Author: Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado

A new $10 million grant will allow 10 Denver high schools to spend the next two years identifying barriers to graduation for black and Latino students, as well as for students from low-income families – and testing various ways to remove those barriers. To start, “each school is really looking at what is the biggest…

A longstanding Denver student and parent group that is expanding its political power has made its first-ever candidate endorsements. The Padres & Jóvenes Unidos Action Fund has endorsed Tay Anderson, Radhika Nath, and Brad Laurvick for Denver school board. Out of a field of nine candidates, Anderson, Nath, and Laurvick stood out partly for their…

A progressive young teacher who played a high-profile role in February’s teacher strike will be the new leader of the growing Denver teachers union. In a redo of a spring vote that was too close to call, Tiffany Choi comfortably defeated Henry Roman, 54.2% to 45.8%. Roman had been president of the Denver Classroom Teachers…

The final candidate to enter the Denver school board race said she was inspired to run because she can relate to the one in three Denver students learning English as a second language. Natela Manuntseva came to Colorado in 2000 as a refugee from Uzbekistan when she was 12 years old. Her family moved to…

The percentage of new teachers of color hired by Denver schools this year is lower than last year, when the district recruited its most diverse group of new teachers ever. Whereas 30% of new hires last year were teachers of color, only 26% are this year, according to numbers provided by Denver Public Schools. Despite…

An advocacy organization that has spent big over the years to elect pro-reform Denver school board candidates has endorsed three candidates in November’s election:  Alexis Menocal Harrigan, Tony Curcio, and Diana Romero Campbell. Stand for Children Colorado announced its endorsements Friday. A committee of nine parents and community members reviewed questionnaires and interviewed candidates to…

On a day teeming with test scores, it’s possible to tell what the Denver school district is most proud of by where it holds its annual press conference. This year, district leaders stood in the sun outside Dora Moore ECE-8 School, where black and Hispanic students posted some of the highest year-over-year progress on literacy…

In a month where deep-pocketed education organizations announced their endorsements in the Denver school board races, the candidates did not see big cash infusions – yet. That’s not uncommon for this time of year, given that the election is still three months away. According to the latest campaign finance reports, which cover the time period…

After a family went public this spring with the story of their 7-year-old son being handcuffed at school, the Denver district reported that school safety officers had handcuffed students 58 times in the past two years. The alarming statistic prompted the school board to ban the use of handcuffs on elementary school students and discourage…

Denver school officials are exploring building a new high school in the Montbello neighborhood, but it won’t be the comprehensive high school some community members want. Instead, it would be designed to house the five small schools that now share the campus. “This is not relaunching the comprehensive high school,” said Dustin Kress, a senior…