Author: Yesenia Robles
-
Colorado school case study highlights need for collaboration in turnaround work
When Centennial Elementary in Greeley was facing state intervention in 2016, Superintendent Deirdre Pilch, who was new at the time, decided to try something different. She surprised then-Principal Anthony Asmus by letting him decide how he wanted to turn things around at the school. “She backed us up,” recalled Asmus. “We had the choice for…
-
DPS enrollment dips, mirroring statewide drop in students
Enrollment in Denver Public Schools — Colorado’s largest school district — slightly dipped this school year, mirroring a statewide downward trend that began just after the pandemic upended people’s lives. DPS lost just over a thousand students, a change of 1.15% from the last school year, according to data from the Colorado Department of Education. Colorado…
-
New Colorado State Board of Education blocks a charter appeal against Adams 14
The State Board of Education voted 5-3 Thursday to deny an appeal from a charter school seeking to open a new high school in Adams 14. The Adams 14 school board had denied the application from Be the Change Community School for a high school with biliteracy and project-based learning in November. This was the…
-
Where are the kids? Colorado school enrollment trends shed light on closure discussions
As three large metro area school districts grapple with school closures due to declining enrollment, a common question looms: Where did all the children go? To help answer that question, Chalkbeat looked at school enrollment data, county birth rate data and U.S. census data showing the number of children under 18 living in each school…
-
Five takeaways from Jefferson County schools data
More than half of Jeffco elementary schools are losing students, a change that’s leading to higher costs to educate those who remain and forcing schools to combine classrooms and make other compromises. That’s according to school-level data published by Jeffco Public Schools as board members kick off a conversation about one of the hardest decisions…
-
Chasing progress: Colorado Hispanic high school graduation rate shows marked upswing
When Rosa Beltran was going through high school in the late 1990s in a small town in southern Colorado, she never expected to graduate. “My parents were very concerned about just working and trying to put food on the table. I don’t think I ever had that support from the school, either,” Beltran said about…
-
Colorado schools got more money for English learners, but where is it going?
New staff, extra training for teachers, and some money going directly to schools. Those are some of the things some Colorado districts have planned with new state money intended to better serve students who are learning English. But other districts that also received those funds and that serve tens of thousands of English learners are…
-
Adams 14 loses accreditation, State Board orders new negotiations
Adams 14 has become the first district in Colorado to lose its accreditation, after failing to reconcile with the private company managing its affairs. On Monday, the State Board of Education gave the district three days to regain its status, while scolding both district and company leaders for fighting over “adult issues.” The district lost…
-
State orders Adams 14 to allow management company back in schools — at least for now
Colorado officials on Thursday ordered the Adams 14 school district to allow its outside management company to return to district schools and offices by Sept. 27 or immediately lose its accreditation. The Adams 14 district north of Denver is the only district in the state to be ordered to hand over its authority to an…
-
As employers and universities adopt vaccine mandates, Colorado school districts mostly quiet
As more employers across Colorado require workers to be vaccinated against COVID, school districts seem to be in no hurry to mandate vaccines for teachers and other staff. One local district, the Aurora Public Schools, announced as far back as May that it planned to require the vaccine for employees as soon as it received…