Tag Archives: lottery

One of the many new charter school options in Denver this year is the expansion of a franchise that’s moved its way north: the Cesar Chavez Academy Denver. Originally founded in Pueblo in 2000 by Dr. Lawrence Hernandez, CCA has grown into a small network of charter schools focused on high expectations, equal opportunity, local culture, and parent and community involvement as components of its educational philosophy. CCA Denver opened this month in the northwest part of the city, in a 5-year-old building that formerly housed the now-defunct Denver Arts and Technology Academy. The new school, under the direction of Ryan Lucas, serves roughly 350 students from kindergarten through 8th grade. The current school year is underway, but you can sign up online to get your child into the lottery for consideration to enter CCA-Denver in 2010. As the Denver Post reported yesterday, CCA-Denver is very focused on its mission, and not connected to or distracted by the controversies that have affected the Pueblo school. Other new schools featured: Jeffco’s 21st Century Virtual Academy Thomas MacLaren School (Colorado Springs) Montclair School of Academics and Enrichment (Denver) Atlas Preparatory Charter (Colorado Springs) Envision Leadership Prep (Denver) Animas High School (Durango)

The Denver Post‘s Jeremy Meyer reports today on the latest from the Bromwell Elementary controversy: Parents who skirted district rules to get their children into a high-performing Denver school must go through the choice process for next year, a school committee said. Bromwell Elementary’s collaborative school committee met Wednesday to decide what to do with students from outside of the neighborhood who did not follow the district’s enrollment procedures. In one instance, a family enrolled by using a grandparent’s address. The committee said students who failed to prove they live within school attendance boundaries must enroll through the district’s choice process, which operates on a blind lottery. Superintendent Tom Boasberg must approve the recommendation. First, let me say that Denver Public Schools appears to be fairly treating people who tried to cheat the system. It isn’t right when one of my friends tries to move my checkers when I’m not looking, and it isn’t right for people to pretend to live at a different address so they can enroll their child into a different school. But the conversation can’t end there.

Families in the Northglenn-Thornton area north of Denver who are looking to immerse their younger students in a creative arts approach to education have a new option this fall. The Studio School (formerly known as the District Arts Magnet School) in Adams 12 opens its doors to students in kindergarten through 2nd grade on August 18. In each successive year, one grade will be added until it becomes a full K-8 school in 2014-15. According to The Studio School’s website: The arts are infused in core subject areas such as language arts, math, science and social studies. Staff empowers students with an interest in the arts to flourish and expand their artistic abilities through a solid academic environment. The learning environment capitalizes on the latest research linking academic success with the integration of arts concepts and experiences. Each school day will include 85 minutes of creative arts–including visual art, music, theatre, dance, and literary art. The Studio School is neither a public charter school nor a district school of choice. Applications must be made directly to the school, but only families living in Adams 12 are eligible to enroll. Students are selected by lottery on a geographic basis to represent […]