Announcements

The Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education approved opening seven new schools, the phase-out of the current Rishel Middle School program and the sharing of four existing facilities with new schools starting next school year. Oprima aqui para el español.

 

 

 

Resources

>>Presentation on Recommendations >>Presentation to West High School >>Presentation to Smiley Middle School  >>Presentation to Rishel Middle School >>Presentation on campus sharing

>>Frequently Asked Questions >>Letter to Rishel parents >>Letter to West parents >>Letter to Smiley parents >> Policy FN - Campus Sharing

DPS adds seven new schools to portfolio  

Six charter schools and one innovation school were approved as part of the district's effort to introduce high performing school options through the request for proposal process run by the district's New Schools Office.

Schools approved in November 2008

School	Grades	Category	Open
KIPP Denver Collegiate High School	9-12	Charter	2009-2010
Justice High School Denver	7-12	Charter	2009-2010
Cesar Chavez Academy Denver	K-8	Charter	2009-2010
EdisonLearning School 3	6-8	Charter	2009-2010
Math & Science Leadership Academy	K-5	Innovation	2009-2010

 Schools approved in June 2008

School	Grades	Category	Open
Envision Leadership Prep	6-12	Charter	2009-2010
West Denver Prep II	6-8	Charter	2009-2010

 

Existing Rishel program to phase-out beginning next school year

The Board of Education voted to phase-out the current Rishel Middle School program by the 2010- 2011 school year. Sixth and seventh grade students currently enrolled at Rishel will be able to continue at Rishel through their eighth grade year, however Rishel will not take a new sixth grade class in the 2009-2010 school year. Incoming sixth graders will be assigned to Grant, Kepner and Lake schools.

Rishel Middle School has struggled academically over the last several years. The school received a rating of Accredited on Probation, the district's lowest rating, as part of the robust School Performance Framework introduced this year by the district, which is heavily weighted to emphasize student achievement and measure academic growth over time. Rishel has also seen a steep drop in student enrollment over the years and currently occupies only 43% of the space available in the building.

Smiley, West, Rishel and Kunsmiller to become shared campuses next year 

Denver Public Schools has a new shared campus board policy (FN), which specifies the principles that will guide the creation and operation of shared campuses in the district.  Starting next school year, the following buildings will be shared campuses:

Shared Campus	Schools
Rishel Campus	KIPP Denver Collegiate High School (9-12); Math & Science Leadership Academy (K-5); and current Rishel Middle School program (7-8), which will start to phase-out starting next year
West Campus	West High School (9-12) and EdisonLearning School 3 (6-8)
Kunsmiller Campus	Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy (K-12) and West Denver Prep II (6-8), a charter school approved in June 2008
Smiley Campus	Smiley Middle School International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (6-8) and Envision Leadership Prep (6-12), a charter school approved in June 2008