At Our Core: Education reform, and charter schools, in the crosshairs
A special and important edition of At Our Core this week. You have likely heard some increasing...
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05/23/19
At Our Core: Education reform, and charter schools, in the crosshairs
A special and important edition of At Our Core this week. You have likely heard some increasing rhetoric both in Denver, and across the nation about charter schools. Lines are being drawn for the 2020 presidential election, with the announcement by Bernie Sanders supporting a ban on for-profit charter schools, as well as a “call for a moratorium on the funding of all public charter school expansion until a national audit on the schools has been completed.” This will quickly trickle down to local Board elections here in Denver and Aurora. Despite the fact that charters in Colorado are prohibited by law from being for profit, and despite our results and our mission, charter networks like DSST will be thrown into the fray. Below we’ve captured some of the stories from the last few weeks that bring the divisions to light. Whether you’re a teacher, a Dean or a Home Office employee, we’re all going to be asked questions on these topics in coming months, and in some cases asked to defend our work. The following articles will help give some context.
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05/22/19
Q&A with DSST Alum, Jehovana
Ben Lindquist, President of the Colorado League of Charter Schools had the opportunity to meet with Jehovana Flores, an alumna of DSST Stapleton. In this Q&A, you will learn more about the powerful impact that a charter school, DSST, had and is continuing to have on Jehovana's life opportunity and trajectory. This testimonial is one that Denver school board candidates and voters should consider as they determine whether or not Denver Public Schools continues to support education reform beyond 2019.
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05/22/19
Bernie Sanders Wants to Destroy the Best Schools Poor Urban Kids Have
Bernie Sanders today is announcing the foundation of his K-12 education plan, which is to crack down on public charter schools. If enacted, the Sanders plan would snuff out one of the most successful social policy innovations in decades, and close off a lifeline of opportunity for hundreds of thousands of poor urban children.
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05/22/19
DSST: Cole Leadership Announcement
We are excited to announce incoming leadership at DSST Cole. Grant Erwin will be joining the DSST team as School Director for Cole Middle School and Lia Brunner has been named School Director for Cole High School.
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05/21/19
Business "Variety Show" at DSST: GVR
What do lava lamps, chocolate, and key chains all have in common? You could find all of these hand-crafted products (and much more!) at the 2019 DSST: Green Valley Ranch “Elective Showcase!”
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05/20/19
Do charter schools replicate?
One critique of charter schools is that while a few energetic principals show success, it’s impossible to replicate. Not so, says a new study of Boston’s charters, which doubled from 16 schools to 32 in four years, even as they maintained their effectiveness.
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05/20/19
Call for Infusion 2019 Performers
We are busy planning for this year’s Infusion 2019, which will be happening at the Denver Convention center on August 2nd. As you likely know, Infusion brings together our entire staff of nearly 800 educators and leaders to re-engage with our mission and our network, all while getting excited for the new school year.
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05/20/19
DSST: Montview News Roundup
Thursday, May 16 was a big news day for the DSST: Stapleton community after announcing at Morning Meeting that we would be changing the name from DSST: Stapleton to DSST: Montview.
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05/16/19
Threatening the Future
The 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education approaches on May 17, but fights over school segregation, rather than decreasing, are becoming more common. Cities like New York and San Francisco are debating how to assign students to schools in ways that foster classroom diversity, and school secession movements — in which parents seek to form their own, majority-white districts — are accelerating.
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05/16/19
DSST: Stapleton is now DSST: Montview
For almost two years now, engaged students at both the middle and high schools have dedicated countless hours and tons of energy to both the idea of changing the name of DSST’s founding school, and successfully implementing the change. At the middle school, students were led by Writing teacher PJ Shields, who dedicated extensive class time over two years to work through these changes. At the high school, this was done in partnership with Colorado Youth Congress (CYC). From collaborating with their peers, staff members, DSST leadership, and the Stapleton community as a whole, we are proud of the leadership that these students have demonstrated as they embarked on this challenging and valuable work. It all culminated in a very special morning meeting today, where the school formerly known as DSST: Stapleton announced a new name - DSST: Montview.
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