Denver Public Schools is deeply committed to collaboration with all of our schools, including charter schools. This collaboration takes many forms, including:
- Facility Placements
- Special Education Programming
- Peer Learning Opportunities
District-Charter Collaboration Compact
District-Charter Collaboration in Denver is supported by a grant from the Gates Foundation, which spurred the development of a compact signed by the District and all charter leaders.
District-Charter Collaborative Council
The District-Charter Collaborative Council is a primary mechanism for ensuring collaboration between the District and charter schools. The purpose of the Collaborative Council is to discuss and develop policy recommendations to improve the way that Denver Public Schools and its charter schools work together. The Council brings together senior leaders from the district and elected school leaders. Members of the Council are guided by commitments to:
- the three equities of responsibility, access and accountability
- the value of sharing best practices and collaborating among multiple school types
- sustaining charter school autonomy
The Collaborative Council provides leadership and direction to a number of working groups (currently five) that bring together school leaders and district personnel to problem solve specific issues or categories of concerns. When working groups arrive at a recommendation regarding a policy change for the district or for charter schools, that recommendation is vetted by the Collaborative Council and then shared with the Superintendent. If the Superintendent agrees to move forward with the policy change, the members of the Collaborative Council will take a leadership role in communicating the change to the broader charter community and to district departments respectively. All members of the Collaborative Council will leverage their teams and resources to ensure that policy changes are implemented effectively.
- Click here for an overview of Council structure and responsibilities
- Minutes and agendas are available here
- Charter Leaders: If you have an issue you would like to see brought to the Council please contact Kimberlee Sia, co-chair at ksia@kippcolorado.org.
The Collaborative Council also has working groups around key topics which brings recommendations forward to the full Council as appropriate. Current working groups and contact information is below:
- Finance: Kathleen_Hechavarria@dpsk12.org
- Special Education: Jennifer_Holladay@dpsk12.org
If you have questions about District-Charter Collaboration, please contact Maya_Lagana@dpsk12.org.