In Colorado, 61 public schools earned a College Success Award in 2019 based on their success in preparing students for college and ultimately career. The College Success awards recognize public high schools that stand out in getting students enrolled in - and staying with - college.
The segregation of America’s public schools is a perpetual newsmaker. The fact that not even 1 percent of the incoming freshman class identifies as black at New York City’s elite Stuyvesant High School made national headlines last month. And New York isn’t unusual. The minority gap in enrollment at elite academic public schools is a problem across America.
Four months ago, hundreds of high school seniors took a small step toward a bigger future by applying to become a Greenhouse Scholar. Ambitious leaders relentless in the pursuit of their dreams, these applicants share a common trait—a desire to positively and indefinitely impact the families and communities in their midst.
The education reform movement as we have known it is over. Top-down federal and state reforms along with big-city reforms have stalled. The political winds for education change have shifted dramatically. Something has ended, and we must learn the lessons of what the movement got right—and wrong.
Last month, College View High School celebrated 100% of their founding class being admitted into college. Almost 90% of these graduates will be the first generation of their families to attend college next year. This class is full of dedicated and resilient students- and two of them are deeply involved in immigrant rights activism, both locally and nationwide. Fabi and Jasmine, activists and good friends, shared some highlights of their work, and their hopes and dreams for the years to come.
Decades of research show that students are best served in diverse and equitable schools. Diversity enhances learning environments, inspiring reduced racial bias, increased student creativity, better developed problem-solving skills, and higher average test scores for students in integrated schools. 1 These well documented benefits, however, are often stymied when schools achieve only numerical diversity without truly taking steps to maximize relationship building across racial and economic difference.
Recent teacher strikes across American opened people’s eyes to the chronic underfunding of public schools and spurred several states to increase investments in education. For that, we should be grateful. But the rhetoric accompanying the strikes in West Virginia, Los Angeles, Oakland, Calif., and elsewhere has made charter schools sound like an enemy of public education. They are not, and my fellow Democrats shouldn’t fall for it.
To view more information about DSST benefits update go to https://tinyurl.com/DSST-Benefits
High Schoolers at DSST: Stapleton have been visiting the Balfour Senior Living Center in Stapleton as part of both the Critical Skills Development (life skills taught in 11th grade) course and the Service Club, the trips are led by staff Lara Thomas, Cory Hofschild, and Marla Lee.
School choice is based on one simple but powerful principle: parents should have the ability to send their kids to any school that will help their children thrive.
