News Release
April 18, 2006
Manual High School Students Land First Choice Options For 2006-2007
All Manual High School students can be accommodated in their first choice option for the 2006-2007 school year and 98 percent of the students have had their requests confirmed, Brad Jupp, senior academic policy advisor, announced today.
Another 10 applications are still in process because they are missing a parent signature, a correct home address or other necessary details.
"All of the students have been granted their first choice," said Jupp. "Nobody has been turned away from their first choice school and all had access to a higher-performing school." The district is working with the group of eighth grade students who would have formed next year's ninth-grade class at Manual so they will know by mid-May which school they will attend in August, 2006.
South High School will receive the largest number of Manual students, 151. East High School is receiving 93, George Washington High School 66, North High School 62, and Thomas Jefferson 55. Only 11 students report that they will leave DPS.
"We know from student and teacher reports, that the high numbers at South and TJ are partly because students are following teachers," Jupp said. "This was something we were trying to accomplish."
Over 300 Manual students have requested a mentor to assist with the transition to their new school and a mentor is being identified for each student.
The Board of Education voted Feb. 16 to close Manual High School (1700 E. 28th Ave.) for one year and reopen the school with freshmen only in the fall of 2007. Grades 10, 11 and 12 will be added one year at a time. The decision was based on declining academic performance, enrollment and resources for students.
Manual's student enrollment has declined since 2002 by nearly 50 percent and 54 percent of children from the attendance zone are choosing a school other than Manual. The Manual complex - which has included three, small high schools in one building for the last five years - has the lowest rated high school in DPS and among the lowest in the entire state
For more information, contact the DPS Communications Office at 720-423-3414.