Developer seeks to open charter school near DIA

October 4, 2005
By Berny Morson
Rocky Mountain News

A community development firm applied Monday to open a charter school as part of a residential project going up south of Denver International Airport.

Developers frequently set aside land for schools in new communities. The proposal by Landmark Properties Group is different. The firm plans to run the school, offering a rigorous academic curriculum.

"Families want a neighborhood school with high academic standards," Landmark President Ray Pittman said of the Academy at High Point. "It tends to build the spirit of the community."

Landmark's High Point community will eventually include between 3,000 and 5,000 homes, plus offices and hotels.

Charter schools receive public funding, but are controlled by citizen boards. The program is intended to encourage innovation not found in traditional public schools. Monday was the deadline to apply to the Colorado Charter School Institute for charter schools that would open next fall. Groups may also apply to local school districts for charters. Randy DeHoff, director of the institute, said the proposal by a developer to run a school is unique in Colorado, but it has been done in other states.

The institute received nine proposals Monday, including the one from Landmark. The proposals will be reviewed by the institute board, which will conduct hearings later this year. One proposal would establish an online school to serve students statewide, including many with learning problems. The Colorado District and Electronic Learning Academy would serve as many as 2,500 students in kindergarten through 12th grade when it is fully operational.

“Many of the students will be performing below grade level,” said Peter Droege, a leader of the group seeking the charter. “Among them are students who were socially stigmatized in conventional schools.

“Students will attend classes by streaming Internet. They will have an opportunity to meet other students on field trips and at YMCAs, which will offer recreation, Droege said.

Landmark is developing the High Point community on land that is legally part of the Brighton School District, but separated by DIA from the rest of the district.

The district, struggling to keep up with growth, has no immediate plans to build a school at High Point. The Academy at High Point would eventually serve 675 students from kindergarten through grade 8. They would attend school for 185 eight-hour days, longer than most public school schedules. Backers include Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier and Len Romano, the head of the YMCAs of Metropolitan Denver. They would serve on the school's board of directors, according to the application. Parents will be added to the board as homes are occupied.