Northwest Working Group

Transcription

1 Northwest Working Group Pros and Cons: Facilities This document is a verbatim compilation of all pros and cons received from the members of the Northwest Working Group through Sunday, May 18.» Option A: No change; DMHS gains a permanent placement at Smedley Campus (No hay cambio; DMHS recibe un ubicación permanente en el campo de Smedley) Pros TV building requires no additional modifications/construction; DMJSHS at Smedley needs some work, but any school/program placed in there would also need this done. TV building has sufficient space/rooms to expand (Add additional classroom per grade) as well as dedicated rooms for intervention/sped/reading Partners even discounting Simpatico program on 3 rd floor; DMJSHS at Smedley has no desire to expand and would be content to use the smaller facility; Denver Online collocated at Smedley still wouldn t exceed capacity. DMJSHS will continue providing DPS busses from 4 feeder schools to reduce parking needs. DMJSHS will maintain current Smedley playground structure for use by community; community will also benefit from DMJSHS farmer s markets. Shared location with Denver Online allows for use of auditorium, gym, art room, cafeteria by both schools. The flexibility in attendance for Denver Online allows DMJSHS to have freedom of movement for the shared amenities. Retaining location would allow continued growth of Trevista families to have sense of community; stability would set up the school for growth towards Blue. Denver Online also would have a permanent home, and is eager to partner with both the community at-large and DMJSHS on service projects and educational learning opportunities. Quigg Newton families would not have to commute further. Nor cross Pecos. Horace Mann facility perceived as safer than Smedley for elementary students: space, fencing, proximity to police. Trevista remains in its home with no disruption. Trevista has room to grow, improve. DMJSHS finds stability for its students. DMJSHS is already making the move to Smedley for Smedley supports the ability of DMJSHS and Denver Online to support each other by making meals and dance classes. DMJSHS has a facility with two entrances and two hallways. Helpful for the four Montessori feeder school communities to know what the program will be placed. Space use planning already in place. Smedley supports the ability of DMJSHS and Denver Online to support each other by making meals and dance classes. Consistency for students and staff. Buildings fit current and future needs of all 3 school communities. Room for growth of elementary school at Trevista. Allows for Denver Online and DMHS to have a permanent home to support their students.

2 CONS There is an opportunity for Denver Online and Denver Montessori to partner with community, adding valuable programming services and events designed to enrich the community and school experience. All schools happy with facility and placement. DMJSHS access to cafeteria to prepare food for both schools. Great co-location option for DMJSHS and Denver Online, great teamwork between schools. Trevista has room for the extra programs needed. Stability for all schools. All schools happy with facility and placement DMJSHS access to cafeteria to prepare food for both schools. Great co-location option for DMHS and Denver Online, great teamwork between schools Trevista has room for the extra programs needed Stability for all schools DMJHS would have a building that serves their primary program needs (garden, small size) and allows for collaboration between Denver Montessori and the Denver Online school. Trevista has a building that would allow them to grow to their desired capacity of students as well as their program offerings without overcrowding. Trevista remains accessible to the Quigg Newton community. This is important because mobility is a concern for this community. It also allows the Trevista students to remain close to the support partners like The Bridge project, Boys & Girls Club and Aztlan Rec Center. The current leadership and school communities prefer this option. The affective needs elementary program has a location that is close to the middle school option (Skinner) Some perception from neighborhood that placement of Trevista inside Horace Mann is too close in proximity to the projects. Leaving Trevista as an elementary is a loss of a middle school space in NW Denver, leading to increased pressure on Strive and Skinner. NW Denver is on the brink of a middle school boom. The district's projection of only 33 more middle school students in the Trevista / Skinner district by 2020 is off by an exponential factor. There are 16 kids within a block radius of my house at 44th and Wyandot who will be in middle school in 2020, 13 of them are new arrivals in the last two years. I feel DPS needs to update its middle school projections for the Skinner / Trevista boundary. Middle school space and facilities in NW Denver is a huge issue among parents I speak with. There is a desire to unify the diversity of schools in the NW region - kids on my block are going to six different elementary schools in the area - with a neighborhood middle school. This is the most critical issue facing our educational facilities in NW Denver, in my opinion. Parking issues and neighborhood impacts with two high schools positioned in an elementary school - Smedley - that has 18 parking spots. Lots of neighborhood kids use Chaffee Park. Many parents in the vicinity - where I live - are uneasy with the idea of high school students driving to and from school around the park. Also parents are concerned they may lose access to the Smedley playgrounds. DPS district spending taxpayer money to retrofit an elementary school to accommodate older students when an under-utilized larger school built for older students is six blocks away. The waste of resources runs deep here: In one year before DPS closed Smedley - the district spent $552,000 on three new "learning landscape" playgrounds at Smedley, which will remain dormant if the building is used for junior high and high school students. While the size of the Smedley campus will provide opportunities for the growth of DMJSHS and Denver Online, the building will not facilitate the growth of Trevista.

3 If Trevista doesn t realize its growth numbers, there is a risk that the school could be co-located with another program. If the greater Sunnyside Neighborhood does not have buy in to the decision, it could negatively affect Trevista s ability to grow their student population. The Sunnyside Neighborhood group seems to feel strongly that the location is an impediment for some families. Trevista will remain segregated, no matter that is now a green school Due to the closure of the Trevista middle school, if DMHS remains in Smedley, it will create a middle school problem for the entire NW Denver area. Smedley is not a high school facility. Smedley will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate to a facility suitable for older kids Smedley does not have the required parking, burdening the neighborhood with extra parking and traffic DMHS does not serve the neighborhood DMHS does not have neighborhood support. In fact many of the neighbors who live adjacent to the school have no idea that the school is even going in the building next year. Takes away resources from the community, e.g. plans to use chaffee park for their frisbee team This scenario makes absolutely no financial sense, both the Horace Mann bldg as well as the Smedley bldg are underutilized Due to the District policy of co-locating schools to maximize the efficiency of space, Trevista WILL be co-located Trevista remains at the farthest edge of the elementary school boundary, and WILL remain segregated and ignored by the district The forced rush decision for the DMHS move to Smedley did not allow for any community process General Notes & Reflections (Notas y Reflexiones) I feel like option A is really the best option but that it will be important for the Sunnyside Neighborhood group to be able to support the final decision. Their voice in the community and lack of support could be detrimental to the hard work that Trevista has already done. I would like to note that I am concerned that if Trevista isn t able to grow fast enough that it is at risk for being co-located with another school. I have heard them say that they do not want this to happen and believe that it would have a negative effect on their community. I need further clarification on (Necesito mas claridad en las siguientes preguntas) Would the Horace Mann building be a candidate for co-location if Trevista maintained is student body size rather than grew it? How does the district decide which locations are options for colocation? Sunnyside community continues to have very large choice-out rate; how will DPS address perceptions of Trevista? (Marketing like Skinner?)

4 » Option B: DMHS and Denver Online move to Horace Mann; Trevista Elementary moved to Smedley (DMHS y Denver Online se mudan a Horace Mann; Trevista se muda a Smedley) PROS CONS DPS can work with City of Denver to alleviate traffic issues at Pecos. Smedley remains an elementary school, drawing students from the middle-class neighborhoods of Sunnyside / Highlands and the Quigg Newton housing. The vibrancy will build a neighborhood elementary school that could unify the neighborhood and break down the barriers that separate Sunnyside from Quigg Newton. Trevista returns to its original design as a middle school / high school, which can follow the Skinner model and hopefully emerge as a vibrant magnet drawing middle school students from across NW Denver, adding to NW Denver's options for middle schools and creating a neighborhood school It makes the Sunnyside Neighborhood group happy for now. The elementary school is more centrally located within the Sunnyside neighborhood. Trevista would guarantee that they would not be co-located with another school. Trevista would be in a school building that was designed to be an elementary school. Allows the Horace Mann bldg to be opened up to a middle school which is desperately needed in NW Denver. Saves hundreds of thousands in required upgrades for DMHS Desegregation Better integrates the neighborhood by moving to a more central location It provides equity to all the families by making it more equidistant to all of the community A centralized school becomes both the geographic and cultural center for the community helping the overall integration of the community A compelling reason for parents (who have choiced out) to give TreVista Elementary a chance Neighborhood supported Corrects the wrong that was inflicted upon our community in 2007 with the closure of Smedley and Remington. Since 1909, children from east of Pecos travelled to Remington and Smedley without issue Smedley is an elementary school building and better suited for younger children, than Horace Mann Trevista at Smedley will attract more families to the school Protects the elementary school from risk of co-location with a middle school or high school Current Trevista families do not want the relocation. Low income families from Quigg Newton would have to commute/transport farther to school; own fewer cars; need to cross Pecos (busy street). Chaffee park loiterers would be disruptive. Change of location will disturb Trevista sense of community; may impact growth/proficiency measures due to newness. Lack of available spaces in Smedley for Trevista s SPED/Intervention/book rooms/literacy lab/dance studio/computer lab. Move would not impact total FRL rates.

5 Moves two actual programs versus collocating a dual language middle school that doesn t even exist with a program (DMJSHS) that has repeatedly said the Horace Mann facility is not appropriate. Even in schools such as Edison (38%) and Brown (45%) FRL, there is perception of haves vs have nots and issues with representation; a move will not solve that just by the fact of moving. DMJSHS is shuffled again, potentially hindering its ability to lure and retain students. Trevista loses its building. I also wonder how much of Trevista's success is credited to a facility. The students, teachers and staff will make the move together. I can't help but think that Trevista will thrive in a new location just as much as its thrives at its old location DMSJHS has indicated that this building will not serve their primary program needs. Specifically the lack of dedicated garden space and the size of the building are in conflict with the basic design of their program. The current Trevista leadership and community do not want to move and believe that it will impede their goal of becoming a blue school. If Trevista s current growth trajectory continues, they would outgrow the Smedley facility in a couple of years. The size of the Trevista building is not conducive for the programmatic needs of Denver Online or DMJSHS. Flexibility plus small programs and large space equals safety and suspension concerns. Families at Trevista will have to move again to a place that is inconvenient for safety reasons. Proximity to resources is unable to fit our current and future needs. General Notes & Reflections (Notas y Reflexiones) SUNI Education claims this would desegregate the school; however, you can t force people to choose in. I am unclear, however, how the larger facility a few blocks away is a hindrance to the DMJSHS mission. I need further clarification on (Necesito mas claridad en las siguientes preguntas) Nothing listed.