School:  MONTCLAIR ELEMENTARY (aka: MONTCLAIR SCHOOL OF ACADEMICS AND ENRICHMENT)

Website: http://montclair.dpsk12.org

Type: Public-DPS

Tours: Generally take place late fall (check website).

Main Phone: (303) 333-5497

Principal: Donna Neill (new principal 2011-2012)

Assistant Principal: Emily Zabroski

Location: 1151 Newport Street, Denver, CO 80020 / Montclair Neighborhood

Hours:  8:55 am-3:45 pm

Grades: ECE-5th Grade–3 Full Day Kindergarten classrooms

Average Class Size: It varies….K-2 classrooms try to maintain 25 or less students in each classroom with full-time paraprofessionals and grades 3-5 usually have less than 30 students per classroom.

Before/After Care: Programs are tuition-based and grant funded. After school extensions such as Brownies, Rocky Mountain Children’s Choir, Destination Imagination, and Girls on the Run are offered as well. *Update: Kaleidoscope Corner now runs the after school program.

Playground: There is one large playground with designated areas for children in the upper grades and lower grades. The lower grade’s equipment needs a significant upgrade. The upper grade’s area just had a few pieces of new playground equipment installed. There is a blacktop for basketball and another for tether ball. There is also a large grass area with two baseball fields and play area for organized activities. I was told that future plans are being carried out to update equipment and create a learning landscape. The plans are to take place in 2010 after other prioritized construction of the school is complete.  *Update: Learning Landscape completed 2010!

Special & Core Programs: Montclair uses Renzulli’s Schoolwide Enrichment Model. Some of the programs include Brown Bag Lunches where children eat lunch and learn about a topic of interest from a guest speaker, Enrichment Clusters where children from varying grade levels come together and choose a topic of interest and learn about it in depth over an 8 week period, monthly assemblies and monthly field trips including one unique field trip per grade level that ties into the curriculum (e.g. Kindergarten Bunked with the Beasts this year at the Denver Zoo), High Strides Classrooms which is an accelerated program offered for students at or above grade level in literacy and Progressive Classrooms which are an intervention-based program designed to develop a strong foundation of literacy skills to students. There is also a schoolwide event called International Night which is a celebration of the diverse community that attends Montclair and includes performances and food from around the world.

Impressions: I visited this school on several occasions. It’s a great little neighborhood school adjacent to a park where parents and children meet after school occasionally. The school was clean and the hallways were adorned with great artwork. The children seemed very engaged when I visited the classrooms. I met the Principal, several parents and a few staff members, all of whom were very enthusiastic about the school and the transformation it has been through. Shannon Hagerman, the principal, tells me there is a high level of teacher quality at the school. Twenty-two out of twenty-four staff members voted in favor of becoming Colorado State’s first “Innovation School” at the elementary level. This tells me the staff is confident in their ability to teach and put forth a great effort to increase student academic achievement, along with strengthening their own professional development through annual coursework.

I was so impressed in learning about their programs which really focus on the individual learner and how best to support or enrich the child. Also, children in some grade levels switch classrooms for certain subjects. Each grade level is divided up between classrooms for their “specials.” In this way, the students are ensured a differentiated learning experience. Shannon Hagerman greeted children in the hallways and seemed to know every child by name. I felt a very strong sense of community here at Montclair.

After talking to several parents, I learned that they have a “growing” PTA with two major fundraisers. The PTA  also strongly supports the enrichment programs at the school. I got the impression there are different levels of parental involvement from the highly involved to the less frequently involved. Also, some of the parents I spoke to choiced in to Montclair due to the variety of enrichment programs that are offered to students, smaller class sizes in K-2 classrooms, and a more diverse student body compared to their neighborhood schools.

Montclair has received a lot of local media attention over the past few years due to their school-wide revitalization plan. It’s a Beacon School and recently was designated a School of Innovation. This means Montclair was granted autonomy from district and state rules which allows them to control their own budget, curriculum, hiring, school calendar, etc. Because of these things, Montclair’s popularity has increased over the past few years with more children choicing in (over 25%), along with a growing number of children on wait lists. Their innovative school reform efforts are being recognized and in April, The U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited Montclair to learn more about their programs.

We welcome your comments and impressions on your experience with Montclair Elementary.

As a stay-at-home mom for the past five years and a former educator, choosing a school for my children became a full-time job! I am joking but at times, it felt that way. Who knew choosing an elementary school for my twin boys was going to be such a process, and a stressful one at that! I’m not sure if it’s because we live in the city and DPS, like most city school systems, doesn’t have the best reputation. Do moms in the suburbs research schools to this extreme or just send their kids to their neighborhood school like my mom did with us many moons ago? When talking to my mom while going through this ordeal, she thought it was absurd how much time and effort I was putting into this search. She told me when we were growing up, like most moms in our town, she threw my siblings and myself on the yellow school bus, to the school our neighborhood was districted to. No questions asked! Oh how easy life would be if it were that simple…but it’s NOT! And questions are asked…..lots of them! Many parents want to give their children the best education possible. We are united because of this.

When I first began this school quest, I was guilty of seeking out DPS schools rated with “excellent” test scores. Wasn’t this the only thing that truly mattered….test scores? I mean excellent rated schools automatically meant excellent staff, excellent curriculum, excellent kids, etc. I couldn’t wait to tour these schools. And once I did, I was a bit disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, they were great schools and lots of learning was taking place but they lacked “that something.” I didn’t get the vibe as I meandered through the hallways. And it’s all about the vibe…that gut feeling that helps you make a decision.

After a lot of soul searching, touring schools, comparing lists, talking with friends, teachers, and acquaintances, asking questions, I slowly started letting go of the test score obsession and really started to focus on other things….such as school leadership, staff, community, programs, parental involvement, curriculum, class size, etc. You see, there is more to a school than just test scores, and it took me a while to learn this.

There was a time when we seriously considered moving to the suburbs so we wouldn’t have to worry about choosing a city school and, instead, have our children attend a school like the one I grew up learning in. In the end, we stayed in the city (thank goodness), and my husband and I decided to choose a school that was much different than both the schools that we went to as children. We chose public versus private because we believe in the public school system and private was not an option for us at the time. We choiced into a school rather than attend our neigborhood school. We chose a school with a very diverse student body and socioeconomic background. This has been an education in itself. We chose a school that has made a major transformation from what it was like four years ago due to a strong parent movement and an amazing principal. It’s a Beacon School and recently was two of the only schools in Denver, to seek Innovation Status. The Secretary of Education recently visited the school to see the changes that have occurred!  Every so often, I question the decision we made, but when I see how much my boys have grown both emotionally and intellectually, and see just how thrilled they are to go to school each day, I am reassured and justified in our decision. Nothing is forever and things change, but for right now my husband and I couldn’t be happier with the education they are receiving. And it’s great to be a part of a new community!

My greatest piece of advice to all of you is to do your homework, don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t rely on friends (see a school for yourself), think of your child and his/her needs (in what kind of school environment would they flourish the most?), explore this site and get the information you need, and last but not least, trust that vibe! Best of luck to all of you on this journey.