News Release
February 7, 2007
Good News From MLK Early College's Freshman Class
The inaugural high school Class of 2010 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College has performed brilliantly during the students' first semester as freshmen.
- As of December 2006, 60% of the students have earned their way onto the honor roll.
- 7% on Principal's Honor Roll (4.0)
- 27% on Panther Honor Roll (better than 3.5)
- 25% on General Honor Roll (better than 3.0)
- All students take a rigorous college prep curriculum that includes Algebra, Earth Science, World Geography, and Introduction to Literature and Composition. Students are also enrolled in required graduation electives, including physical education, computer applications, or foreign language.
- DPS benchmark assessments for the freshmen showed a 9% gain in reading and a 14% gain in writing. Students are reading excerpts of Plato and Malcolm X. They are currently reading Frankenstein and will also complete To Kill a Mockingbird and Romeo and Juliet in their entirety.
- The Early College is piloting the new DPS Earth Science curriculum. The freshmen are about 1.5 months ahead of other schools that are piloting the program. The students are handling the 11th grade reading level very well.
- The Early College high school is on track with the district's pacing guide for Algebra I. Student achievement improvements in Algebra range from 10% to 52% gains on seven of the Algebra I power standards.
- The Early College high school is also piloting the new DPS World Geography curriculum for DPS and are on pace with curriculum guide; the students are keeping track with the rigor and constantly improving test taking and literacy skills with each unit. They are improving literacy through daily reading of newspaper and analysis of world events.
- The Early College freshmen are the only high school students in DPS who wear a uniform. As chosen in a student poll in May 2006, the students wear black pants and white or blue collared shirts. On Fridays they wear jeans and gray Class of 2010 shirts.
- The Early College freshmen use school-provided handheld computers (PDAs) to keep track of their assignments. They also utilize flash drives to transport files from school to home. Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College was chosen by the Colorado Department of Education for a recent site visit as part of CDE's audit of DPS educational technology programs.
- During the first semester, the Early College high school has visited Johnson & Wales University, Metropolitan State College, the Community College of Aurora, the Society for Hispanic Engineers' college conference at the University of Colorado at Denver, and the Colorado Convention Center. On February 14th, students will be attending the Minority Engineering Program at the Colorado School of Mines.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College is in its second year of revitalization. The school is undergoing a transformation from a 6th to 8th grade middle school into a 6th to 12th grade early college. Under the leadership of Principal Michael Gaither, the Early College has successfully made dramatic changes in the school culture, with an intense focus on student achievement. When the high school students become juniors and seniors, they will take advantage of the PSEO (Post-Secondary Enrollment Options) funding mechanism to take college courses from the Community College of Aurora, the Early College's academic partner. Website: http://mlk.dpsk12.org.