Denver Public Schools

DPS expulsions, suspensions down but racial disparities in discipline remain, report says

Denver Public Schools is expelling and suspending fewer students than in the past, according to a new report by the group Padres y Jovenes Unidos. The number of times students are referred to law enforcement is also decreasing, though the group notes that racial disparities still exist. Black and La ... More >>

It's (still) Too Darn Hot to Learn

North High: Some parents petition against co-location of charter school

North High School has had many struggles. Among them: poor test scores, low enrollment, myriad redesigns and lax oversight of the school's credit recovery program. But a community group called Choose North Now thinks the historic high school is beginning to turn around -- and that co-locating a char ... More >>

Denver Public Schools ready to answer parents' call for healthier food -- in 2015

At a Denver Public Schools event about so-called "health justice" earlier today, Alicia Leon, a Denver single mother of four, said the challenge of living healthily is simple: Processed food is cheap, available, and easy to prepare, while fresh produce and healthy meals are expensive, harder to find ... More >>

When it comes to anti-bullying legislation, Colorado schools are ahead of the pack

Test cheating? DPS asks state to review state test scores at two schools for possible cheating

The Colorado Department of Education is conducting an investigation into possible cheating at two schools in Denver where a review of state test results showed "statistical irregularities," according to a press release just sent out by Denver Public Schools. DPS doesn't identify the schools, but Edu ... More >>

Denver Public Schools vs. the State Board of Education over a Montessori school

Denver Public Schools committee exploring possible bond, mill levy ballot initiatives

Denver Public Schools is exploring whether to ask taxpayers to approve more moolah. The district has convened a giant committee of community members (72 of them!), including some familiar DPS faces, tasked with recommending whether DPS should -- in the face of deep state funding cuts -- ask voters i ... More >>

DPS: 66 percent of nearly 7,000 survey respondents in favor of delayed school start

Flickr​ Earlier this fall, we told you about a parent-led crusade to delay the start of public school in Denver until September to avoid the heat that plagued August. This agitating led to the creation of a task force to survey the community about its start-date preferences. The results are in ... More >>

Life Skills Center: DPS board votes to shutter alternative school, which vows to appeal

​ This year may be the last for the Life Skills Center, a last-chance high school that Westword profiled in 2007. Last night, the Denver Public Schools board voted to shutter the struggling alternative charter school, which had been given a second chance in 2008 after facing the same fate.

DPS: Task force to survey community about whether to delay first day of school to avoid heat

Flickr​ With the temperature dropping outside, it's getting harder to remember when Denver's children were sweltering in their classrooms two months back. But Denver Public Schools hasn't forgotten. In fact, the district has launched a task force whose goal is to survey the community about whe ... More >>

North High credit recovery: Colorado Dept. of Education probe reveals problems with program

After concerns about North High School's credit recovery program were raised in the Westword cover story "Passing on Education," Denver Public Schools asked the Colorado Department of Education to investigate allegations that students were allowed to cheat on online courses. The results of that inve ... More >>

Denver teachers rewrite history -- and their curriculum -- with 13 Colorado biographies

Filter Press​Cat DeRose has lived near Little Raven Street for years, but she has Denver Public Schools' third graders to thank for all that she now knows about its namesake. And later this month, they'll be able to thank her back. DeRose's 23-page book, Little Raven, Chief of the Southern Ar ... More >>

DPS English-language program for parents is back with a goal to reach 5,000 participants

​ Last year, we wrote about a new radio series sponsored by Denver Public Schools to teach English to Spanish-speakers. More than 3,000 tuned in and 220 completed the course. Now it's returning for another year.

Air Force Academy donates jet engine to West High School's aircraft maintenance program

Bigger pic below.​ West High School has a new addition to its airplane hangar. (How many of you knew West even had an airplane hangar?) Yesterday, the U.S. Air Force Academy donated a jet engine to DPS's Aircraft Maintenance Program, which is offered through the Emily Griffith Technical Colleg ... More >>

DPS board to discuss new policy tonight to prevent board members' overspending

Flickr​Denver Public Schools board members -- and their credit cards -- have been making headlines ever since Education News Colorado uncovered that more than one overspent their $5,000 annual budget, with Westword cover subject Andrea Merida leading the pack. This week, the board is poised to ... More >>

DPS: Should district push back first day of school to September to avoid the heat?

Flickr.​ Update below: Today -- gloriously breezy today! -- Denver Public Schools students will finally get a respite from the oppressive heat that has marked the end of August. And since most city schools don't have air-conditioning, many parents and school district officials have been left w ... More >>

North High School renovation ribbon cutting tomorrow, celebration and fun run on Saturday

​ North High School is old school -- 100 years old, to be exact. And to celebrate its century-ness, the northwest Denver community is throwing a birthday party tomorrow that will double as a celebration of the school's $24.7 million makeover -- which includes a complete renovation of the castl ... More >>

Manual High School: DPS has plan to expand once-shuttered school to grades 6 through 12

​ Manual High School, home to super-debaters and Westword cover siblings Teague and Theron Harrison, could expand to include grades 6, 7 and 8. According to Education News Colorado, Denver Public Schools staffers are crafting a plan to grow the once-shuttered, now-reborn school -- and the scho ... More >>

North High: DPS asks Colorado Department of Education to investigate credit recovery

​ Denver Public Schools has asked the Colorado Department of Education to investigate the credit recovery program at North High School, in light of concerns raised in the Westword cover story "Passing on Education," DPS spokesman Mike Vaughn confirms. That move pleased Jennifer Draper Carson, ... More >>

North High: DPS editorial hints at findings of "serious deficiencies" in following procedures

​ "Passing on Education," a recent Westword cover story, questions whether North High students were allowed to cheat in online credit recovery courses designed to help them make up courses they'd failed and ultimately, graduate. Denver Public Schools has now responded with a long editorial pos ... More >>

North High: DPS board member Arturo Jimenez calls for investigation into credit recovery

​ "Passing on Education," this week's cover story, examines rising graduation rates at North High School and questions whether part of the reason is because students were allowed to cheat in online credit recovery courses designed to help them make up classes they'd failed. In the wake of the ... More >>

North High students are graduating at a higher rate thanks to credit recovery, but at what cost?

​North High School has long suffered from abysmal graduation rates -- so, in 2008, Denver Public Schools added credit recovery, which allows students to retake courses online. Since then, grad rates have skyrocketed. But some North teachers wonder whether the gains are legit, and whether credi ... More >>

DPS English-language program: More than 200 Spanish-speaking parents graduate

​Maestro en Casa (Teacher at Home), a Denver Public Schools-funded radio series aimed at teaching English to Spanish-speaking parents, was launched last year. This week, 220 completed the program.

Michael Hancock's Creation Science Fair: Kenny Be's Worst-Case Scenario

​ During a recent mayoral candidate debate, Chris Romer forced Michael Hancock to stumble through a confused admission (and later retraction) for allowing the teaching of creation science and/or intelligent design in public-school classrooms. Perhaps looking at a few DPS Creation Science Fair ... More >>

Dropout rates: Fewer students dropped out of Denver schools last year than did five years ago

​ Good news from Denver Public Schools headquarters: In the past five years, the district's dropout rate has declined 42 percent. In the 2005-06 school year, 11.1 percent of students dropped out. In the 2009-10 school year, 6.4 percent of students dropped out. In real numbers, that means an es ... More >>

Martin Luther King Jr. Marade serves history less clichéd than MLK menu by DPS last year

MLK.​The weather looks promising for this morning's Martin Luther King Jr. Marade -- a march/parade that's the biggest in the nation. But no matter the air temperature, the atmosphere won't be as hot as last year, when the Denver Public Schools had planned a lunch in honor of MLK the Friday be ... More >>

DPS board censure vote: Did Andrea Merida, other members violate open meeting law or not?

​ On Thursday, the seven-member Denver Public Schools board will vote on whether to censure three of its members: Jeannie Kaplan, Arturo Jimenez and Andrea Merida, subject of our recent story "Rule Breaker." But a legal opinion from the district's teachers union says the trio, accused of viola ... More >>

Denver Public Schools Academy of Emergency Preparedness: Kenny Be's Fotochop Friday

Girls are happy to learn how to handle a gun-in-backpack situation.​Denver Public Schools sure have changed. Gone are the neighborhood schools, with their traditional program of teaching the three Rs. Each has been replaced with a shiny new charter school that offers parents a wide array of op ... More >>

Andrea Merida happy her DPS board colleague Jeannie Kaplan "vindicated" by e-mails

Andrea Merida.​SquareState.net has published a chain of e-mails between former DPS superintendent-turned-Senator Michael Bennet, current Denver Public Schools superintendent Tom Boasberg and board members Jeannie Kaplan and Teresa Pena about the DPS pension financing deal that made headlines i ... More >>

Haute lunch ladies: Denver chefs infiltrate Denver Public Schools

​Vegetable cacciatore? Check. Lemon roasted chicken with pesto? Consider it done. While chicken nuggets will likely remain the most popular choice among the elementary school set, cafeteria staff at Denver Public Schools are learning how to prepare finer foods for students who will again fil ... More >>

DPS hopes to boost grad rate by expanding high school sports with help of $3 million donation

A Flickr photo.DPS figures more of this = more high school grads​In an effort to boost its lower-than-they'd-like graduation rate, Denver Public Schools plan to invest $4.8 million -- plus $3 million more from secret donors -- over the next three years to expand access to high school sports by ... More >>

Denver Public Schools bans travel to Arizona over immigration law

Tom Boasberg: Gettin' political.​Mayor John Hickenlooper may not be into talking about the Arizona immigration law that potential gubernatorial-election opponent Scott McInnis thinks is so nifty -- but Tom Boasberg, superintendent of Denver Public Schools, is not nearly so reticent. At 1:45 p ... More >>

DPS superintendent wants to hear parents' feedback

Boasberg wants parents to talk to him.​ Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg wants to hear from parents. Next month, he's launching the Superintendent's Parents Forum, an every-other-month gathering between district officials and a group consisting of two parents from each DPS sch ... More >>

Superintendent Tom Boasberg: DPS doing a better job of keeping its kids

Tom Boasberg has got DPS' numbers.​More kids are enrolled in Colorado schools than ever before: 832,368 to be exact, according to numbers released this week by the state Department of Education. And Denver Public Schools is contributing heavily to that growth. The city's enrollment is up 4,493 ... More >>

P.S. 1 didn't make the grade, but can anything replace Denver's longest-running charter school?

MLK Day menu at Denver Public Schools proof school lunches are offensive

Cultural imperialists!​No one doubts that lunch room food is offensive. And while I have nothing but respect for lunch ladies -- they prepare, cook and serve thousands of meals a day to kids who take tater tots for granted (damn cholesterol!) -- the fare itself is, well, just like when you we ... More >>

Read the reports that helped seal P.S. 1 Charter School's fate

P.S. 1 Charter School is in the Golden Triangle neighborhood​The evidence against P.S. 1 Charter School, the subject of this week's feature, "P.S. 1 Didn't Make the Grade, But Can Anything Replace Denver's Longest-running Charter School?," is harsh. Several reports from Denver Public Schools o ... More >>

Wake-Up Call: North High gets a good grade

​Give North High School extra credit for its graduation rate, which increased 12.1 percent in 2009 -- compared to the overall Denver Public Schools increase of 3.2 percent, up to a sad 52.7 percent of high school students graduating on time this past year. I came down hard on Ed Salem, North' ... More >>

Last night's DPS board meeting was full of fireworks, spectators and big decisions

Maybe the Denver Public Schools board should have taken a cue from the smiling children in this DPS promo photo.​Last night's Denver Public Schools board meeting had its fair share of hateration. And plenty of people turned out to witness it. By 4:25 p.m., signs on the boardroom door at the ... More >>

Do Denver Public Schools' turnaround plans deserve an A?

Students at Denver Big Picture High School are part of DPS' big picture.​Denver Public Schools officials have suggested a series of plans to "turn around" the city's six lowest-performing schools. But before they approve the changes, they want to hear from the public. The Board of Education ... More >>

Denver Public Schools is bugging out over vermin

The dollars and cents of Michael Bennet's Senate appointment

More envy than pity has accompanied Bill Ritter's appointment of Denver Public Schools' Michael Bennet to fill Ken Salazar's soon-to-be-vacated U.S. Senate seat. But the folks at Face the State have found a reason to feel sorry for the rising political star: He'll be making less money in his new job ... More >>

KUVO and Denver Public Schools want to give students all that jazz

Last Chance for Life Skills

Back to School

Off Limits

Whatever Floats Your Boat

The Message

Teaming Up

What's So Funny

What's So Funny