McAuliffe International Middle School will have at least three new staff members this year: another counselor, a full-time psychologist, and a therapy dog.

The additional staff, plus a new wellness center, are part of a fresh emphasis on mental health for the 1,100 students at Denver鈥檚 most popular middle school, Principal Kurt Dennis said during a May visit.

The mental health programs, plus renovations to the school鈥檚 nearly 90-year-old building, will be paid for by $340,000 newly at Dennis鈥檚 disposal for the 2017鈥�18 school year as part of Denver鈥檚 innovation schools program.

Denver, nationally known for its portfolio school model, offers a spectrum of oversight models for its schools, from 101 traditional district-run schools to 56 charters freed from most district regulations. The district鈥檚 47 innovation schools, including McAuliffe, land somewhere in between.

鈥淵ou have a bevy of choices in the Denver Public Schools. Good choices and great options for families is core to our portfolio strategy,鈥� said Jennifer Holladay, the district鈥檚 executive director of portfolio management.

A 2008 Colorado law allows school leaders, in agreement with district and state officials, to seek exemptions from some regulations and collective bargaining agreements, as they set up innovative school models. It also gives school leaders more autonomy over budgets.

The innovation setup, which Dennis called the 鈥渂est of both worlds,鈥� lets him use the support services a big district like Denver offers for the things he would rather not spend time worrying about, like transportation, legal assistance, HR, and food services.

But for 鈥渢hings that really matter,鈥� like staffing, curriculum, calendars, and now budget, he makes the call.

鈥淎s a school leader, I can focus on what鈥檚 important, but I also have the autonomy to make the decisions that I feel are best for my community,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think the district recognizes [that with] 100,000 students in the city of a million people, you can鈥檛 centrally control that.鈥�

The arrangement is a stark difference from the school Dennis previously led in the Denver suburbs.

鈥淓verything we did was micro-managed and second-guessed at central administration,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檇 get handed initiatives or be given directives to do things that you maybe didn鈥檛 believe in, or that you didn鈥檛 think were best for your community or your staff, and yet you still had to execute it, knowing it was going to fail or knowing that it was going to cause problems or knowing that you didn鈥檛 believe in it.鈥�

Choice beyond charters or district schools

The origins of portfolio districts can be traced back to a in 1990 studying the characteristics that made certain New York City high schools excellent, said Jordan Posamentier, deputy policy director at the Center for Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington. Hill founded CRPE in 1993.

The first districts to adopt the strategy mostly came to the idea after some big shift, like a natural disaster (think the New Orleans Recovery School District implemented after Hurricane Katrina) or mayoral control of schools, said Shannon Murtagh, a research analyst at CRPE. Now, though, district leaders have seen the strategy鈥檚 success elsewhere and recognize it as an option to improve outcomes for students, she added.

(Watch 蜜桃影视 Documentary: Big Gains in New Orleans鈥� Schools After Katrina, Big Goals for Next Decade)

Each district sets up its portfolio model slightly differently, but at its root, the portfolio district is based on the idea that students will be most successful when the adults closest to them are empowered to make decisions. It also requires at least some level of school choice, high-quality information for families, and adjustments to schools that aren鈥檛 performing well.

In Denver, school choice means more than just charters and district-run schools, and there is an increasing variety of educational approaches within the broader innovation-school umbrella.

Individual campuses can petition to become innovation schools.

Innovation management organizations, like McAuliffe鈥檚, run two or more schools under the supervision of an executive principal who can pool resources across campuses but still reports through the district leadership chain. Dennis opened a second campus in 2016鈥�17 with a sixth-grade class.

The third model is an innovation zone. This district鈥檚 first, the , is going into its second year. A nonprofit oversees four elementary schools, helping to protect school leaders鈥� autonomy and provide additional philanthropic dollars.

Innovation zones elsewhere have been used as a school turnaround strategy, but that鈥檚 not the case with the Luminary Learning Network. Each falls into a different category on Denver鈥檚 five-tiered school rating system. They have different focuses academically and serve different student populations. 听

鈥淚f you walk into an LLN school, you will not see consistency among the four, but what you will see is that they have additional resources and additional autonomy over how they use those,鈥� said Jessica Roberts, the network鈥檚 executive director.

Each is using its additional budget, which worked out to about $460 per student, or about $200,000 more for each school, in different ways, too. One school has students with severe medical needs, so it hired a nurse. Another chose to invest in . 听

The network also changed the relationship between school principals and the district. Previously, instructional coaches were in charge of both assistance for and evaluation of principals, a situation Roberts said made the coaches simultaneously good cop and bad cop.

鈥淧eople weren鈥檛 getting great coaching out of their instructional superintendent for fear of, 鈥極K, well, if I tell her about how I鈥檓 struggling with this, I鈥檓 going to do bad on my evaluation,鈥� 鈥� Roberts said.

Now, the instructional coach just coaches, while Roberts and a team of outside experts do evaluations. Each school in the network has pledged to move up one band on the city鈥檚 school performance framework within three years, and the school that鈥檚 already in the top category overall, Creativity Challenge Community, has pledged to improve specific areas where it isn鈥檛 excelling.

Roberts also provides a buffer between the district and principals on compliance issues, giving them more time at school and reducing the number of emailed compliance requests from more than 130 per year to about one a month, she said.

Not every student in Denver will select a charter, and although Denver has done a good job incorporating choice for all students, Roberts said, 鈥渨e鈥檙e still not getting there with every student.鈥�

鈥淲e have to be innovative and think about how can we really, from the inside out, execute change,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his was one way we figured out how to do it.鈥�

Breaking down the bureaucracy

Dennis, the leader of McAuliffe, and Alex Magana, the leader of Grant Beacon, another innovation management organization, considered joining the innovation zone, he said. They decided they had enough regulatory autonomy, though, so instead asked for more budget authority 鈥� and they got it.

Allowing principals more rein over regulations and budgets means reshuffling, and sometimes laying off, bureaucratic staff in the central office.

鈥淲别鈥檙别 all aligned and everybody wants to do whatever they can to have positive student results. The big problem is breaking down a bureaucracy and doing things differently,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淚t really is just change.鈥�

District officials, though, are embracing that freedom for schools: The budget autonomy that McAuliffe and the Luminary Learning Network schools have will be expanded to all innovation schools for the 2018鈥�19 school year.

Traditional district-run schools may seek some autonomy, too, in areas including curriculum, assessments, and teacher professional development, Holladay said.

鈥淲别鈥檙别 not shying away at all from this idea that school leaders need resources to execute their designs well and get the services they need,鈥� Holladay said. 鈥淓mpowering our leaders to make decisions at the building level is a core part of the portfolio strategy, too.鈥�

The Denver teachers union sued the district over its moves to create new schools as innovation schools 鈥� including McAuliffe 鈥� 听rather than using the law to convert old schools. Conversion to an innovation school requires the approval of 60 percent of the school鈥檚 faculty, and the union had argued it was unfair to hire teachers after the innovation plan had been approved,听. This May, four of the seven members of the state鈥檚 highest court sided with the district.

Several schools have applied to join the Luminary Learning Network, which has a three-year contract with the district, and leaders expect to add at least one in the fall, Roberts said. She also expects DPS to do a new call for zones later this year.

Looking forward, the school district will continue to shape its portfolio to try to close achievement gaps, Holladay said.

鈥淲别鈥檙别 a school district where many of our children are still not in schools that are providing the kinds of opportunities that kids need,鈥� Holladay said. 鈥淭hat is the primary driver of continuing both with the portfolio strategy and 鈥� innovation in our district more broadly 鈥� thinking differently of how we can provide better services to kids as a system of schools, as a family of schools.鈥�

The Carnegie Corporation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provide financial support to the Denver Public Schools Foundation, the Center for Reinventing Public Education, and 蜜桃影视. The Walton Family Foundation provides financial support to the Luminary Learning Network, the Center for Reinventing Public Education, and 蜜桃影视.

Nearly every student in Leah Renzi鈥檚 third-period math class had his or her phone out that Monday morning in May 鈥� intentionally.

Renzi was leading her 10 students through a Kahoot! math game online. Students matched common phrases from word problems to their mathematical functions.

鈥淟ess than鈥� was easy. All the students knew that would indicate subtraction. 鈥淒ivided鈥� obviously indicated division. Some were trickier, though: only one student knew 鈥渉ow many more鈥� meant subtraction, rather than addition.

The lesson was vital for the students 鈥� high schoolers with limited English proficiency 鈥� ahead of standardized testing the next day. Unlike English tests, math tests, even the ones full of word problems, aren鈥檛 modified for students still learning the language.

鈥淚 know you get upset and skip word problems鈥� even though you know the math, Renzi told her students.

Renzi previously taught at both a college prep high school and a dropout prevention program. Now she teaches students from 12 countries. Some can barely add and subtract; others can do advanced algebra.

They鈥檙e students at the Lowry campus of the New America School, a charter network focused on at-risk high school students up to age 21, either new immigrants with limited English and sometimes little to no education at all, and those who have experienced failure and struggled in other schools.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not a lot of schools in Colorado that are really targeting that kind of population, particularly at the high school level,鈥� Principal Annie Trujillo told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淲hen a student turns 18 they鈥檙e pretty much done, and high schools will often start to weed them out, for lack of better words, earlier than that, if they鈥檙e not on track to graduate.鈥�

Not at New America.

Emphasis on English

Jared Polis, now a U.S. congressman and candidate for governor, and other Denver leaders started New America in 2004 to help new immigrant students and other academically underserved students learn the skills they need to succeed in the U.S.

(74 Interview: Colorado Rep. (and Gov. Hopeful) Jared Polis on Denver Schools, ESSA & Special Education)

Lowry educates a larger population of immigrant students than the other two New America schools in greater Denver, said Trujillo, better known by the students as 鈥淢iss Annie.鈥� New America has two other campuses in New Mexico and one in the works in Las Vegas.

A little more than a third of Trujillo鈥檚 409 students are either refugees or immigrants (defined as having come to the United States within the past three years).

(蜜桃影视: As Immigration Battles Heat Up Across the U.S., California District Faces Its Own Refugee Crisis)

Another third are immigrants who have been in the country longer, or who have moved in and out of the U.S. over their academic careers. The remaining students have dropped out or are at risk of doing so and, despite having lived in the U.S. for many years, often don鈥檛 have strong skills in either English or their native language.

Given its student population, the school emphasizes English language skills.

Each student鈥檚 English language and math ability are assessed when they enroll; those with the lowest skills start with an intensive newcomer program that runs four hours a day. They then progress through several levels of English instruction; at Level 2, they begin so-called sheltered classes, which make language modifications to help students with more limited English skills, in social studies, math, and science. In order to graduate, students must progress to the third level after newcomer, ELD-3, which usually takes at least two or three years to reach.

In one May ELD-3 class, students from eight or nine different countries by Trujillo鈥檚 count studied Tears of a Tiger, a book about the death of a high school student in a car accident, and wrote poems connected to the text.

Joseline Ortega, 22, came to the U.S. from El Salvador in 2013 and didn鈥檛 speak any English. She graduated this year and hopes to continue on to community college, eventually entering the medical profession.

Teachers at the school are more like friends, she said, calling English instructor Lisa Collins 鈥渕ore like a mother.鈥�

Murisa Mahirwe is 20 and moved to Colorado from Rwanda in the summer of 2015 and started at New America that August after a friend recommended it. She likes math.

鈥淚f you know math, everything is easier,鈥� she said.

To be considered an alternative education campus in Colorado, at least 90 percent of the student body must meet at least one of 16 high-risk factors, like being overage and under-credited, having a gang affiliation, or being habitually truant, pregnant, or parenting.

At Lowry鈥檚 campus, 94 percent of students met at least one of those criteria as of May. Numbers at the other two Colorado campuses are greater. About 37 percent of students system-wide have three or more high-risk factors.

Nate Melson, a health and physical education instructor, has been at New America for eight years.

鈥淚 grew up in a high school where we were all the same,鈥� he said. 鈥� We really celebrate diversity here.鈥�

Student lapses in attendance are tough to deal with, he said. Administrators understand that progress, not perfection, is the goal, while trying to keep the bar high and teach students they can do anything they want to, he added.

Freshman Brian Villalabos, who was taking an advising class led by Melson, came to New America so he can 鈥済raduate ready.鈥� He鈥檇 like to go to college for 鈥渟omething related to power鈥� like petroleum or chemical engineering.

School leaders make practical concessions to help students.

The school day at the Lowry campus runs from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Thursday, so students can take classes during the day or at night to accommodate jobs or parenting responsibilities. Fridays are reserved for extra remedial support for students who need it and professional development for teachers.

The schools also run on a quarter system, so students who stay for one nine-week period can earn credit for that work, even if they have to drop out the next quarter. The first quarter in the 2017鈥�18 school year started Aug. 7 and runs through Oct. 12.

Officials will enroll students at the start of any quarter, which provides more options for students but means lost revenue for students who weren鈥檛 enrolled during the annual Oct. 1 headcount. Colorado only pays for students to attend public schools through age 21, but New America officials will shuffle funds or increase class sizes to allow 22-year-olds to stay on if they鈥檙e close to graduating, Superintendent Dominic DiFelice said.

And although there are flexible options for students, staff work hard to make sure that if students do need to leave, they come back, tracking them down to re-enroll sometimes three or four times.

鈥淲e feel very strongly that a big part of what we do is to re-engage them and bring them back and keep working with them,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淭his is sort of a last shot for a lot of students.鈥�

Nearly all the students have a desire to continue their educations, Trujillo said. The students who do progress usually go on to community college or to learn a trade; those who go straight to work usually do so out of financial necessity.

鈥淎ll have an aspiration and a goal to get to postsecondary one day,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey all want to do other things [with] their lives.鈥�

鈥楢 very real fear鈥�

The election of Donald Trump, who campaigned on a hard-line immigration crackdown and building a wall on the country鈥檚 southern border, has affected the New America school, Trujillo said.

鈥淭here鈥檚 concern, there鈥檚 very real fear, there鈥檚 families that have been displaced and/or plans have changed,鈥� she said.

Several staff members had 鈥渦nafraid educator鈥� posters on their desks or classroom doors, a sign they鈥檒l stand up for undocumented students.

A few students have left this year, but in most cases, it has meant that students who would鈥檝e stayed in the U.S. after graduation will return to their home countries, Trujillo said.

Both Denver and nearby Aurora have wrestled recently with their 鈥渟anctuary city鈥� status, a label that generally means local law enforcement doesn鈥檛 share information about undocumented immigrants it arrests with federal officials.

Denver officials generally abide by the conditions Attorney General Jeff Sessions in late July said would be required to receive Justice Department grants, but two city council members introduced legislation to stop doing so and expand other protections for undocumented immigrants, . The Aurora City Council recently .

Public schools in the U.S. must enroll any school-age student, regardless of their immigration status, in keeping with a . Officials are barred from asking about students鈥� immigration status, but many will disclose it to staff, often in the course of completing college financial aid applications, Trujillo said.

(蜜桃影视: California Assembly Passes Sanctuary Bills Shielding K-12, College Students From Immigration Enforcement)

Staff have held 鈥渒now your rights鈥� sessions for parents and community members. Going forward, they鈥檒l 鈥渂e more intentional with our recruitment and reaching out to these community members so they feel, again, that they have a safe place in the community and shouldn’t be afraid,鈥� Trujillo said.

Better but not perfect

It鈥檚 hard to set accountability standards for alternative education schools, experts said.

鈥淲hat happens in a lot of alternatives is you have situations where they鈥檙e either held to the exact same standards as a regular high school 鈥� or they鈥檙e held to no standards,鈥� said Cheryl Almeida, research director at Jobs for the Future, where she was the lead author of a .

Holding alternative education programs to the same standards as traditional schools isn鈥檛 realistic, given the challenges many students bring. But neither should campuses be allowed to fail the vulnerable students who attend.

鈥淧art of the work for alternative schools is being able to have the kinds of communications that really allow people to understand the population and what its success is. They鈥檙e too often looked at as not successful,鈥� Almeida said.

(蜜桃影视: In D.C.鈥檚 Revamped 鈥極pportunity Academies,鈥� There Are No Forgotten Students on Graduation Day)

A 60 percent graduation rate, for example, would be abysmal by general standards, enough to force state intervention under the Every Student Succeeds Act, but is 鈥渞eally good鈥� for an alternative school, and is providing a way to re-engage young people, she said. The Lowry campus has the best six-year graduation rate of the three Colorado campuses, at 31.4 percent.

Colorado is something of a leader in the area.

Alternative education campuses, like traditional schools, are measured based on student proficiency on test scores and growth on those tests, plus factors like graduation rates and attendance. But their measures on those tests are compared with other alternative education campuses, not against all schools.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a perfect system, but it鈥檚 better than being compared to every traditional school in the state,鈥� DiFelice, the superintendent, said.

The Lowry campus and Thornton campus were rated as 鈥減riority improvement鈥� schools, the third of four school-rating types in Colorado, just ahead of a required turnaround plan, in 2016. The third Colorado campus earned an 鈥渋mprovement鈥� rating, the second of four categories, meaning it isn鈥檛 meeting expectations.

鈥淭he state sees the value and necessity of our schools,鈥� Trujillo said. 鈥淲e made changes to our framework that we鈥檙e held accountable to last year and this year, and this year looking at growth perhaps in a different way than we have.鈥�

New America鈥檚 schools in New Mexico are for the most part included in that state鈥檚 A鈥揊 rating system, DiFelice said. The campus in Albuquerque got a D, while the one in Las Cruces was rated a C.

Colorado is 鈥渨ay ahead of the curve on how we should be judging schools that have a very high-risk population,鈥� he said.

That said, there could still be improvements, DiFelice argued.

He thinks Colorado should create a separate entity to oversee alternative education.

Many districts and charter authorizers know alternative schools are necessary and serve a special group of students well, but are wary of taking on a school whose state ratings might drag down overall district numbers, potentially putting it in danger of state intervention.

鈥淚f you鈥檝e got an entity that doesn鈥檛 have that kind of responsibility, then more of our schools would surface and meet the needs of more kids that are [not being served] in the state,鈥� he said.

Correction:听University Prep鈥揂rapahoe Street听was one of four Denver schools rated 鈥渉ighly distinguished鈥� by the state at the end of the 2015-16 school year. The number of Denver schools recognized for that achievement was incorrect in an earlier version of the story.

Denver, Colorado

When this year鈥檚 state test scores were announced in Colorado in August, families and teachers at University Prep鈥揝teele Street had more than a little celebrating to do. Steele Street鈥檚 growth in math was the highest in Colorado in the 2016鈥�17 school year and its growth in reading the highest in Denver.

An astonishing feat for any school, to be sure. But all the more so because last year was the Denver public charter school鈥檚 first as a turnaround 鈥� a school under new management because its old leaders had failed to serve students adequately.

In 2015鈥�16, just 7 percent of students at what was then called Pioneer Charter School met or exceeded expectations on the state tests in math, and 6.4 percent did in reading. By contrast, last spring 42.5 percent of students were at or above grade level in math and 37 percent in English. That translates to gains of 36 and 31 percentage points, respectively.

鈥淭heir growth in the first year was nothing short of phenomenal,鈥� Denver Superintendent Tom Boasberg said. 鈥淎nd it was particularly striking how strong growth was among our highest-needs students.鈥�

His colleague, Jennifer Holladay, executive director of the Denver Public Schools鈥� Portfolio Management Team, is quick to add that growth was especially strong for University Prep students learning English 鈥� a group the district has historically underserved. Critics frequently accuse charter schools of failing to enroll their fair share of the neediest students, but 71 percent of Steele Street students are English language learners, more than twice the overall district rate.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e flipped the gap,鈥� Holladay says. 鈥淭he language learners absolutely killed it.鈥�

The scores are proof it was a good decision to turn the fledgling school over to the educators who run its highly successful neighbor, University Prep鈥揂rapahoe Street, Boasberg added. Both University Prep campuses serve a majority of students living in poverty and struggling to keep up academically while learning English.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an important reminder that when you have a team of teachers and leaders that work very thoughtfully, and with skill and love, of the remarkable things they can accomplish,鈥� said the superintendent, whose district encompasses 199 schools and 92,000 students.

(蜜桃影视 Interview: Denver Schools Chief Talks 鈥楾rump Effect,鈥� School Closures, and Teacher Performance Pay)

To understand the victory that capped 鈥淵ear One鈥� of Steele Street鈥檚 turnaround, he and the educators in the school say, it鈥檚 instructive to look to the 2015鈥�16 school year. District and University Prep leaders dubbed it 鈥淵ear Zero,鈥� the year they intentionally set aside for the transition from one school model to another.

For fifth-grade teacher Andrew Cahalan, Year Zero was pivotal. He moved to Denver the year before to teach at Pioneer, only to have things fall apart. Students were struggling and leadership was in churn. A few months into his new job, Cahalan learned the school would cede its charter 鈥� its permission to operate independently 鈥� back to Denver Public Schools.

The school remained Pioneer for the next year, but folks from University Prep鈥揂rapahoe Street started appearing in the building, just getting to know teachers, students, and parents. Faculty would have the following year, Year Zero, to decide whether they wanted to join University Prep鈥檚 turnaround team. Needless to say, Pioneer鈥檚 teachers were wary, says Cahalan.

University Prep believes in intensive teacher training, and at the end of the 2014鈥�15 school year, the summer before Year Zero began, its leaders invited Pioneer鈥檚 faculty to participate in its four-week Summer Institute. Cahalan鈥檚 alternative being a possible move back to South Dakota, where he went to graduate school, he signed up.

Among other skills, he picked up a group of classroom strategies called the 鈥淪uper Six.鈥� Even before returning to the classroom, Cahalan was excited about the tactics, drawn from Teach Like a Champion. A compendium of techniques borrowed from highly successful schools, the book is by Doug Lemov, the former managing director of the Uncommon Schools network.

(蜜桃影视: A ‘Founders’ Excerpt 鈥� How Lemov and 3 Other Visionary Entrepreneurs Joined Forces to Launch Uncommon Schools)

From day one of Year Zero, the Super Six worked for Cahalan, though he harbored doubts, remaining on the fence about whether to look for a new job. And then late in the fall, Pioneer鈥檚 other fifth-grade teacher quit, leaving the school in a lurch.

Because of the impending leadership change, the only option was to hire a rotating cast of substitutes, which would be disastrous for students who were already years behind, Cahalan said.

Cahalan took a deep breath and volunteered to combine both fifth-grade classes. When he left for winter break he had 18 kids; when he came back he had 36. In truth, he thought it might implode. But to his utter amazement, all 36 kids in the merged classroom did just fine. Amazingly well, in fact.

鈥淎nything can work with 15 kids,鈥� Cahalan says. 鈥淏ut to have double or more and still have it work? I鈥檓 bought in.鈥�

To be fair, he says, there were Pioneer teachers who did the training and still chose to leave the school. And there were some who were defensive or insulted.

In the end, Cahalan was one of six Pioneer staffers who were offered positions as the school officially was transferred to University Prep. Four teachers were hired along with two operations staffers; two of the teachers have since left because of changes in family status.

Year One blew Year Zero out of the water, he says. His fifth-grade class, again, started in August with students performing at the second-grade level in math and third-grade level in reading. By late October, the entire class was working on fifth-grade material.

鈥淲别鈥檙别 obsessed with supporting and developing our teachers,鈥� says University Prep Executive Director David Singer. 鈥淲e use very intentional strategies of support to make sure they鈥檙e successful.鈥�

For example, half of the summer institute Cahalan attended is dedicated to practicing 鈥� live and in front of others 鈥� what Singer calls 鈥渆xplicit skills for delivering instruction.鈥� This includes Super Six techniques such as cold-calling on students so no one can check out, using 鈥渨ait time鈥� to signal to students that they need to think about their answer to a question and not allowing students who don鈥檛 immediately know the answer to opt out.

With school in session, teachers are supported in collecting and analyzing detailed information on each student鈥檚 strengths and challenges, which is how Cahalan was able to plug the skills gaps for students last year who were two and three years behind.

Teachers are observed each week and participate in weekly training and data meetings. The idea is not to 鈥渃atch鈥� underperforming staff but to identify specific skills that would help a teacher reach a particular group of students.

All of which meant even more extra work in Year Zero.

鈥淲e overstaffed [Arapahoe] to prep enough leaders, teachers, and operations folks鈥� to spend time at Steele Street, said Singer. 鈥淲e also wanted to make sure we didn鈥檛 take everyone from our first campus and subsequently hurt that campus.鈥�

Although turnarounds are often abrupt and chaotic, experience has taught DPS that lead time 鈥� a Year Zero, if you will 鈥� is key.

鈥淭he work is so complex and requires such thought,鈥� says Boasberg. 鈥淥ne of our key lessons in turnaround work is to have an entire year of planning.鈥�

Until its closure in 2006, Singer taught math at Denver鈥檚 Manual High School.

鈥淚 got really frustrated telling kids who were 14, 15, 16 years old they could be anything they wanted to be, but we had missed the opportunity to provide them with a crucial foundation,鈥� he says.

Manual relaunched in 2007, but Singer had acquired a new vision: starting a public charter school that would employ tactics working in schools around the country that were getting outsize gains among challenged students. He undertook a two-year fellowship with the school-leadership incubator Building Excellent Schools in Boston and in 2010 applied to Denver Public Schools for permission to launch University Prep.

(蜜桃影视: Meet Building Excellent Schools鈥� Linda Brown, the Grandmother of America鈥檚 Best Charter Schools)

The Arapahoe campus opened in 2011 with 100 kindergarten and first-grade students, adding 60 students a year until it was fully enrolled as a K-5 school in 2015鈥�16. At the end of that year, it was one of four Denver schools rated 鈥渉ighly distinguished鈥� by the state.

Arapahoe was the only school in that group whose students almost all qualified for free or reduced-price lunch. The other three elementary schools earning the distinction had an average poverty rate of 13 percent.

Year Zero was the first year at Pioneer for Mercy Jaramillo鈥檚 two children. New to the area, she chose the school because it was across the street from her mother鈥檚 work. Her daughter Trinity started and ended kindergarten at the school a little behind. Her son Eladio, on the other hand, really struggled in second grade.

鈥淗e鈥檚 very advanced,鈥� Jaramillo says. 鈥淎t Pioneer, he would do all the work and then just get bored. Then he鈥檇 misbehave or cause a ruckus.鈥�

Like Cahalan, her first reaction upon hearing the news that Pioneer would close was fear that she鈥檇 have to move again. In the middle of the transition she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, putting extra stress on the family.

And the first conversation of the new year was a tough one. At the start of the first year as Steele Street, the school鈥檚 new leaders sat down with every family with students in the building and had candid, sometimes difficult conversations about where each student was performing.

A typical conversation, according to Singer: 鈥淵our fourth-grader is phenomenal, we love him, he鈥檚 great. And he reads like a first-grader. And here鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to do about it.鈥� The plan was to do both catch-up work and grade-level work with almost every student.

(蜜桃影视: 90% of Parents Think Their Kids Are on Track in Math & Reading. The Real Number? Just 1 in 3, Survey Shows)

鈥淲hen we got in the door and assessed every kid, it was unbelievable to see how far behind kids really were,鈥� says Singer. 鈥淚t was hard to see the tears in parents鈥� eyes. No one had ever been honest with them.鈥�

It helped that the adults contending with both sets of the brutal news had spent the transition year visiting families at home and getting to know them at events. The constant communication about expectations put everyone on the same page, says Jaramillo.

After the school turnaround, Jaramillo says, both her children flourished. Trinity caught up right away and Eladio is challenged by harder work in class.

鈥淗is attitude completely changed from one year to the next,鈥� his mother says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 more excited and there鈥檚 no having to fight him.鈥�

Holladay, DPS鈥檚 portfolio manager, is the person responsible for monitoring University Prep鈥檚 performance, which ultimately determines whether its operating charter will be renewed and whether the program can grow. The district occasionally provides the school with technical assistance and is watching the intensive teacher training closely, she said.

In her view, respecting the school鈥檚 autonomy has been key: 鈥淧art of it was just, honestly, getting out of the way and letting them put their plan into place.鈥�

Last spring, DPS approved University Prep鈥檚 request for permission to operate four new charter schools. The fledgling network plans to use them to continue its school turnaround work by taking over struggling schools, whether traditional district or charter. Leaders hope to open a third school a year from now. 听

鈥淓veryone who goes into turnaround work knows it鈥檚 just going to take more,鈥� says Singer. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a simple solution.鈥�

But there is a huge payoff, he adds: 鈥淭here is a definitive proof point that poverty is not destiny.鈥�

One by one, the seniors jogged up to the microphones at the front of the Denver Coliseum, introducing themselves and sharing which college they鈥檒l be attending in the fall, to the sustained, raucous applause of their 4,000 classmates, teachers, and parents.

Some were nervous in front of the crowd, but most relished their five seconds of celebrity, including a few who took selfies from the stage.

鈥淚 just feel really close to these people,鈥� gushed Ebony Bailey, who teared up talking about the 鈥渞ush鈥� of the event after it ended with a confetti explosion and smoke machines. She鈥檒l attend Colorado State University in Fort Collins to study elementary education this fall.

The mid-May event, which also featured a special choral performances, cheers for every campus and several speeches, was the conclusion of a huge ceremony by the Denver School of Science and Technology 鈥� better known by its acronym, DSST 鈥� celebrating its 10th year of senior classes where every student has been accepted into a four-year college.

鈥淥ftentimes in our society we spend more time celebrating athletic scholarship signings than we do actually the most important signing, which is where are kids going to college and do they have the opportunity to go,鈥� Bill Kurtz, DSST鈥檚 CEO, told 蜜桃影视 the day before the event. 鈥淲e just have felt really strongly that the messages we should be sending our students and families is that everybody should have the opportunity to go to college 鈥� We want all of our kids to see themselves on that stage one day.鈥�

The top-performing network of charters, serving more than 4,100 middle and high school students on seven campuses, is increasingly being recognized for its success.

Former education secretary. Colorado Lieutenant Gov. Donna Lynne and Denver City Council President Albus Brooks spoke at the college signing day, with Brooks saying the DSST graduates will help grow Denver鈥檚 native college-educated workforce, urging them to give back to their community.

The Denver school board in 2015 awarded the network a huge contract to expand. By 2025, DSST will have 22 schools on 11 campuses across the city, . Denver Public Schools enroll about 92,000 K-12 students in just shy of 200 schools, including charters.

The network was also, in its first year of eligibility, one of three finalists for the $250,000 Broad prize, a top honor for large charter networks that have done the most to boost student outcomes, close the achievement gap, and increase graduation rates. The award ultimately went to New York City鈥檚 Success Academy.

(蜜桃影视: Denver, Texas, NYC: Meet the 3 Finalists for This Year鈥檚 $250,000 Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools)

Like Kobe Bryant

College signing days, not just for athletes but for all students, are becoming an annual event across the country each May, spurred in many ways by former first lady Michelle Obama鈥檚 Reach Higher and Better Make Room initiatives to encourage college attendance among low-income students and those of color. The day after DSST鈥檚 event, Obama held her own star-studded event in New York City.

鈥淚t was such a powerful thing鈥� to see kids jumping up and down for students attending college 鈥渢he same as they would for Kobe Bryant slamming a dunk,鈥� said Brad White, the school director at DSST鈥檚 Byers campus, which currently has grades 6鈥�9.

Most of DSST鈥檚 seniors are attending nearby public universities: the University of Colorado鈥檚 campuses in Boulder or Denver, Colorado State in Fort Collins, or Metropolitan State University of Denver, a commuter college.

The crowd cheered just as loudly, if not more so, for those students as they did the smaller number attending some of the most selective schools in the country, including Columbia University, Tufts, MIT, Duke, and Johns Hopkins.

As much as the event was about celebrating the seniors鈥� successes, it was also about encouraging the younger students.

Afterward, White鈥檚 sixth-graders talked for hours about which colleges they鈥檇 apply to, and one freshman started strategizing about getting a summer job to save for her future education, he said.

The seniors recognized that, too.

鈥淚f we show them the reward, they鈥檒l be motivated to do even better than us,鈥� said Green Valley Ranch senior Oscar Ozeta, who鈥檚 off to the University of Denver (one of the top 100 colleges in the country, by U.S. News and World Report鈥檚 ) to study computer science.

Kevin Manzanares-Cervantes, a Stapleton senior, said it鈥檚 important that younger students see that sometimes life takes you by surprise and presents challenges, but goals are still achievable.

Manzanares-Cervantes had received the requisite congressional recommendation to attend one of the elite military service academies, but 鈥渇amily problems鈥� arose and he had to drop the application about two-thirds of the way through the process. He鈥檒l go to Metropolitan State University this year, while continuing to pursue a commission at the Air Force or Naval Academy.

鈥淚f you want it, you can make it happen,鈥� he said.

The event was something of a full-circle moment for the seniors.

This year was the first network-wide celebration, but individual campuses have been marking smaller college signing days since the first DSST class hit the 100 percent acceptance mark in 2008.

It鈥檚 weird to think that the seniors are inspiring the class of 2022 鈥� this year鈥檚 seventh-graders 鈥� in the same way the class of 2010 inspired them, said Nakwari Rodgers, a senior at Stapleton who will attend Bowie State, a historically black institution in Maryland, to study education and business.

鈥淚 was always waiting for that moment鈥� to run down the aisle, she said.

Rigorous academics and supportive climate

DSST is, without a doubt, successful academically.

ACT and annual math and English test scores are high. It has four of the top five high schools and five of the top eight middle schools in Denver, based on the district鈥檚 school performance framework. ranks the flagship Stapleton campus as the No. 2 high school in Colorado and No. 97 in the country.

A from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University found DSST schools posted some of the biggest gains in reading and math of all the charters studied, the equivalent of well over 100 additional days of learning in both subjects.

Across the network, about 69 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a proxy for poverty, and 56 percent of students are Hispanic, numbers that largely mirror the district writ large. DSST also enrolls more black students than Denver broadly (18 percent versus 13.4 percent) and fewer white students (17 percent versus 23.2 percent).

Alejandra Gutierrez, after hearing about DSST from friends, enrolled her sons, Jonathan and Edwin Serrano, at the school鈥檚 College View campus earlier this year. She鈥檚 been happy with the way DSST addressed her concerns about middle schooler Edwin鈥檚 behavior problems, particularly when compared with his old school.

Gutierrez, who is Mexican, said DSST has also been a safe and welcoming place in light of increasing concerns about immigration.

鈥淚 have a lot of friends, right now there鈥檚 some schools or places they鈥檙e not feeling even good to go and ask about certain things,鈥� because of language barriers or because they鈥檙e undocumented, she said. That鈥檚 not the case at DSST.

鈥淭hey really make you feel that they don鈥檛 care. What they really care about is the students and their education,鈥� she said.

DSST has a STEM-focused curriculum, with extra time for math and the incorporation of science into other classes across the liberal arts curriculum. (The classes are tough: During a visit earlier this year by 蜜桃影视, sixth-graders at Byers were taking a social studies test on communism and capitalism, with seemingly college-level questions requiring them to paraphrase landmark texts by China鈥檚 Mao Zedong and interpret symbolism in propaganda.)

Each student gets a laptop. Every class begins with a 鈥渇irst three鈥� minutes, when teachers lay out initial tasks for students, from setting up supplies to digging into an introductory assignment.

But it doesn鈥檛 have an extra-long day or year. Middle school students wear a uniform, but that鈥檚 loosened to a general dress code for high school. Younger students proceed silently from class to class, but by high school, rules are more relaxed and the teenagers pass through the halls at full volume.

Yet for all of the system鈥檚 academic success, most students didn鈥檛 cite anything academic as their top memory from their years at DSST.

Most, in fact, said the school community is the best part.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all just about supporting you,鈥� Maya Nair, an eighth-grader at Stapleton, said while waiting for the signing day event to start. She鈥檚 been visiting colleges with her older brother and has her eye on Princeton University.

Ben Kitchen, who will attend Williams College to study math, was hoarse from cheering for his classmates after the signing day event.

Though he described math as 鈥渢he coolest,鈥� his favorite moment came during an arts program 鈥斕齬ehearsals for The Wizard of Oz last year. Kitchen, playing the Cowardly Lion, changed the words to 鈥淚f I Only Had the Nerve鈥� to ask one of his castmates to the prom. (She said yes.)

Other students described teachers who somehow knew they were having a bad day without being told, or sports teams that provided a familial environment and a break from academics.

That supportive environment is perhaps best exemplified by the daily community meeting. At Byers, three days a week the meetings are held by grade. Mondays and Fridays the whole middle school gathers, and a few times a year the entire campus holds a meeting.

On the Friday after the college signing day, seventh-grader Salma Altaaib talked about Africa 鈥� her parents are from Sudan. She had students 鈥渢urn and talk鈥� about three things they know about Africa, then she helped refute common misconceptions, like that everyone who lives there is black and speaks the same language. She also shared a story from last summer break, when she and her family traveled back to Sudan and used the $500 the school had raised to buy supplies and presents for children in refugee camps there.

DSST is so successful, White, the Byers school director, said, because the network has a laser focus on its mission. At the micro level, that might mean offering five outstanding sports, rather than 12 mediocre ones. At the system-wide level, it concentrates on DSST鈥檚 six core values (respect, responsibility, integrity, courage, curiosity, and doing your best) backing the STEM-based curriculum and focus on college attendance.

鈥淚f you know who you are, and you align your systems and people to that, you can be really successful,鈥� he said.

Natalene Espinoza, whose children will be in the seventh and ninth grades at the Conservatory Green campus this fall, said DSST staff got her son back on track after schools elsewhere in Colorado had failed him throughout middle school.

Espinoza is so committed to DSST that after the family鈥檚 living situation changed and they had to move out of Denver, she made the four- to five-hour round trip from Pueblo, Colorado, to the Conservatory Green campus every day for three months, and once a week for another six when they lived in Pueblo on weekends.

鈥淣ot too many schools or staff have that patience and love [to help students make gains like they did with her son]鈥�. Their love and understanding is immense. They truly live their core values. They don鈥檛 just teach the children that. They live it themselves,鈥� she said.

Turning attention to college graduation

Yet as the school focuses on its expansion, it鈥檚 taking a hard look at how it can improve. Although leaders have achieved that 100 percent college acceptance benchmark for 10 years, and 96 percent of students enroll, just 43 percent are graduating 鈥� a problem high-achieving charter networks across the country are facing.

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DSST first started monitoring the issue in 2014, when its first graduating class hit the six-year benchmark commonly used to measure college completion, said Jess Palffy, senior manager for college and STEM initiatives. The national college graduation rate that year was 60 percent.

Staff began implementing specific interventions this year.

The network is focusing primarily on sending graduates to 鈥渕atch schools鈥� 鈥� those that graduate at least 65 percent of students and have accessible financial aid and strong supports for students from low-income families. Eventually, the network hopes to collect enough data to narrow down which schools graduate 65 percent of DSST students specifically, she said.

The goal is to get 60 percent of next year鈥檚 senior class enrolled at schools that meet that benchmark.

The University of Denver, a selective private school, does a particularly good job with DSST students at all levels of academic achievement, she said. High graduation rates at Colorado State鈥檚 campus at Fort Collins and Colorado University in Boulder also fit the bill.

Leaders are also optimistic that a new partnership with Colorado University at Denver, including internships and summer programs that help high schoolers make stronger ties to the campus community, will spur long-term success there, Palffy said.

鈥淭he better job we do of connecting students with those institutions, I think will be a huge lever for us,鈥� Palffy said.

They鈥檙e also adding new programs for parents, encouraging families to start thinking about college in freshman and sophomore year of high school, rather than later, and to focus more on those match schools specifically rather than just any school.

And given the relatively limited number of local options that meet that 鈥渕atch school鈥� designation, particularly as compared with, say, a region like New England, they鈥檙e also encouraging students to think out of state.

鈥淲别鈥檙别 not a Massachusetts or New Hampshire where in the next state there鈥檚 that many more opportunities as well,鈥� Palffy said.

A member of the board has started funding 鈥渇ly-ins鈥� for students and families to visit schools out of state that might be a better fit, and another has started a partnership for DSST students to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, which shares the charter network鈥檚 focus on science and technology.

鈥淲here we ultimately enroll students matters,鈥� she said.

A special relationship with Denver Public Schools

District-charter relations in Denver have always been lauded for the way the district, as both an authorizer of charter schools and operator of its own competitors to charters, has worked with charters and encouraged their growth there. It has stood out from other big cities, where charters and school districts don鈥檛 get along, and rivalry and hostility over rules, students, and funding are the norm.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had a great partnership with Denver Public Schools and we鈥檙e deeply appreciative for the work that we have done together to better serve students across Denver,鈥� Kurtz said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 really exciting when systems can put aside differences to work together to deeply serve the families and students in the communities that you鈥檙e charged to serve.鈥�

Denver Public Schools is a 鈥渓ocal and national leader in innovative school reform,鈥� and a key strategy to help provide great schools in every neighborhood is to provide as much flexibility to schools as possible, district spokeswoman Jessie Smiley said in an email.

鈥淒PS values its collaborative relationship with its charter and innovation school partners and has worked diligently to separate its dual roles as school authorizer and operator,鈥� she added.

But after years of harmony, there are signs of dissonance in that much-lauded partnership.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e in this space, there are lots of similar fights,鈥� said Van Schoales, CEO of the education reform group A Plus Colorado, who was involved in the founding of DSST.

The district functioning as both an authorizer and operator of a wide variety of schools across its portfolio means 鈥渢hings get confusing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think this is a problem for the district 鈥� who鈥檚 the master under what conditions.鈥�

Since 2012, enrollment in all Denver schools has risen about 9 percent, which means about an additional 7,900 students, according to . In that same time, enrollment at charters grew 54 percent, or about 6,500 students. Enrollment at district-run schools rose 1 percent over the same time, though it has dropped in the past two years.

Kurtz, along with leaders of three other top-performing charters, wrote a letter Feb. 10听 to help the district meets its goal of having 80 percent of Denver students in high-quality schools by 2020, from the current 50 percent.

Despite their request, the district asked for proposals for just two schools this year, restarts of failing elementary schools.

Charter operators charged district-led applications for those elementary turnarounds had unfair help, including accessing families, whose support is key to successful applications, . The school board eventually .

鈥淭he district has developed policies to bring more clarity to decision-making in the authorization of new schools, laying out specific criteria for closing schools and for awarding district buildings to schools,鈥� Smiley said.

She cited the use of community review boards of parents, community members, professional reviewers, and facilitators for the restarts of the elementary schools 鈥渢o weigh applicants against the district鈥檚 building allocation criteria and make recommendations, helping to ensure no applicant had an unfair advantage.鈥�

(蜜桃影视 Interview: Denver Public Schools Chief Tom Boasberg)

The school board in late , but those schools still must find real estate, either in an existing Denver Public School or on their own. Finding physical space for new schools has become a problem in recent years as Denver鈥檚 population has grown and gentrified and real estate prices have skyrocketed.

Any relationship between two organizations will be dynamic and changing, Kurtz said.

鈥淲e have to continue to work hard at managing the tensions that come with an authorizer and operator, and we have to work hard to continue to create positive strategy and visions going forward on how we can do that to continue to serve all kids well,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want to continue to work hard with Denver Public Schools to cultivate that relationship so that it is leading to deep opportunity for students and that we can work through challenges so we can do this together.鈥�

For now, DSST has set its sights outside Denver. The school board in nearby Aurora voted 5鈥�2 in late June to there, with the first campus opening in fall 2019 with 175 sixth-graders.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Walton Family Foundation have provided funding to both DSST and 蜜桃影视. 蜜桃影视 also receives funding from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which funds the Broad prize.