An educational uprising that began nearly two decades ago revived Mapleton Public Schools, making the working-class school district an attractive choice, even for families living outside its north Denver boundaries.
Despite the marked academic improvements since Mapleton became an all-choice district in fall 2007, some of the district’s youngest students still lag behind state standards, and officials concede much work remains to be done in the wake of one of the most startling changes ever made to a Colorado school district’s makeup.
And it was all done largely under the radar of the entire Denver metro area.
“It’s funny, but we are sort of tucked away and out of sight, but so many things are going on here,” Superintendent Charlotte Ciancio said last week as she stood just outside of the Mapleton administration building in north Denver, vehicles whizzing by on their way to the confluence of Interstates 25, 76 and 270 and U.S. 36.
“That’s because we were up for innovation,” she said, “up for trying something new.”
For Mapleton, one of the lowest performing school districts in Colorado, that meant busting up a system of traditional neighborhood elementary and middle schools feeding into one large high school to form an all-choice district, then a rarity in Colorado and the rest of the U.S.
Rather than be tied to a neighborhood school, Mapleton’s roughly 8,000 students — most from working-class homes — now enroll in one of 18 small-by-design schools. They include expeditionary learning schools; a K-12 International Baccalaureate school; an early-college model; an online school; and a community school that lets students grow their own crops.
The result is that more students are opting into Mapleton than going elsewhere, reversing a trend in the late 1990s. And despite an initial drop in proficiency rates in core academic subjects in early years of the reforms, Mapleton shows improvement, particularly at the middle and high school levels.
Van Schoales, chief executive officer with A+ Colorado, a nonprofit that tracks education issues in Colorado, said the district’s fortunes have changed since going all-choice.
“Things have definitely improved, and there has been a dramatic change in kids coming into the district. That’s a big plus,” Schoales said. His group issued a report in 2016 that said Mapleton’s reforms had mixed results.
Still, Mapleton fundamentally altered the way students and families interact with the public education system, Schoales said.
“Gone are the days of sitting by passively and waiting to be assigned to a school,” he said. “Today, parents and students must be proactive in finding the right school for their learning needs.”
Ciancio, who took over as superintendent in 2001, and other school leaders knew they had to revive a failing district. Graduation rates at Skyview, the district’s comprehensive high school, were unstable and in 2000, 763 students opted out of the district while 466 opted in.
These days, for every student who choices out of Mapleton, two students choice in, Schoales said. “It’s notable that by becoming a district in which all students must choose the school they wish to attend, Mapleton has become more attractive to students from outside its boundaries.”
Still, Mapleton students continue to struggle to meet state academic standards at the elementary school level and in college preparedness, Schoales said. There are also demographic challenges, officials said. About 73 percent of the students attending Mapleton’s brick-and-mortar schools receive free or reduced lunches, while 45 percent are learning English as a second language, according to the district.
“We know we have a ways to go and we are making headway,” Ciancio said. “Making the decision to make all the changes were needed to make was the easiest part of this. Carrying it all out was the hardest part.”
School leaders in the early 2000s also weighed the district’s shifting demographics in making the change to all-choice and smaller schools that improved teacher-student relationships. The proportion of Latino students grew to 47 percent in fall 2001 from 34 percent in fall 1996, while the proportion of white students dropped to 45 percent from 60 percent during that same period.
The district had to do something to create an environment that sparked student learning and drew kids to Mapleton. “We were desperate, we had to do something,” she said.
Ciancio toured several districts that emphasized the small-school approach that promised more one-on-one relationships between educators and students. And she took note of the charter school movement, which stressed individualized learning.
Buoyed by a $2.6 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2005, Mapleton unveiled its conversion plan the next year. The transformation of the district became complete when Skyview High School was phased out as the class of 2007 graduated.
There was some loud dissent on the decision to close the old Skyview, Ciancio said, including from a history teacher who raised a sword during his final address to pupils on graduation day.
“He raised it high over his head and encouraged students to be defiant and be strong,” Ciancio said, shrugging.
She knew the changes would fuel some unhappiness.
“Some teachers were so intent on teaching content, content and content,” she said. “Which is fine, of course. But we also wanted teachers to relate to the students, make the learning about them.”
Skyview was replaced with several smaller high schools, although Mapleton’s athletic teams still compete under the Skyview banner.
Parent Juanita Lujan said she appreciates that both kids and parents are given high-priority status in the district. Both of her elementary-school-age children were allowed to sit in on classes at a middle school they wanted to attend just to help them get to know their new school.
“They got to see how things worked, how the teachers worked. It was good for them,” Lujan said. “That’s how this district works. They make it easy for kids to get involved and for parents to have a say in what’s going on.”
Democracy depends on journalism, and journalists need your help. Support The Denver Post and get unlimited digital access —
the first month is just 99 cents.
