit Montclair Elementary School at 10:15 a.m. (1151 Newport St.); Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School at 11:30 a.m. (19535 E. 46th Ave.); and Montbello High School at 12:45 p.m. (5000 Crown Blvd.).
No Empty Seats On Opening Day
Mayor Hickenlooper and Superintendent Wartgow have been promoting the importance of students not missing any school days or class time. At last week's news conference at Coors Field, Superintendent Wartgow said, "Right now, there are over 50,000 empty seats in this stadium. There are enough students in Denver Public Schools to fill this stadium one and a half times. We dont want to see any empty seats on opening day in Denver Public Schools."
To help improve achievement for all students, Denver Public Schools is asking the community to help get all students to school from the first day forward. Last year, almost 3,000 students registered for school in the first six weeks after opening day.
"We've set high expectations for all of us - students, parents, staff and the community - to improve the performance of all students and close achievement gaps," said Superintendent Wartgow. "We can't work toward those goals if students aren't in school."
New and returning students should register with their school. Students enrolling for the first time in Denver Public Schools will need to bring: verification of the childs date of birth (birth certificate or other documentation); immunization records; proof of home address (something mailed to the home address, such as a utility bill or copy of a lease); and the name and address of the previous school (if the student is transferring from another school district).
High School Transportation
New this year, Denver's high school students will ride RTD instead of DPS yellow buses to school. High school students who are eligible for transportation must have a DPS-RTD student pass to ride a bus to school. Eligible students may pick up a free DPS-RTD student bus pass at their high school before school starts.
In March, the Denver Board of Education unanimously voted to replace traditional DPS yellow buses for high school students with RTD service and extend the high school day. By not relying on the inflexible schedules of yellow buses, high schools can offer more educational choices to students by keeping the 7:30 a.m. start time and staying open later.
Continuous Year Schools
Classes started on Monday, July 26 for 19 continuous year schools in Denver - Amesse, Barrett, Cheltenham, Colfax, Columbian, Del Pueblo, Eagleton, Fairmont, Ford, Harrington, Johnson, Maxwell, McGlone, Mitchell, Smedley, Smith, Valdez and Wyman elementary schools and Bryant-Webster K-8 School (eighth-grade will be added in August 2005).
For more information, contact the DPS Communications Office at 720-423-3414.