By Bithiah Coleman
A hidden camera is placed in a Denver middle school classroom by “Primetime Live,” a national television news show. The footage shows a boy being disruptive, loud and obnoxious, as he even dances backwards in defiance while ignoring his teacher’s orders. Diane Sawyer narrates, “It’s the early ‘90s at an urban school that is out of control.”
Sawyer names the school as Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Denver, and the boy in the video is a student of color. The segment that aired on “Primetime Live” only served to tarnish the image of the low-performing school that consisted of over 93 percent Black and Hispanic students. The school has seen its share of problems. At one point, a third of the student population was in foster care. Due to concern in the community about the order in the school, a committee was formed to assist the previous superintendent in the educational reform known as revitalization.
“The committee came up with a couple things that they wanted to change,” said Rachel Bruce, the community liaison and admissions director. “One of them was uniforms, so the kids are in uniforms now. Another was to change the model of the school from 6th through 8th grade to 6th through 12th.”
The five-year revitalization plan is in its third year, and by the fifth year, the school will have seven grades in one building. But, the most beneficial part of the revitalization plan is seen as the change of the middle school into an early college. High school students will be able to attend the Community College of Aurora free of charge, in the first CCA-Denver Public Schools partnership.
Before they transition into college, students will be taught through a curriculum of college preparatory classes. Students will also benefit from the academic support and counseling, as well as internships offered by area businesses organized through several majors.
Bruce said the curriculum is rigorous, and students that want to attend 8th through 12th grades must apply and be accepted. The Martin Luther King Jr. Early College is taking applications through January and February. The application measures four qualifications: 1) transcripts, which should have a 3.0 grade point average or better, 2) a paragraph about the student’s commitment to the program, 3) the parent’s signed acceptance of school polices and a written statement on why they want their child to attend the school, and 4) a behavior report.
“The idea is that if we get some real strong students in here as high school kids, that they’ll be good leaders for the school and that will have a good affect on the school as a whole,” Bruce said.
She also emphasized the school isn’t for everyone. The curriculum only focuses on strong academic classes. High school students won’t be able to leave campus for lunch. They do not have a football team, clubs and other activities, associated with a traditional high school experience. They do not offer transportation to the school. A new cafeteria is being built for the high school students, but as of now, they have to share with the middle school students.
“We’ve had an excellent relationship with Montbello High School, so the principal over there is Antwan Wilson and he treats our kids like his kids,” Bruce said. “They’ve been invited to their homecoming.”
The extracurricular activities that are open to Montbello students are open to Early College students as well. By the time they graduate, Early College students will be able to experience most typical high school events including prom through Montbello High.
“They may feel like she is missing out. But, in the long run, they’re not being exposed to some of the negatives that you find at a traditional high school,” Terri Jackson, mother of an honor student at MLK Jr. Early College said.
In fact, the school hopes to expose students to so many positives instead. Bruce hopes to take six or seven students to the opening of a new memorial being built in honor of King in Washington, D.C. She also hopes students will have a chance to act as marshals of the annual MLK parade.
When CSAP scores were released in August last fall, the Early College ranked in the top four of the Denver Public Schools in math and reading scores, and in the top three in writing scores. The students scored better than other area schools with comparable populations of color, including East, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Montbello. Bruce said they’re striving for even greater achievements next year.
Editor’s note: For information on Martin Luther King Jr. Early College, call 720.424.0420 or visit http://mlk.dpsk12.org.
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