After Governor Jared Polis awarded RiseUp Community School with the Governor’s Bright Spot Award in late 2022, 9NEWS reporters Byron Reed and Courtney Yuen featured the alternative charter high school as the January “Cool School.” Watch the 9News feature here.

A pilot program at DSST schools aims to close literacy gaps through the efforts of reading interventionists who work closely with students.

Watch the full story on CBS, which originally aired on December 19, 2022

Wyatt Academy in Denver’s Cole neighborhood has partnered with Collaborative Healing Initiative Within Communities (CHIC) to meet the social and emotional needs of the school’s Black girls. 

Through the school’s partnership with CHIC, mentors meet with Wyatt’s girls to provide access to mental health services, and various health and wellness activities. 

Read the full story on page 14 of the Denver Urban Spectrum.

The Colorado State Board of Education voted unanimously this month to require the Adams 14 school district and University Prep—a charter school network with two Denver campuses—to resume and complete contract negotiations for a new University Prep school in Commerce City. 

The Adams 14 board of education—which approved University Prep’s new charter school application last year—rejected the school’s contract in October without public discussion or explanation. 

This came after nearly two dozen meetings and almost 50 hours of work facilitated by a third-party to develop a collaborative, fair and thorough contract between University Prep and the district. 

During the December state board meeting, the board denied an Adams 14 motion to dismiss the appeal hearing. During the subsequent appeal and in its unanimous vote, the board determined that the district’s action was not in the best interest of students, the school district or the community. The state board ordered Adams 14 to reconsider whether the contract should be approved.

Watch the news story from CBS4, which aired on December 15, 2022

The University of Colorado Denver’s Center for Education Policy Analysis in the School of Public Affairs has released the findings of a new, first-of-its-kind report. 

The report, titled “The System-Level Effects of Denver’s Portfolio District Strategy,” has found that 11 years of education reform strategies in Denver Public Schools—which prioritized choice, autonomy and accountability—led to significant and meaningful improvements in academic proficiency and graduation rates for all students. 

According to the report, the district’s comprehensive strategy from 2008-2019:

• Improved the four-year high school graduation rate by 14.6%; in the absence of the reforms, the report finds the district’s four-year graduation rate would have remained below 60%; 

• Improved student learning district-wide, including for students of color, English language learners, students from low-income households, and students who receive special education services; and

• Led to at least nine months and as much as 14 months of added learning for students.

Read a summary of the research findings, watch a discussion about the research, read Colorado Public Radio’s coverage of the report, or listen to the Fordham Institute’s Education Gadfly podcast with the study’s co-author, Parker Baxter.

Watch the full CBS News Colorado story.

Philanthropist Mackenzie Scott is donating $6 million to KIPP Colorado Public Schools, a network of six public charter schools in Denver. 

It’s the largest single donation KIPP has ever received, and the largest sum Scott has awarded to a Colorado charter school network. Scott also gifted $4.5 million to Rocky Mountain Prep in October. 

Taamiti Bankole, chief external affairs officer for KIPP, called Scott’s gift a “surprise,” and he credited the network’s educators, families and students with making the schools worthy of the large donation. 

“We are so humbled by it, we just love the recognition, and it’s all because of our students and staff,” Bankole said. 

The money will be used to provide additional mental health support to students; create pathways for KIPP alumni to work in the network; and to invest in data systems focused on classroom instruction, Bankole told CBS4.