Denver Public Schools shared the results of the School Performance Framework on October 11. Across all of our schools, we hear these results as a call to action on behalf of our students. It is time to double-down on our existing priorities and work. The path to excellence is through consistent, sustained progress, which is achieved by our focus on individualized student classroom support, by our discipline to execute a common strategy, and by encouraging one another to improve our practice every single day.
This is important data we take seriously as we assess our work, but this data does not define us and certainly does not tell the whole picture of the amazing things happening in our schools each day.
Celebrating our Successes
We’re proud of all of our schools and their hard work. All around our campuses, incredible things are happening, here are just a few highlights:
STRIVE Prep - Ruby Hill has been rated Green or better for the 5th year in a row.
STRIVE Prep - Federal has been rated Green for the 11th year in a row. Federal also improved 11% on a single year measure from 65% to 76%, and was recently recognized by DPS for consistent high student growth in the district.
STRIVE Prep - Lake moved up from Orange to Yellow in the framework this year on their overall rating, aligned with significant improvements in their school culture over the past year. Check out this video to get a glimpse of the amazing work they are doing.
Recognizing the Work Ahead
We know that there are places where there is work to be done. It’s never easy to get news that any of our schools are rated red, but we are working on solutions to improve them.
STRIVE Prep - Westwood is coming off of a difficult year in culture. In response to this, we have hired an entirely new administrative staff, and our new Principal, Erik Jacobson, has already received strong positive feedback on the shifts in culture, academics, and staff morale happening there from both STRIVE Prep staff and community partners. We’ve already seen a 62% reduction in behavioral referrals and strong increases in staff satisfaction data.
STRIVE Prep - Green Valley Ranch improved 20% on a single year measure, an indicator of the improvements already being made there by our incredible administrative team. They are now implementing the Valor Compass model, a human development program to improve student and staff culture and engagement. The improvements so far are most attributed to improved student academic growth, especially in ELA, and we know we have dedicated work to do to match these improvements in math and close academic gaps among our students.
STRIVE Prep - Montbello improved 17% on a single year measure, moving to a Yellow score on a single year measure. This improvement is a testament to the strong culture leadership from our Principal, Lyndsay Lau, and her administrative team, demonstrating more than 90% reductions in both behavioral referrals and suspensions using a restorative model. This year, the team seeks to sustain these culture improvements and building upon them with a focus on student academic growth.
STRIVE Prep - EXCEL did not show progress on the framework, leading us to take a step back and assess last year’s improvement efforts and our strategies to support our students. We seek to build on strong programming other areas, such as EXCEL’s Hackschool program, which was recently nominated for Excellence in STEM education by the Colorado Succeeds Prize.
We are proud of our schools; our dedicated teachers and staff, our hardworking students, and the community that support us. Every day our students and staff work hard to close opportunity gaps for ALL students - this is no easy task and we cannot do this work without your partnership. Thank you for your continued support and belief in us and the work we do.
We hope you’re able to visit one of our schools soon to see our incredible educators and students in action, as they are learning to change the world. To schedule a visit, please email Dani Morello, Sr. Director of External Affairs at dmorello@striveprep.org
CG
