Candidate Obama gave one heckuva speech in the Mile High City once upon a time; ask him to deliver another one as President Obama this coming June. Just vote for the Denver School of Science and Technology to win the ?Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge.?
DSST is one of the six finalists in the competition (and one of two charter schools still in the race). The sweet six are:
- Blue Valley Northwest High School (Overland Park, Kansas)
- Clark Montessori Junior High and High School (Cincinnati, Ohio)
- Denver School of Science and Technology (Denver, Colorado)
- Environmental Charter High School (Lawndale, California)
- Kalamazoo Central High School (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
- MAST Academy (Miami, Florida)
So we've got two charter schools, two magnet schools, and two traditional high schools. Interesting. But rather than just vote for your favorite category of school, consider all that DSST brings to the table. It's super-high performing. It's totally committed to racial and socio-economic diversity. And it plans to replicate several times over. I wrote about the school last in year in the Gadfly; it's a true national model.
Still not convinced? Here's some more info from the school:
DSST Public Schools operates open-enrollment STEM charter schools and is part of the Denver Public Schools (DPS) system. DSST Public Schools has been approved to open four additional secondary schools (grades 6-12) with its second campus at Green Valley Ranch scheduled to open in August 2010. At full enrollment, DSST Public Schools will serve over 4,000 students, and will double the number of four year college-ready DPS graduates by 2020.
DSST Public Schools was founded as the Denver School of Science and Technology in 2004 with the founding campus at Stapleton. DSST Stapleton serves students from all parts of Denver.
DSST Stapleton is widely considered to be one of the leading open enrollment STEM schools (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in the nation and has become a destination for educators nationwide. DSST Stapleton has consistently been the highest performing secondary school in DPS and in Colorado, based on growth and absolute performance. DSST Stapleton's first three graduating classes earned 100% acceptances into four-year colleges. Fifty percent of DSST's 2010 graduating class is first generation college bound.
Additional information about DSST Public Schools is at www.scienceandtech.org.
-Mike Petrilli
