One of the most valued sections on our blog has been the School Scoop posts, a place where we’ve profiled a number of schools within Denver. These profiles include some general data along with more in depth research we learned when visiting the school. We’ve included our impressions of a school based on a tour or open house we attended and sometimes speaking to administration and parent representatives.

It has been interesting, and exhausting, making these visits with the purpose of giving our readers a viewpoint they might not be able to get otherwise. Although we’d love to continue, the two of us simply cannot cover all of the schools in Denver ourselves. We brainstormed ways in which to keep this section of the blog alive and have come up with a new format.

The new format will be a school profile written by a parent. We will be contacting schools, friends and acquaintances to find parents who are able to take a little time out of their schedule to share (or brag) about what makes their school special and to give our readers a better sense of why you might want to send your child there. We are looking for parents whose children have attended the school for more than a few years and have a good overall understanding of the school culture.

The end of the 2012 school year is upon us but our hope is to post a couple of these a month. If you are interested in doing a profile for your child’s school, please email us (jennandkerri@scooptoo.com) so we can send you the profile questionnaire.

In addition, if you have further questions about schools, educational philosophies, or if you’re overwhelmed by the many school options available, be sure to visit here to learn about the Educational Consulting packages offered by Kerri.

Thank you!

Coleen Bennett, a mom from California wrote this guest post on how to plan for summer camps. Since it’s that time of year, we felt as though our readers might appreciate some of her suggestions. 

What are your kids doing this summer? A lot of kids go to the same childcare programs in the summer that they attend during the school year. Many year-round programs add activities and field trips to keep kids busy all day. There are a lot of good things about this plan, but let me suggest something different.

During the summer, opportunities for kids to learn and have fun explode! Many city recreation departments and businesses that offer some kind of children’s activity year round offer enhanced full-day programs during the summer. Kids can spend a week riding horses, doing gross science experiments or expressing their creativity. Summer camps available in the Denver area are just about as varied as the kids who attend them.

Since most camps enroll kids for one week at a time, I recommend signing for several different camps over the course of the summer. Your child will never get bored and they’ll have plenty to write about for the inevitable What I Did Over Summer Vacation essay in September.

This plan isn’t for everyone. Kids who are young, shy or just don’t like too much change might be happier picking one summer program and sticking with it. Those who are up for a summer full of adventure, however, can have the time of their lives.

How To Do It:

First you need to brainstorm possibilities. Take a look below for types of day camps or go to this link  for ideas. Decide if there’s anything you, as a parent, want your child to do. Maybe they could use some help with math or you want to make sure they brush up on their swimming skills. It’ll be a lot easier to get your kids to attend the camp you want them to participate in if they can pick camps for different weeks. Decide how far you’re willing to drive and how much you’re willing to pay. Then make up a list of summer camps and available weeks.

Now get your kids involved. Explain that they get to sign up for one camp each week and show them the choices. Let them pick some camps that interest them. If you have more than one child, they may need to decide together to limit your driving.

Put it all on a calendar and make your reservations. Some camps are only available for one or two weeks each summer, so start with those. Some camps have different themes each week. For example, a science camp might offer explosive chemistry experiments one week and study bugs another week. Camps that go on field trips may publish their schedule ahead of time, allowing you to select the week you want. What kinds of summer day camps are available? All kinds. Here are some ideas to get things rolling.

Sports Camps:

Any sport that your child participates in during the school year or wants to try certainly is available as a summer camp. Some organizations offer multi-sport camps where kids can try out a variety of sports. If your child loves a particular sport, this is a great chance to get extra practice and coaching.

Outdoor Camps:

The great outdoors is a wonderful place to play. There are camps for kids who like to hike, ride horses, sail or learn about the natural environment. The Denver Zoo even offers a summer camp program for animal lovers! Boy scout, girl scouts and other clubs offer summer camps that might include things like archery, swimming and nature walks.

Vacation Bible Schools and Faith Based Camps:

If your place of worship doesn’t offer a summer camp program, don’t worry. You’re sure to find a camp that’s perfect for your child. Many of these take place only one week out of the summer, so be sure to pencil this into your calendar early.

Creative Camps:

Does your child love to draw, work with clay or make movies? Have they always wanted to dance or act on stage? What about being in a rock band, making gourmet food, or designing fashionable clothes? The possibilities are endless.

Educational Camps:

Science catches the interest of lots of kids. Of course it’s such a wide field that you’ll need to zero in on the week about space, physics or robotics. Some camps even focus on computer programming! Summer is a great time to learn a foreign language or brush up on reading or math. Think about what you wish your child’s school spent more time on. Now your child has the time for it!

Field Trip Camps:

Camps that take kids on different field trips every week are often the most popular. You’ll find them at local schools, city recreation departments and the local YMCA. Who doesn’t want to spend time with their friends going to amusement parks, the movies and video arcades?

It’s probably a good idea to leave one or two weeks open near the end of the summer so kids can go for a second week of a camp they really enjoyed. Whatever you and your child choose, they’re sure to have a summer they’ll never forget.

About the Author:

Coleen Bennett is the mother of three teenagers in Southern California. After years of trying to find activities for her own kids, she put together an online directory to help other local parents.

I recently visited St. Elizabeth’s School in Denver and was very impressed with what this small school has to offer. This private, independent, Episcopal school opened in 2007 in northeast Denver. The mission of this school is to provide a high quality education to students of all socioeconomic backgrounds creating a true community. 

If you are a family looking for a small (one classroom per grade level), diverse (sliding-scale tuition), faith-based, nurturing and safe environment with high quality academics and an emphasis on the arts, you may want to consider St. Elizabeth’s. For those of you researching your middle school options, St. Elizabeth’s will be opening a middle school in the fall of 2013. The school will be relocating this summer to a new building at 2350 Gaylord Street. Please read the press release below from their Head of School, Walter McCoy.  

PRESS RELEASE

APRIL 2, 2012

St. Elizabeth’s School on the Move

St. Elizabeth’s School, one of only two Episcopal schools in Colorado, announced that it is moving from its current location on the Clayton Early Learning Campus to Loyola Square, located at 2350 Gaylord St.  The school building is easily viewed from York St. between E. 23^rd and E. 24^th Avenues. This announcement comes on the heels of the news that the school’s Board of Trustees reached a unanimous decision in January to add a middle school to their existing K-5 elementary school, a decision met enthusiastically by its current and prospective families.  The move to Loyola will be completed in time for the 2012-13 school year.

Head of School, Walter McCoy, states, “We are excited for the opportunities this move provides for our current and future families as we advance to fifth grade next year and add one grade at a time.  The Loyola building is strategically located to serve our mission and has nine large classrooms and spaces to accommodate physical education, chapel, music, art, faith studies, and Spanish classes and houses a large library.  We are delighted to partner with the St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church to continue our mission of offering excellent academic opportunities to an inclusively enrolled community.”  The Jesuit oriented Cassin Foundation provided generous funding for St. Elizabeth’s during the early start-up years.

Fr. Tom Cwik, S.J., Pastor of the Jesuit church states, “We are very excited to welcome St. Elizabeth’s School.  Providing high quality, faith-based education has always been an important ministry of St. Ignatius Loyola parish and the Jesuits.  Collaboration with others in ministry has increasingly become a focus of discussion in Jesuit circles.  This partnership with St. Elizabeth’s allows for resurrection of a traditional parish ministry and for greater ecumenical collaboration.” 

St Elizabeth’s School opened in 2007 with one small kindergarten class and has grown steadily.  In 2010 a 5280 Magazine panel of experts recognized St. Elizabeth’s School as one of Denver’s “Best Private Elementary Schools,” quite an accomplishment in three years.  The school’s mission states that it provides an unparalleled educational environment that fosters academic, social, artistic, and spiritual growth for an inclusive and diverse school community.  Essential to this policy is the Family Commitment Plan, which is based upon a sliding-scale tuition system that eliminates the categories of “scholarship” or “financial aid,” and is designed to determine each student’s tuition according to the principle that a family’s financial investment should be equitable to its financial resources.

For more information, call 303-322-4209, visit www.stelizabethsdenver.org, or contact:

Melanie Withers, Marketing Director at Monarch Montessori, recently sent us this important announcement (see press release below). Currently, Monarch Montessori is a privately run school providing an authentic Montessori approach for children ages 6 weeks through 5 years old.

This fall, they will open their doors as a tuition free DPS charter school for Kindergarten- second grade students. Their goal is to grow a grade each year until grade five so eventually they will be a Kindergarten-5th grade charter school. This will make Monarch Montessori the first Montessori DPS charter school. Recently, Jenn and I visited the school that is currently located in the former Samsonite Building at 11200 E. 45th Avenue in Denver. We met several passionate staff members while observing happy and engaged children learning in their creative environment. This school would be a good option for families residing in the Northeast area of Denver or for families who value a Montessori education for their children. To learn more about their Montessori program, visit their website here !

Press Release:

Monarch Montessori of Denver Charter is PROUD to officially announce the opening of a FREE lower elementary school of choice August 14, 2012 through Denver Public Schools.  We will be opening with 170 students in Kindergarten, 1^st and 2^nd grades with a school day from 8:00 am to 4:15 pm.  We are accepting “Intent to Enroll” forms (found on our website) until April 16^th and will run a lottery on April 17^th.  After the lottery, we will fill in empty spaces first come first serve until all spaces are filled. We have received the first tier of the Walton grant and have been invited to interview for tier two on March 21^st.  Funding at this tier is $220,000.  These funds will be used for opening the school.

Timeline for admission into Monarch Montessori of Denver Charter Grades K-2nd:

• ·        Accepting “Intent to Enroll” forms – April 16th
• ·        Run Lottery – April 17th
• ·        Receive Letter of Acceptance – April 20^th
• ·        Application Due – April 30^th

To learn more about the school, visit our website at www.MonarchM.com or come by for a tour of the building on one of the following Open Houses:

• ·        March 20^th from 1-3
• ·        March 29^th from 8-10
•           March 31st from 10-12
• ·        April 3^rd from 1-3 & 5-7
• ·        April 12^th from 8-10
• ·        April 17^th from 1-3

Melanie Withers

Marketing

Monarch Montessori of Denver

www.MonarchM.com

303-565-4165

Many of you are beginning to think about the various preschool options available in Denver. Eileen Piper, CEO of the Denver Preschool Program, contacted us recently with  information regarding the DPP. I visited their website and learned a lot. A neat feature on the website is a tool where parents can search preschools to learn more about their programs and what they have to offer. Be sure to check it out! Please read below to learn more about the Denver Preschool Program (what is it?) and the results of their recent evaluation. Thank you Eileen for sharing this information.

By Eileen Piper

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about the education of my children. As the CEO of the Denver Preschool Program and as a parent myself, I’m constantly considering how to best educate and support my children so that they become well-rounded and successful adults.

In my position at the Denver Preschool Program, I have the advantage of learning preschool’s benefits on a deep level and am happy to report to other parents that preschool is an investment worth making. I’ve seen it in my own children, and we see it in many of the students who enroll in the Denver Preschool Program.

For those who aren’t familiar, the Denver Preschool Program is the result of a ballot initiative that passed in 2006. The program sets aside .12 percent of Denver sales tax revenue to fund tuition credits to help families pay for preschool and quality improvement grants to help providers improve their programs. All Denver children are eligible to participate in the year before kindergarten, and today nearly 70 percent of the city’s 4-year-olds are participating, making us one of the highest enrolled preschool programs in the country.

After only five years as a program, we’ve helped pay for more than 20,000 kids to go to preschool and are already seeing positive results from the program.

We just released our annual evaluation report (click here), which revealed that Denver Preschool Program students made significant progress during their preschool year—progress that is above and beyond what is considered typical. The vast majority of Denver Preschool Program children leave the program ready for kindergarten, both academically and emotionally. And we know that those kids who are ready for kindergarten are more likely to be successful in school and later in life.

We also learned from our evaluation report just how important preschool quality is to parents. Parents surveyed revealed that quality was a more important factor in selecting a preschool than cost. That may be why more than 90 percent of DPP students are enrolled in the highest quality preschools.

Many parents begin considering where to send their child to preschool at this time of year. As you think about that decision, I encourage you to consider the school’s quality rating. You can learn more about these quality ratings – as well as further information about the Denver Preschool Program’s various preschool partners – by visiting our website here!

In considering your child’s future, remember that preschool is an investment in a bright future for your child. To learn more about enrolling in the Denver Preschool Program, visit our website or contact us at 303-595-4DPP or info@dpp.org.

DPS recently announced a later start date to the school year. Next year, DPS will start school on August 27th and the students last day of school will be June 4, 2013. Parents were up in arms last year when children were diagnosed with heat-related illnesses at the start of the school year. The majority of DPS schools do not have air conditioning and the mid-August start to the school year seems cruel. Parents started a petition for a later school start, many signatures were gathered, surveys were completed and the idea of a later school start has been on the minds of many for years. DPS listened and the Board of Education voted YES in a 6-1 vote to delay the start date for the 2012 school year. 

Is starting a week later in August such a drastic change? No. Is it still going to be very hot in late August? More than likely. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to start school after Labor Day?  

What are your thoughts on the new school calendar? Does it seem like our children are in school a lot less than we were? Are you happy with a late August start date? Read the article below from the Denver Post re: next year’s school calendar for DPS. 

Denver school board approves school-start date of late August, seeks heat-days plan

A calendar pushing Denver Public Schools’ start date later by a handful of days was approved by the Board of Education on Thursday night.

“Changing the school start date is not going to be the solution for the heat, we all know that,” said board member Anne Rowe. “What it did do, I think, is set the stage for a much larger discussion around the school year, with regards to how that works in the best interest for students. That is a robust discussion.”

Superintendent Tom Boasberg was asked to commit to presenting the board with a plan for issuing heat days, which would work in the same way as snow days, by the board’s March meeting.

The calendar option approved in a 6-1 vote will have students starting school on Aug. 27 and ending June 4. That calendar would see a later winter break — from Monday, Dec. 24, returning to class Jan. 8 — and would shrink no-contact days, when teachers evaluate assessment data, to three days in the year.

During a discussion Thursday prior to the vote, board members considered various amendments to the calendars and weighed issues of sport schedules, test-preparation time and day care as they would be affected by the calendar changes.

Board member Andrea Merida, who voted against the calendar, attempted first to introduce an amendment to allow schools without air conditioning to choose their own start dates anytime up to Labor Day. That amendment failed with only Merida approving it.

In a public-comment session before the vote, four student representatives of the district’s student board of education talked about their preference for a calendar year to start Aug. 23.

The student board members conducted a poll at various high schools asking students about their preferences.

According to their poll, 75 percent of students wanted to start Aug. 23, compared with 11 percent who would have liked school to start after Labor Day.

A heat wave that coincided with the beginning of this school year in mid-August left students and teachers dealing with 90-degree heat in classrooms without air conditioning.

At least three incidents of heat-related illness were reported in the first week of school.

Parents had gathered and delivered more than 3,000 signatures asking DPS to start the school year after Labor Day.

DPS then created a task force of parents and teachers to design and distribute a survey that was available online for nearly three weeks in November.

Respondents were almost evenly split among three options: no changes, starting in the fourth week of August, and starting in the first week of September.

In other board action, three new schools received innovation status for their opening this fall. Also, Trevista ECE-8 was approved to begin a turnaround — in which a new principal will be hired, staff will have to reapply for their jobs, and the school will get additional federal funds and flexibilities to design a program for improvement.

Read more:Denver school board approves school-start date of late August, seeks heat-days plan – The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19781569#ixzz1k0OAfUGS

Read The Denver Post’s Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

School: Cole Arts and Science Academy

Website: http://www.coleacademydenver.org/

Type: Public-DPS Innovation School

Enrollment: 635 students

Tours:  Call school to make an appointment

Main Phone: 720.423.9120

Principal: Julie Murgel (2 vice principals and a principal intern)

Location:  3240 Humboldt Street, Denver 80205 (Cole and Whittier neighborhood)

Hours: ECE 8:30 am-3:30 pm; K-5th 8:15 am- 3:45 pm; Middle School  8:15 am- 3:30 pm

Grades:  ECE-5^th Grade along with DSST Middle School (6-8^th grade)

Average Class Size: Approximately 26 students per classroom (3 classrooms per grade level plus middle school)

Before/After Care:

-Kaleidoscope Corner for grades K-5

-Fit Fun and Literacy for Grades K-4 (an after-school program providing physical fitness and nutrition with homework assistance)

-Cole Beacon Neighborhood Center for 5^th-8^th grade students (funding from the Boys and Girls Club…program offers a variety of enrichment opportunities to students focusing on skill building and relationship building)

Facilities/Playground: 

There is a learning landscape west of the entrance to the school (north of the tennis courts).  Cole has a huge field north of the school that is used for P.E. outdoor learning, middle school sports and by DSST for outdoor P.E. (soccer, flag football, and baseball). There are basketball courts north of the field used primarily afterschool. A smaller playground for ECE is to the north side of the school (MLK Blvd).

Special & Core Programs:

• The Denver School of Science and Technology at Cole opened its doors this year. Currently it’s a middle school that welcomed sixth graders only in 2011 (each year it will add a grade). To learn more, click here.
• Cole became an Innovation School in August 2009. It is achieving its goals according to the District’s SPF. The school will be up for review this June 2012. Innovation schools are up for review every three years to monitor their accountability to the children they serve.
• Students partake in physical education each day. They rotate every 3 weeks for art, music and technology classes.
• In the primary years (ECE-1^st grade) there are 3 programs for the students: a traditional classroom, ELA (English language acquisition classroom), and a Spanish speaking only classroom. Students in 2^nd grade and up are provided a more traditional classroom approach. They are assessed and grouped according to need for math and science as well as literacy instruction. The second – fifth grade classrooms use a platoon model where two teachers partner; one teaches literacy and the other math and science.
• Cole is a designated American Indian Focus School. The program provides one location where all DPS students with American Indian heritage are invited to learn together.
• Afterschool tutoring by staff for students who need support.
• This school offers the Primary Multi-Intensive program for students in grades 1-3 and the Intermediate Multi-Intensive for students in grades 3-5. The children are placed by the district’s special needs team. Many are bussed in but some live within the neighborhood. The programs provide support for students that have development delays specifically cognitive delays.
• Infusions–Cole offers two separate Infusion sessions. Each session is 6 weeks long and takes place for an hour and a half, once a week.  Students choose classes based on their interests. The classes are composed of a mix of children from varying grade levels with a teacher other than that of their homeroom. Some of the past infusion classes offered included Salsa Dancing, skateboarding, photography, History of Five Points, History of Mexico, Nutrition, Horseback Riding, etc.

Impressions:

Cole Arts and Science Academy opened four years ago in the Cole and Whittier neighborhood (northwest of City Park) in Denver. The building itself was a former middle school. Two failing elementary schools in the neighborhood, Wyman and Mitchell, shut down not long ago and as a result, Cole Arts and Science Academy opened its doors hoping to provide a successful school in this very diverse community.

Cole’s exterior is old, beautiful and grand. It’s a huge school on the outside and within. As you enter the school, you can’t help but notice the various pendants hanging from the foyer’s ceiling. These pendants represent the staff’s college alma maters. As you walk a bit further, you’ll see a number of banners in the hallway boasting the words, Class of 2021, Class of 2023, etc. I learned that those years represent when the present students will graduate college, something many of their parents never had the opportunity to do. The banners and pendants are visual reminders to the students that anything is possible even a college education. This inspiration tactic from the staff reminds students that the Cole faculty believes in them. It’s the first thing students see when arriving and leaving school each day.

Elena Saenz, a family liaison, greeted me and led me on a tour of the school. She is a full-time family liaison. Her job is to advocate for families and make sure they know their role when it comes to supporting their child at home. She works with classroom teachers as well to help make sure this happens. Family outreach and engagement is a big priority at this school. Elena is bilingual like many of the staff at Cole. This comes in handy for the 60% Hispanic population that attends the school. Elena gives tours to families, too. If only every DPS school could have a family liaison!

We started our tour on the first floor. The school is complete with three levels and shaped like the letter H. The vastness of the school was a bit overwhelming. I am guessing that becoming comfortable in such a large building takes time for new families and students. With that being said, the first floor houses the primary wings: ECE for 3 and 4 year olds, Kindergarten, first, second grade classrooms, and a large auditorium. Although the school is very old, the classrooms were spacious and bright. I saw many smart boards in the classrooms, a tool growing in popularity throughout DPS. The hallways were adorned with beautiful artwork. This year, two full-time art teachers work at the school and they’ve done wonders beautifying the school hallways with projects created by the students.

One of the primary classrooms we visited had a classroom teacher from the Teach for America program. This program helps ensure that children growing up in poverty can receive an excellent education. She went through the two year program at Cole and is now teaching here full-time. I enjoy hearing stories such as this. These high achieving educators are placed in urban schools within low-income neighborhoods. Currently, Cole has a 96% free and reduced lunch ratio.

This school has 11 DTR’s (Denver Teacher Residents). This program offers yet another way to bring in motivated and passionate educators who want to make a difference (both programs are enticing high caliber educators and providing them the support and resources they need along the way). I chatted briefly with a number of staff members that day, including the principal. Everyone seemed to be very energetic, happy and proud to be working at this school. With that being said, there seems to be some teacher turnover, 11 new teachers started this school year.

On the second and third floors are the upper elementary classrooms, middle school (separate entrance), two gymnasiums, cafeteria, huge music room, two art rooms, library, two technology labs, etc.  Each floor has access to a classroom set of net books, too. I was amazed at all the technological resources this school has despite the fact there is no PTA.

Students were coming and going as we made our way through the hallways. They wear uniforms at the school. Due to the recent partnership with DSST, Cole has adapted some of their cultural system. As a result, school behavior has improved this year. Julie mentioned that the partnership between DSST and Cole is unique in that it benefits both programs. For example, Cole has been influential to DSST on family and community engagement.

Since Cole is an innovation school, they have greater autonomy when it comes to their budget, hiring and curriculum. A short time ago, students were not finding success with the district’s reading curriculum. Students were struggling with phonics. The staff re-evaluated and decided that another more structured literacy model with a strong emphasis on phonics would be more successful for the kids.  This is why innovation is important, folks. If children are lacking important skills and not finding academic success, the school should have the freedom to find something that works! Shouldn’t more turnaround schools apply for innovative status so they have the freedom to see what works, what doesn’t and make the best possible decisions for their students based on these findings? The ultimate goal is to set our children up for success, not failure.

Elena mentioned repeatedly that Julie Murgel, Cole’s principal, is an extraordinary leader who works tirelessly on searching for funding to ensure that these children are getting what they need. I could see this by the abundant resources that the school has and the partnerships Cole has created within the community.

Has Cole made progress the past few years? Yes. Is Cole setting up systems to help students reach their full potential? Yes. Does Cole have a long way to go when it comes to academic achievement? Yes. This is a school that is trying to beat the odds by creating a team of intentional and passionate educators, having strong leadership at the helm, patience in making decisions based on the best interest of the child, and hope that every child no matter race or socioeconomic status can and will learn. Julie Murgel said it all when I asked what makes Cole special. She said, “Cole is Hope. It is an example of a school defying all the odds.” I hope it does!

We welcome your comments and impressions on your experience with Cole Arts & Science Academy.

 At times, it’s very confusing when looking at data regarding public schools in Colorado. Recently, a new website was unveiled to help bring some clarity to this task. This new system has taken all of the data collected by the Colorado Department of Education and translated it into a simpler language, a letter grade. The tool can be used for parents when searching for a school of interest for their child. Other parents may want to view it to find out if their present child’s school is making the grade.  No matter your reason for visiting the website, the information is presented in a simple way for all to understand. Please read the article below from 9News regarding the new site or click here to see if your school is making the grade! 

Simplifying your child’s school performance

KUSA – Understanding your child’s school performance is now as easy as going online. The confusing language is gone and, now, the schools just get a simple letter grade – A to F.

There is a statewide-advertising campaign already up and running with television, radio spots and billboards telling people about Colorado School Grades.com.

There were 18 groups and organizations involved in this 14-month-long process. Tim Taylor is with one of the groups: Colorado Succeeds.

“We wanted to make sure it was simple enough to understand,” Taylor said “Then there are opportunities to dig deeper. This is the first step no one should make a decision based solely on a grade a school got. It should encourage visits and additional research.”

—–

When Megan Talley works with special education students at Stony Creek Elementary, she knows she’s part of an aggressive approach that’s increasing academic achievement.

“It’s a very rare thing for special education students to meet, exceeds, or even meets progress,” said Talley, special education teacher at Stony Creek Elementary in Jefferson County. “To be in those categories is unheard of.”

The Colorado Department of Education examines numerous things when deciding how to score a school. Academic growth and student achievement are primary factors.

The state looks at different groups of students and decides if those students are meeting expectations, exceeding expectations, or needs improvement in areas of academic growth.

At Stony Creek, special education students met expectations in writing and exceeded expectations in math.

“The scores have gone up tremendously,” Sue Whelan, instructional coach at Stony Creek Elementary, said.

Whelan says teachers and administrators decided that what they were doing for special education students wasn’t enough.

“We noticed that structures that were in our school were not systemic,” Whelan said. “We talked about creating structures that made sense.”

Whelan says more time was created for teachers to work together on how to address student needs. She says teachers started monitoring progress of students more often. And, they created a team to intervene with students who really needed more help in reading, writing or math.

“You specifically get a group of people together to focus on that need and you go at it until that child meets that expectation, that’s going to push kids along,” Whelan said.

Stony Creek is an example of successes happening across Colorado. Overall, there are more high performing schools than last year. There are also fewer schools listed at the bottom of the list. Schools districts are classified into five categories:

1. Accredited with Distinction
2. Accredited
3. Accredited with Improvement Plan
4. Accredited with Priority Improvement Plan
5. Accredited with Turnaround Plan

Individual schools are classified into four categories:

1. Performance Plan
2. Improvement Plan
3. Priority Improvement Plan
4. Turnaround Plan.

VIEW: District ratings (Excel document)

The schools or districts listed as “turnaround” or “priority improvement” need to make academic gains quickly in the coming years, or else the state may take measures against the school or district.

VIEW: School Ratings (Excel document) (note: Aurora is listed as Adams-Arapahoe 28J)

Tally says seeing a strong school report card is encouraging.

“I love my job. I love coming to school every day. I love working with the kids,” Talley said. “But when you see growth like that, it makes it all worth it.”

The impending first round of school choice is fast approaching. If you are feeling a bit stressed about the new enrollment process or have questions now is the time to seek some clarity. Be sure to attend one of the two information sessions being offered by Get Smart Schools to get the answers you need before completing the choice application–deadline is January 31, 2012. Please read the information below…

Click here to read a recent article from the Denver Post regarding the new choice process. It should answer some of your questions especially ones relating to your neighborhood school.