Montbello High School Turnaround Key to GVR Success

By Thad Jacobs, GVR Citizens Advisory Board Education Committee Chair

We face a challenging time right now with how well the schools in Far Northeast Denver are performing academically, from the elementary to the high school levels. The academic performance and stability of all of our schools are important, but probably none are more important than Montbello High School. Montbello has had a rough go for several years. Extensive principal turnover has stalled revitalization efforts. There is renewed enthusiasm for change at Montbello under the direction of the new Principal, Anthony Smith, and many dedicated community leaders to elevate the school to the quality educational facility our kids want and deserve. Montbello High School will not close. However, many feel that the research shows that the only way to change Montbello into a high quality high school is to implement significant changes to the educational program.

This issue is not just an issue for the Montbello community, or for just the GVR community. This is an issue for the entire Far Northeast Denver community and we must take action now to ensure that all students have the opportunity to attend a high quality high school. You might think this does not affect GVR, we have our new school on the way, but it does! Even with the new campus under construction, and the high school seats at Martin Luther King Jr. Early College, we will not have enough seats to meet the high school demand in our neighborhood. With other area high schools like East, George Washington, Cherry Creek and so on quickly reaching there capacities, we need to take action to ensure Montbello is a viable option for all children in Far Northeast Denver. There will be action taken to turn around Montbello High School, and our other community elementary and middle schools that feed Montbello High School, several of which are also underperforming. If the community members of Far Northeast Denver do not get engaged, action will be taken without us. Every parent of a current Montbello student, past Montbello graduate, and future Montbello student needs to engage and let Denver Public Schools know what we want for our High School and for our kids. Again, if we do not take action, action will be taken and decisions made without our input or involvement. If you cannot attend a meeting, there are other ways to get involved, send emails or letters, or make a phone call to the School Board, to the Superintendent, and to the leaders at Montbello High School. Tell them what you’d like to see occur, offer ideas to improve the school, and get involved. Remember, Montbello High School is our home high school in GVR, and many of its current and past students come from GVR so lets do what we can to help make these kids and future kids opportunities the best possible.

Take Action now and get involved!

The next community engagement meeting will be held on January 30th from 8:30am to 12:00pm at Rachel B. Noel Middle School. Translation services will be available. Go to farnortheastschools.org (no www needed) for more details.

Also, keep watch for information on meetings at our other area schools in January or February to discuss the School of Performance Framework and Academic Performance at our schools on watch and probation.

For more information contact Thad Jacobs, tjacobs@cybox.com or 303-588-4040