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Feature Friday: Sandra Ross turns her reading struggle into her superpower, and a children's book

Sandra Ross remembers sixth grade clearly. Sitting with her advisor at DSST: Green Valley Ranch Middle School, on the verge of tears, working so hard yet still building her reading skills. It was frustrating. It was vulnerable. And it shaped everything that came after.

Topics: College Success

'Our job is to make students’ dreams come true': GVR Counselors share glimpse into how DSST is shaping futures

When you ask the DSST: Green Valley Ranch High School College Success Team what they’re most proud of, their answers reveal a deep commitment to students, families and the power of opportunity through college access. They are one team out of many across our network, all working towards ambitious goals.  

Celebrating Student Success 

Karla Garcia-Vanderhorst, Campus Coordinator of College Success, beams with pride when she talks about students’ applications and the incredible opportunities they’re pursuing. 

She also highlights the role families play in this journey, and how years of partnership are now bearing fruit.  

Garcia-Vanderhorst shared a story that has stood out to her over her time at DSST. A student who had her heart set on a single opportunity, but Garcia-Vanderhorst encouraged her to keep multiple doors open. When the first application fell through, the second became the lifeline that would have never made it to application. That persistence and guidance changed the course of that student’s future. 

 “Thank you so much,” the student shared when the second letter award arrived, “I can’t imagine what would have happened had you not coached me to keep my options open.”  

Making Dreams Come True 

For Tyler Shanahan, a former higher education professional, the work with students reminds him of his own journey to find college.  

“Our job as counselor is to make students’ dreams come true,” he said with conviction. 

The team invests time in understanding each student, their story, hopes, and ambitions. They start early, building a college-going culture from ninth grade with constant, clear communication with families and students. The majority of GVR HS students were GVR middle school students and have been on a seven-year journey with DSST. 

Shanahan also challenges the myths that college doesn’t have to mirror K–12 experience. He uses his own journey to show students that success is possible and having the agency to choose your future matters.  

Topics: College Success

Students explore resilience and identity through Indigenous literature

In seventh-grade classrooms across DSST, November means more than turning the calendar page. It's a moment to pause, to listen and to learn from voices that have too often been silenced or simplified in education. At DSST: Aurora Science & Tech (AST) Middle School, English Language Arts teacher Gretchen Pearson is helping students do exactly that through the Modern Indigenous Voices unit, a curriculum designed not just to teach about Indigenous people, but to learn from them.

Topics: Our Program, Inside the Classroom

Feature Friday: Tracey Shipman shows how stability creates collective growth

There's a specific kind of connection that happens when a teacher knows a family so well that the younger siblings show up already believing in what's possible. When a student walks into your classroom and you've already taught their cousin, their older brother. When you don't just know the curriculum, you know the community.

Topics: News, Updates, & Events, Inside the Classroom

Quantum 5 Presents: Fully covered therapy sessions through the TOCC for the Holiday Season

The holiday season can feel incredibly busy between supporting students, wrapping up the semester, and balancing everything outside of school. It's normal to feel stretched thin, especially this time of year. 

Topics: News, Updates, & Events

Feature Friday: How Josh Wright is turning experience into impact

In Josh Wright’s Algebra 2 class, missing a linear equation question during Do Now practice comes with an unexpected accountability measure: students start apologizing, not to Wright, but to Mr. Barazza, who teaches down the hall.

Topics: News, Updates, & Events, Inside the Classroom

A dancer. A woman in STEM. A person defining success on her own terms.

There are two stages in Adamaris Gutierrez's life right now. One is lit by spotlights, where she moves with precision and grace as a professional dancer with ArtistiCO Dance Company. The other is quieter, with lecture halls, lab tables and textbooks stacked high, where she's building the foundation for a career in medicine.

Topics: News, Updates, & Events, College Success

Feature Friday: Christine Kennelly proves longevity in the classroom leads to mastery and student success

Thirteen years is long enough to know a network’s rhythms. Long enough to stop reinventing systems every August and start seeing patterns before they emerge. Long enough to recognize that the real work of teaching is in the space that opens up when logistics finally become second nature.

Topics: News, Updates, & Events, Inside the Classroom

Peek behind the curtain and see the magic happening inside this STEM Lab classroom

At DSST: Montview Middle School, STEM Lab teacher Bryce Enger is leading students through a curriculum designed to do more than check off science standards. His class, along with all other middle school STEM Lab courses, align directly with the pathways offered at DSST high schools, exposing students to content rarely available at other Denver-area schools and building the skills and mindsets they'll need long after graduation.

Topics: News, Updates, & Events, Our Program, Inside the Classroom

STEM thrives here: Preparing leaders of the future through the middle school STEM Lab program

Peek into a DSST classroom, and you'll find students fully immersed in programming drones to navigate obstacle courses, designing solutions on 3D modeling software, and building robotic systems that respond to their commands. This isn't a special event, this is a STEM Lab classroom, where DSST middle schoolers can get hands-on experience with cutting-edge technology and real-world problem-solving.

Topics: News, Updates, & Events, Our Program, Inside the Classroom