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Schools Invited To Apply For Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Assessment Pilot; Deadline is Jan. 15, 2009
CDE News Release - December 11, 2008
The Colorado Department of Education is inviting schools to apply for the statewide Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Assessment Pilot, an effort to identify the next generation of tests for students in grades eight through 11. |
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"Benchmarking For Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education" Now Available
CDE News Release - December 19, 2008
The Colorado Department of Education announced the availability of"Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education." The report was released today by the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers and Achieve, Inc. |
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Charter school wins $500K in expansion funds
Steamboat Pilot - December 18, 2008
North Routt Community Charter School Director Colleen Poole received an early Christmas gift this year. On Wednesday, the Department of Local Affairs announced the charter school will receive a $500,000 energy impact grant from the state.
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Poudre School District Teams go to Robotics Nationals
The Ft. Collins Coloradoan - December 18, 2008
Six robotics teams from Poudre School District elementary and junior high schools earned top honors at the Colorado First LEGO League Champion-ship held Saturday in Denver.The schools represented nationally are from Preston Junior High School and Liberty Common School, a charter school. |
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FRIDAY FOLDER: A roundup of regional school news
Colorado Springs Gazette - December 18, 2008
Colorado Education Commissioner Dwight D. Jones has appointed Joyce Schuck of Colorado Springs to the board of the state Charter School Institute.
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Granby - East Grand Board of Education rejects charter school's funding request
Sky Hi Daily News - Granby - December 17, 2008
The East Grand Board of Education on Tuesday rejected Indian Peaks Charter School's request for money in lieu of land. |
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31 Flavors of Public Education
YourHub.com - December 16, 2008
Good schools are just like ice-cream. Traditional, magnets, and charters--they are all ice-cream--just different in flavor. Our quality school districts are the parlors where the decadent treats are being offered. |
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Obama Taps Reformer as Education Secretary
Reader's Digest - December 16, 2008
Duncan has also managed to steer a middle ground between Chicago 's education reformers, who stress charter schools and support for No Child Left Behind, ...
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North Star Academy
YourHub.com - December 15, 2008
The North Star story begins with a quest of Highlands Ranch families to create another charter option in that community. Curiously I ask the obvious--why is North Star not in Highlands Ranch? |
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Do Your Homework Before Picking a School-OPINION
Rocky Mountain News - December 14, 2008
Last week, the Colorado Department of Education released SARs into the public. No, not the contagion that ran amok through Asia awhile back; in this case, SARs stands for School Accountability Reports, the official two-page profile of each of Colorado's 1,998 public schools. One thing the data clearly show is that charter schools are an ongoing success.
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Nearly half of Loveland schools get top ranking
The Ft. Collins Coloradoan - December 14, 2008
The report also showed five schools dropping in ratings, including New Vision Charter School's middle school, which earned an "excellent" rating last year. ...
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Our New President Can Improve the Nation's Schools--OPINION
By Richard Barrett--KIPP Denver Collegiate High School
Denver Post - December 12, 2008
Now that the emotional months of the presidential campaign and election are behind us, we should continue to harness this collective energy to address America's urgent challenges, beginning with our education system. I urge President-elect Barack Obama to unite the country around improving schools by focusing on three key areas:
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Re-2 OKs Lake George Charter School contract
Fairplay Flume - December 12, 2008
The Park County Re-2 School District board of education approved the charter contract for the Lake George Charter School at its Dec. 8 meeting.Due to previous problems, the contract approved last year was only for a single year. But improvements have been made to the school, enrollment is up, and there is no reason not to approve the charter for a term of five years, said Re-2 Superintendent Chuck Soper. |
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School Accountability Reports released
Lamar Ledger - December 11, 2008
Washington Elementary and Alta Vista Charter School both scored high on academic performance. Both scored typical for academic growth of students on CSAPs, thus staying where they have been on the annual tests. Both schools made AYP in math and reading as well meeting all target goals. |
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Pinnacle, Regis Partner for Teacher Education Program
Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel - December 4, 2008
Geraghty is a mentor teacher for a new partnership program between Pinnacle Charter in Federal Heights and Regis University in Denver that began in September. Through the partnership, 18 Regis University students working toward a master's degree in education can get the degree and a teaching license in 16 months and more experience than most licenser programs offer. |
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Schools Invited To Apply For Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Assessment Pilot; Deadline is Jan. 15, 2009
CDE News Release - December 11, 2008
The Colorado Department of Education is inviting schools to apply for the statewide Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Assessment Pilot, an effort to identify the next generation of tests for students in grades eight through 11. |
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Number of National Board Certified Teachers Continues to Grow in Colorado
CDE News Release - December 12, 2008
Fifty-seven Colorado teachers achieved National Board Certification in 2008, according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, a 6 percent increase over last year. |
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School Accountability Report deems WCA 'excellent'
The Coloradoan - December 11, 2008
Windsor Charter Academy Elementary School is maintaining its pace of excellence - literally. The elementary school received news Tuesday that it had been given an "excellent" rating by the Colorado Department of Education in its most recent School Accountability Report. The charter school was the only school in the Windsor School District to earn such a distinction. The ratings are based on the Colorado Student Assessment. |
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Report: Charter school teachers paid less
The Fort Collins Coloradoan - December 11, 2008
Teachers at Poudre School District's charter schools are the lowest paid in the district, according to School Accountability Report data released Tuesday. |
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Band, directors and parents are truly amazing
WindsorBeacon.com - December 11, 2008
Then, on Tuesday, Windsor Charter Academy was notified that it was receiving an "excellent" rating in the 2008 School Accountability Report just released by the Colorado Department of Education. It also was named a John Irwin School of Excellence, which honors the top 8 percent of state schools based on overall academic performance. |
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Life takes Visa
Colorado Springs Independent - December 11, 2008
In a Pueblo promotion, the Academy Network - a collection of charter schools in Pueblo and Colorado Springs - offered parents $100 Visa gift certificates and a chance to win a car or thousands in gift cards if they enrolled their kids in a Cesar Chavez school by Oct. 1. That just so happens to be the date of the head count that determines per-pupil state funding for schools.
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Grand County schools earn mixed grades in state reports
Sky Hi Daily News - Granby - December 10, 2008
East Grand Middle, Fraser Valley Elementary, Grand Lake Elementary, Indian Peaks Charter, Middle Park High and West Grand High have at least one thing in common. They each received "high" academic performance scores on their 2007-2008 school accountability reports.
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Emerson Middle School may become a 'space academy'
Colorado Springs Gazette - December 10, 2008
The Edison Learning company did not apply to renew its charter, so the charter school will close at the end of the school year.
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Steamboat schools score well on accountability report
Steamboat Pilot - December 10, 2008
...while Soda Creek Elementary School and North Routt Community Charter School's sixth, seventh and eighth grades were labeled "high." The charter school's first through fifth grades were ranked "average."
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Report cards across Weld remain mostly unchanged
Greeley Tribune - December 10, 2008
Meanwhile, grades nine through 12 of Pawnee Junior/Senior High School as well as grades one through five of Windsor Charter Academy moved from "high" to "excellent" - becoming the only two non-District 6 schools in the county to receive the rating. |
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Woodrow Wilson Teacher Named 'Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year'
Jeffco Public Schools Messenger - December 10, 2008
Congratulations to Woodrow Wilson Academy third-grade teacher Jessica Martinez. She is the winner of a 2008-09 Wal-Mart Teach of the Year award. Martinez is a Jeffco graduate from Pomona High School. Now in her sixth year of teaching, she has also earned a Masters degree from CU Denver. |
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School report cards show little change, offer new measurements
9NEWS.com - December 9, 2008
This year's school report cards are the first to provide information using the Colorado Growth Model, which rates students' academic growth from year-to-year. |
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Littleton Public Schools rated high, excellent
YourHub.com - December 9, 2008
All LPS schools again were rated "excellent," "high," or "average" on 2007-2008 School Accountability Reports. 85 percent rated "excellent" or "high", up from 75 percent last year; 88 percent demonstrated "high" or "typical" academic growth. |
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Greeley-Evans District 6 receives mostly passing grades in new report cards
Greeley Tribune - December 9, 2008
School report cards released by the Colorado Department of Education on Tuesday continue to show a steady trend of improvement for Greeley-Evans School District 6. |
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Dig deep into school performance, data
Colorado Springs Gazette - December 9, 2008
If you think fresh, young teachers have the most to offer your child, you might want to check out The Classical Academy, a charter school in Academy School District 20 with strong academic performance.
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Five SVVSD schools among top 8 percent in state
Longmont Daily Times-Call - December 9, 2008
For the first time, the elementary school at Flagstaff Academy Charter School has been named a John Irwin School of Excellence. Niwot Elementary, a John Irwin winner in 2006 and 2005, received the award for the third time. |
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Bennet possible Obama cabinet pick
Rocky Mountain News - December 9, 2008
"I see him as a pragmatist, not an ideologue," said Alexander Ooms, a founding board member of West Denver Preparatory Charter School. "You're not going to make everybody happy, but I don't think Bennet will make anybody pound the table and cry. Whereas I think Linda Darling- Hammond would." |
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American Academy Charter School
YourHub.com - December 8, 2008
American Academy Charter School reminds me in many ways of Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. You could drive by the building ump-teen times and never know it was there. But once you enter the building you realize the imperative program which is hidden inside. |
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Third Day of Charter Christmas - CSAPs
YourHub.com - December 3, 2008
I am about to expose a huge secret: No charter application is ever submitted with the goal of mediocre academics. Why would anyone ever put the time and effort into creating a school alternative if just striving to be average? |
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3 Colorado Charter Schools Make List of America's Best High Schools
KRDO Colorado Springs - December 6, 2008
Three Colorado charter schools have been recognized in the 2008 list of America's Best High Schools, released today by U.S. News & World Report. Ridgeview Classical Schools in Fort Collins was the highest ranking Colorado school at number 15 on the list. Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette made the list for the second consecutive year at number 69. Both are the only two Colorado schools listed in the top 70.
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Ridgeview Makes Top Schools List
Ft. Collins Coloradoan - December 6, 2008
Students at Ridgeview Classical Schools already believe they are getting the best education, but they just got more proof. Ridgeview, a public charter school in the Poudre School District, was ranked 15th in U.S. News and World Report's list of the top 100 public high schools in the country. |
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Peak to Peak gets third 'top school' honor
Boulder Daily Camera - December 5, 2008
Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette was recognized Friday by U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 100 high schools in the country. |
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Mill Levy Calculations Will Be Sent to Districts Next Week
CDE News Release - December 5, 2008
Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones today said Colorado's 178 local school districts will receive mill levy calculations early next week, following the Colorado Supreme Court order today that allows the Colorado Department of Education to proceed under the terms spelled out in Senate Bill 07-199.
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Parents want charter at Ames
Denver Post - December 5, 2008
Parents at Ames said they would like to open a charter school in the same building for the 2009-10 school year. Diane Leiker, spokeswoman for Littleton Public Schools, said the deadline has passed to submit an application. |
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Charter school buys Longmont property
Boulder County Business Report - December 4, 2008
The Twin Peaks Charter Academy has purchased a new building and land to move its school in Longmont. The public charter school purchased the 150,000-square-foot warehouse building at 345 S. Francis St. and the nine-acre property next door for $8.25 million, according to Boulder County public records. |
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NASA Invites Young Engineers To Student Launch Initiative
Aero-News Network - December 4, 2008
NASA has invited 14 groups of ambitious young rocketeers from 11 middle schools, high schools and youth organizations around the country to light up the sky over North Alabama during NASA's 2008-2009 Student Launch Initiative rocketry challenge. New to the challenge this year are teams from... Cheyenne Mountain Charter Academy in Colorado Springs, CO... |
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Educator prepared to kiss horse
Colorado Springs Gazette - December 4, 2008
Students at The Imagine Classical Academy at Indigo Ranch really want to see their assistant principal kiss a horse. Jeff Rebitski, also known as Mr. Ski, promised he'd lock lips with a horse if the students meet the goal they set for collecting food for Care & Share, the area's food pantry for the needy. |
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Emerson charter could reopen as space, technology school
Colorado Springs Gazette - December 3, 2008
Emerson Middle School could reopen next fall with a space and technology program as a "school of innovation" under new rules approved earlier this year by the Colorado Legislature. |
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Emerson recommended as 'focus school'
Colorado Springs Gazette - December 2, 2008
It has been run as a charter school by the New York-based Edison Learning Company, which did not apply to renew its charter at the school.
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Cash incentives for enrollment may be banned
Pueblo Chieftain - November 27, 2008
The chairman of the House Education Committee isn't pleased with a Pueblo charter school's recent marketing plan to boost student enrollment.
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Creede School Board turns down charter school
South Fork Tines - November 26, 2008
At its November meeting, the Creede School Board unanimously adopted a resolution turning down the Flatirons Academy from offering classes to Creede students during the 2009-10 school year. |
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Justice girls forced to practice outside
Boulder Daily Camera - November 26, 2008
BVSD athletic director Michele DeBerry said Tuesday that the district's obligations for scheduling are first to the host school and then to the district's own schools. Since Justice is a charter school, it comes third on the list. |
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DPS retirement system OK for now
Rocky Mountain News - November 25, 2008
DPS charter schools will feel an impact from market forces. A Nov. 21 letter to charter schools states that their employer pension contribution rate will increase by 3 percent as of Dec. 1. |
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Republican party still alive in Colorado
Examiner.com - November 23, 2008
Example A: The head of security for University Schools, a charter school in Greeley, CO. recently gave a middle school girl (the school operates k-12) a $3 bill that depicts, on the front of the bill, president-elect Barack Obama in a Muslim turbin. According to Ed Clark it was the only form of currency he had in his wallet at the time. The girl was then allowed to pass it around to other students in the lunchroom. ...Thank goodness it was a charter school and the students were probably too smart to buy into their mayor's demagogic idea of a joke. |
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OPINION: Change for the better
Colorado Springs Gazette - November 22, 2008
Change is in the air these days. In Colorado Springs, a new charter school hasn't even opened and it has changed its name. The Thomas MacLaren School started out as Veritas Academy, but took the new name because the architect is embodiment of the school's mission that 'all human beings can know truth, create beauty and practice goodness,'" according to school co-founder Eric Hall. |
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Teacher Pleads Guilty To Attempted Sex Assault
TheDenverChannel.com - November 21, 2008
Ralph Kelly, a teacher at Brighton Collegiate High School, pleaded guilty Friday to attempted sexual assault on student by one in a position of trust. |
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DPS board closes school's doors, opens others
Denver Post - November 21, 2008
A charter school to be run by the Cesar Chavez Academy at a site to be determined. Justice High School - an alternative charter high school for northwest Denver - also was approved. The board denied a charter proposal by Denver Charter Academy and Mile High Academy. |
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DPS board to vote on future of campus sharing
9NEWS.com - November 20, 2008
Denver Public School District leaders say it will put hundreds of empty classrooms around the district to good use. They say $1,500 a year is wasted on each seat that sits empty. |
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KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy wins award
Rocky Mountain News - November 20, 2008
KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, located in southwest Denver, was awarded the Spencer and Julie Penrose Award for the school's work with middle school students from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. |
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Merrifield stays Chairman of House Education Committee
Face The State - Colorado - November 20, 2008
Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, slated to takeover as Speaker of the House in January and a strong advocate of parental rights in education, has appointed well-known charter school adversary Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, to continue his tenure at the helm of the House Education Committee. |
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Charterizers from hell reserve seat for Merrifield
YourHub.com - November 20, 2008
Did hell just freeze over? Speaker of the House, Terrence Carroll, appoints Mike Merrifield to continue at the helm of the House Education Committee. |
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Avon students learn to make healthy choices
Vail Daily News - November 19, 2008
Fifth period at Stone Creek Charter School in Avon, Colorado is coming to a close, and it's seventh grader Laura Claydon's turn to tell the class what she has learned in the past hour. |
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EL POMAR AWARDS: Springs Conservatory honored to the tune of $15000
Colorado Springs Gazette - November 19, 2008
Denver's KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, a public charter school serving middle school students from disadvantaged families, was named the most outstanding nonprofit of the year and received a $50,000 grand prize. |
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Head of House panel replaced; new path on health care cited
Rocky Mountain News - November 19, 2008
Carroll also kept Colorado Springs Rep. Mike Merrifield as chairman of the Education Committee, despite the two having had differences over charter school funding, which Carroll favors and Merrifield often opposes. |
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New charter school approved for D-11
Colorado Springs Gazette - November 18, 2008
A new charter school with a classical core curriculum was approved Tuesday to open next fall in Colorado Springs. The Thomas MacLaren School, formerly called Veritas Academy, will start with grades 6-9 next year and plans to add a high school grade yearly until it has a full 6th grade to 12th grade program.
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Jeffco schools schedule interest sessions
YourHub.com - November 18, 2008
Charter schools like RMAE and Collegiate Academy of Colorado in Littleton have smaller class sizes than neighborhood schools. |
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The second day of charter school Christmas
YourHub.com - November 17, 2008
Unfortunately there are people who would like to un-invite our charter schools. Little comments like "Those charter kids take away from the district kids," and "Charter schools are a bunch of elitist mutineers," have charter school families feel a little like ugly stepchildren. Go figure. |
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More Boulder Valley students open-enroll
Boulder Daily Camera - November 16, 2008
Good press - like when Peak to Peak Charter School was rated the 47th best high school in the nation by U.S. News and World Report last November - can increase the demand for admission slots, Dings said. Many of last winter's applications, he said, were for Peak to Peak. |
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Aspen Community School: A learning community
Aspen Times - November 15, 2008
For nearly 40 years, ACS has existed in Woody Creek as an education alternative for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. But in the process of transforming from the dream of a few parents into a viable charter school, it has had to adapt to today's educational realities - in everything from its business model to its educational model. In some ways, like the kids it teaches, it has grown up.
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Some shocks in Denver Public Schools school-sharing plan
Rocky Mountain News - November 14, 2008
At Smiley Middle School in northeast Denver, parents learned that a charter school serving grades six through 12 would be moving in next fall.
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guest commentary Putting education - not unions - first
Denver Post - November 14, 2008
Of course, not all Democratic legislators are in the pockets of the teachers union hierarchy. It is remarkable, though, to see not one but two legislators without union connections assume the highest positions at our state Capitol. Peter Groff's Democratic peers voted to re-elect him as state Senate president, and Rep. Terrance Carroll was selected to become the new speaker of the House. |
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DPS shared campuses include closure of Rishel
The Denver Post - November 14, 2008
DPS wants to spend upward of $1 million to modify Rishel and add two new programs - KIPP Denver Collegiate High School and the Math & Science Leadership Academy elementary school being proposed by the teachers union. |
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List of schools to share space released tonight
Rocky Mountain News - November 13, 2008
Denver Public Schools leaders will announce tonight which city schools must share their buildings with new programs next fall - and the list contains some surprises.
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DPS unveils campus sharing plan, school closure
9NEWS.com - November 13, 2008
Rishel will then house two new programs. One will be a charter school known as KIPP Denver Collegiate High School. The other school will be a district Innovation Program called the Math and Science Leadership Academy. |
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FRIDAY FOLDER: A roundup of regional school news
Colorado Springs Gazette - November 13, 2008
Harrison School District 2 will hold a community meeting next week so parents and others in the community can get acquainted with Flatirons Charter School,which is seeking to become certified in the district. |
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The first day of charter Christmas
YourHub.com - November 12, 2008
Then we have the charter schools. These public school hybrids are like an entrepreneur program within our own school districts. Let's throw this outfit into the retail analogy. We'll call it the Mom and Pop store. The name is fitting since in most instances charter schools have been created by parents to fill a need within the school district. Charter schools are public schools that are parent driven yet district run. |
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Groff, Carroll selections give hope to school choice supporters
Face The State - November 11, 2008
"If the Democrats are going to be in charge in Colorado, they could not have picked two leaders friendlier to school choice and charter schools," said Ben DeGrow, a policy analyst for the Golden-based Independence Institute.
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State's charter schools abuzz over Obama
Rocky Mountain News - November 10, 2008
Hundreds of charter school advocates who gathered in an Aurora hotel last week for the Colorado League of Charter Schools' annual conference were buzzing about Obama's support of charters, despite the criticism it has drawn from some teachers' union members.
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Denver plans shared-school campuses
The Denver Post - November 9, 2008
The highest-rated middle school in New York City is a charter school of 280 students that shares the top floor of a historically struggling public school. The two institutions of learning could not be more different in substance and style. Yet they peacefully coexist as a shining example of New York's shared-campus concept. |
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Douglas County, 3A, 3B...3C?
YourHub.com - November 8, 2008
Our charter schools are parent driven, but district run. With the help of people like you and me, nearly 3,500 kids in Douglas County are getting a high quality education. With parent volunteers and creative solutions many charter schools are built, filled, and operating on a shoestring budget--yet yielding superb students that are ready for higher education and a bright future. The 2006-07 assessment reports are available on the DCSD website and it will show you that not a single student dropped out of one of our district's charter schools.
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Kids turn out for Obama in Eagle County
Vail Daily News - November 8, 2008
Students at the Eagle County Charter Academy held their own private election. Each class at the school was a "state" in the electoral college.
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Despite across the board losses, GOP holds on to State Board of Ed.
Face The State - November 7, 2008
Littleton said she hoping Schaffer was headed to Washington and thought Hudak could potentially do a lot more damage to the school choice and charter school movement in the state legislature that she would have on the board. Littleton said she considers school choice and charter schools to be one of the most important reasons she is on the board.
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Carroll, Groff to head Colorado legislature
Rocky Mountain News - November 7, 2008
One group that was excited at the election was the Colorado League of Charter Schools. Carroll has broken from his party to sponsor and support pro-charter bills, and league president Jim Griffin said he feels such schools will be safe from attack with Carroll and Groff in charge. |
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FRIDAY FOLDER: A roundup of regional school news
Colorado Springs Gazette - November 6, 2008
The Colorado Department of Education is offering $1,600 teaching stipends to those who have earned certification through the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. Teachers who work in school districts, charter schools or through Boards of Cooperative Educational Services are eligible. |
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Despite housing lag, schools see growth
The Johnstown Breeze - November 6, 2008
According to Superintendent Dr. Martin Foster, Re-5J has received an application to join the district from Flat Iron Academy, an online charter school. |
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Congressional roundup: Two new Jews, but no rabbi
Jewish Telegraphic Agency - November 5, 2008
During the campaign, Polis emphasized his background as a champion of public education-he is a founder of two Colorado charter schools and a six-year member of the state Board of Education. |
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DPS aim: 'Capture' more kids
Rocky Mountain News - November 3, 2008
Of the 1906 high school-age students in the area, about 1400 attend JFK, and another 400 attend nearby Southwest Early College Charter School.
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