Give Families Choice

Launched in 2011-12, DPS’ SchoolChoice ensures equity, consistency and simplicity in school enrollment. Prior to SchoolChoice, DPS families who wanted to apply to schools other than their automatically assigned school had to complete different applications on different timelines for different schools. Now, families submit one application per student, on which they rank up to five school preferences.

DPS then matches students to schools based on those preferences, as well as on available space. The system is designed to maximize the number of students getting their most-preferred school.

This award-winning SchoolChoice enrollment process, based on the 2012 Nobel Prize-winning work of Dr. Al Roth, is considered a national model for equity and transparency in student enrollment. For these efforts, DPS was named the top district in the nation for school choice by the Brookings Institution.

Learn more by visiting the SchoolChoice website.

New schools play critical roles in ensuring all students have access to great schools. For more than 10 years, new schools of all types have helped DPS serve an increased number of school-aged children in Denver, providing opportunities that encourage families to choose DPS public schools over private options, and offer diverse models – from personalized learning to International Baccalaureate, from college prep to Montessori, from STEM to athletic-themed programs – that support families in finding a school that best meets their children’s needs and interests.

Learn more about the types of schools that make up DPS’ family of schools.

Read about starting a new school on the Create New Schools page.