Author: Melanie Asmar Chalkbeat Colorado

Elias Nelson stood at the whiteboard, dry erase marker in hand, facing down a five-digit math problem: 93,213 minus 59,758. He glanced at the boy next to him, who was working on a three-digit problem, and then back to his own trickier equation.  “You gave me a hard one!” Elias said. His tutor smiled. “I…

Denver’s first-ever contract with its principals union raises salaries for most school leaders, forbids them from striking, and gives them more input on big district decisions. Cesar Rivera, the principal at Samuels Elementary and co-president of the Denver School Leaders Association, said he hopes the new agreement results in predictability where there was previously ambiguity,…

School consolidation and closure are coming to Denver. The school board Thursday passed a resolution that directs Denver Public Schools staff to help parents, educators, and neighbors come up with options for reducing the number of small schools in the district. A community engagement process is set to start this fall, with changes expected in…

In the past six years, Denver Public Schools has lost about 5,000 elementary-aged students, district data shows. That’s the equivalent of 16 schools’ worth of kids.  The decline has hit the western and north-central regions of the city especially hard. At a school board meeting last week, the district said it plans to spend next…

Federal coronavirus stimulus dollars will buoy the Denver school district’s $1.2 billion budget next school year in the face of declining enrollment and rising salaries, according to a proposed budget presented to the school board Thursday. Denver Public Schools will avoid the kind of deep spending cuts it made this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Middle and high school students in Denver will have more opportunities to attend class in person after spring break, district officials said Thursday.  All middle and K-8 schools will offer five days of in-person learning by April 19, Denver Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Mike Ramirez told the school board. High schools won’t be required to…

A Denver charter high school focused on hands-on learning will close at the end of this school year after it did not enroll enough students to continue operating. The board of directors of The CUBE High School voted Monday to close the 2-year-old school, which currently serves 142 ninth- and 10th-graders.  Denver schools are funded…