Author: Yesenia Robles, Chalkbeat Colorado

At 15, he made the long, frightening trek across Central America and the U.S.-Mexico border with a smuggler. Then he continued on an even longer journey, in search of his father in Colorado. But what sent William into despair, and depression that pushed him to cut himself, happened in a U.S. holding center for migrant…

The State Board of Education on Thursday gave final orders to Aurora Central High School in its efforts to keep improving student achievement, but only gave the school one year to increase its state ratings. Aurora superintendent Rico Munn had cautioned the state board during a hearing on Wednesday that giving the school just one…

State officials will ask Aurora Central High School to hire a partner with experts in instruction to accelerate the big changes in academic achievement that the school has yet to see. The decision means the school once again has avoided the state’s more drastic measures for improving low-performing schools. The State Board of Education recognized…

Two years of making small improvements, even without producing dramatic results, could be enough to enable Aurora Central High School to fend off deeper involvement of state officials this week. The high school, trying to meet a state deadline for improvement, must show why it deserves more time to boost student achievement. The school wrote…

As the Adams 14 school district goes through major changes – including a new instructional model for English learners and management by a private company – the district is also preparing for a new board. Five people are running for three full-term seats on the board. They include one incumbent, Harvest Thomas, and one former…

A Denver judge on Friday dismissed two union lawsuits that challenged the state’s orders to Adams 14 and Pueblo school districts requiring them to hire an outside manager. David H. Goldberg, a Denver district court judge, ruled that the union failed to establish how the order had caused injury and so lacked grounds to sue.…

In Aurora, voters will select three new board members to lead the city’s school district this November. Five candidates are running to fill three seats on the seven-member school board. There are no incumbents running this election, but two of the candidates, Amber Drevon and Barbara Yamrick, have previously served on the school board. To…

More than 10 years after Colorado passed a law allowing schools to request “innovation status,” giving them flexibility from state laws, district policies, and union contracts, state officials say they don’t know if it’s making an impact on the 100-plus schools that have been granted the status. “I keep going back to ‘does innovation make…