Denver School of Science and Technology to expand

The Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) is seeking approval from Denver Public Schools to open four additional secondary schools (grades 6-12) focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) over the next five years. Responding to Denver Public Schools (DPS) new schools RFP which calls for new and improved secondary schools (grades 6-12), DSST will help fill this need by replicating its highly successful model. DSST’s expansion to serve 4,000 students will double the number of four year college-ready DPS graduates by 2020.

DSST is interested in locating its first expansion school, a liberal arts secondary school focusing on the life sciences, at the new DPS Green Valley Ranch campus. In developing this second site, discussions are underway to create a formal partnership with the University of Colorado at Denver and UCD’s Health Sciences Center at the Fitzsimmons Campus to offer internships, health sciences focused electives, and ultimately an articulation agreement with the University. City Councilman Michael Hancock said, “I would be thrilled to have DSST’s second campus in the Green Valley Ranch community. DSST has a proven model of success that will provide our young people with an outstanding education."

DSST will be creating a charter management organization (CMO) which will manage all five schools. The CMO will be led by Founding DSST Head of School, Bill Kurtz, who will continue to develop and implement DSST’s nationally renowned school culture and instructional approach throughout all its schools. 

"This will be a true collaborative effort with the District," said Kurtz. "We think we can play a supportive role in helping DPS transform public education for Denver’s deserving young people. DSST has demonstrated that students who come from all backgrounds, ethnicities, and families can successful complete a truly rigorous high school program and attend a four-year college." 

DSST Founder and Board President, David Ethan Greenberg said, "This is the first step in achieving our vision of making Denver the center of science education for urban America. As partners with DPS, we intend to collaborate with higher education partners, research institutions, and industry partners to create the national model for science education."

In its first five years, DSST has consistently been the highest performing secondary school in the District according to the School Performance Framework, both in growth and absolute performance. DSST’s first two graduating classes have earned 100% acceptances into four-year colleges.

US Senator Michael Bennet, the former Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, expressed support for the DSST proposal. "As President Obama said last week, the future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens. I believe that DPS has the chance to become the best school district in urban America, and that this collaborative initiative is another big step in that direction."

In 2007, DSST was cited by Bill Gates in his testimony before Congress as one of the national models of STEM schools that were successfuly serving low-income students. In 2008, the school received a planning grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create a business plan for school replication. Part of the planning process has been discussions with local and state leaders about the role DSST can play in keeping Colorado economically competitive by educating the next generation of scientists, scholars, researchers, entrepreneurs and engineers.

"DSST’s expansion fits perfectly with our long-term vision of developing a highly educated workforce that will help the Denver region attract and retain the best jobs and companies," said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. 

Lt. Governor Barbara O’Brien, who played a critical role in the founding of DSST back in 2001, said that DSST’s expansion "dovetails perfectly with the goals of the state’s P-20 initiative and creates an exemplar model for the state on how to insure that all students have the opportunity to go to college."

DSST is proud to be a Denver Public School, the only "Distinguished" secondary school in Denver and one of the top performing secondary schools in the state. An open enrollment charter school with no minimum academic standards for admission, it serves students from all parts of the city and is located in the Stapleton neighborhood.

DSST student body currently consists of:

• 45% of DSST students are economically disadvantaged.
• 60% of DSST students are Hispanic, or African American.
• 50% of DSST students are first generation college bound.
• 100% of DSST graduates have been admitted to four year colleges or universities.