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DPS seeking new school proposals

By Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 11, 2008 at 12:03 a.m.

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Think you have what it takes to create a better school? Then Denver Public Schools would like to hear from you.

Monday, DPS sent out RFPs - requests for proposals - for new schools to be created as part of the Denver New Schools Initiative.

"It is our hope that the release of the RFP . . . will encourage the many talented leaders we have in this district, as well as others, to create high-performing new schools in Denver," said DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet.

While DPS is looking for proposals for all types of new schools, officials would like to address two critical needs:

* The improvement and expansion of educational opportunities for middle school students (grades six to eight).

In the 2006 testing cycle, more students scored "unsatisfactory" on the eighth-grade math CSAP test than "proficient" or "advanced," and that was true for 87 percent of DPS' 15 middle schools.

Additionally, 42 percent of parents of middle school students sent their children to schools other than their neighborhood school, leading to declining enrollment.

* Creation of programs that will help high school students graduate and prevent them from dropping out.

The new schools can either be "innovation schools," which are operated as district schools, or charter schools, which are independently operated public schools.

Letters of intent are due April 18 and final proposals on May 16. For information, call the Office of New Schools at 720-423-1234. The RFP can be found at planning.dpsk12.org/ newschools/ RFP/Default.aspx.

Comments

  • March 11, 2008

    10:14 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    BetterEducated writes:

    Am I the only one that thinks this is a little bizarre even for DPS?
    While I admire the modesty of the District's approach, I think it's appalling that -- after spending hundreds of millions of dollars supposedly studying and obtaining funding for new schools while we've been at work on other things like Survival -- the DPS now wants the taxpaying populace to design its schools ourselves too.