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Tuesday, April 24 at 12:01 AM

This Speakout has not been edited

By Roxana Witter, Denver

I am writing in response to the recent articles about poor middle school performance and DPS intentions to address the middle school problem. I acknowledge that the problems are no doubt deep and wide but I know of at least one shining star in DPS middle schools, to be found in a place not expected, a place not to be found unless one looks beyond "depressing data". It is my hope that the district finds and supports this star, rather than discard it with ever knowing it was there.

I realize I am writing against common wisdom when I say there can be a very good middle school experience in Denver Public Schools. Our daughter attends Smiley Middle School in the International Preparatory Magnet Program (IPM). The curriculum is challenging and interesting, the school climate is productive and respectful. The staff maintains high expectations in academics and they provide daily, after school support to those that seek it and those that need it. Children are expected to succeed, and they are given the support to do so.

The staff and the administration also have high behavioral standards, with a philosophy that their job is to teach, not to discipline. This is achieved with consistent rule enforcement, strict dress code, boys and girls lunch and perhaps a bit of magic. It is wonderful to walk into a middle school class rooms that are focused on learning. The IPM population is as diverse as the DPS population as a whole and the 2005/06 CSAP scores in the IPM program are well above the district average (% proficient or advanced)

DPS Smiley IPM

· Reading:

Grade 6: 38% 81.3%

· Grade 7: 36% 78.9%

· Grade 8: 36% 84.6%

· Writing:

Grade 6: 36% 66.7%

· Grade 7: 31% 81.5%

· Grade 8: 27% 71.2%

· Math:

Grade 6: 31% 74.4%

· Grade 7: 21% 68.4%

· Grade 8: 17% 71.2%

· Science

Grade 8: 20% 50.0%

Simple institution of K-8 is not the answer to the "middle school problem". Our older son had a vastly inferior experience in a K-8, because academic and behavioral standards were not maintained. It doesn't matter if a school is K-8 or a traditional middle school, as long as academic and behavioral standards are upheld. This takes administrative leadership, staff dedication, parental buy-in and hard work from the students.

I hope that as the district administration and school board prepare much needed changes to the middle school plan, they look beyond depressing data and go inside schools and programs that are working. I hope the dedication of teachers like those at Smiley are recognized for their ability to teach, and teach well, in a system that has neglected them. I hope the district sees fit to support the Smiley IPM as a program that has already demonstrated it's ability to provide academic excellence to a student population as diverse as the district's own population.

READER COMMENTS

I went to Smiley in the '70s and it sounds like a different place. (in a good way) I have walked the halls of some other DPS schools and been appalled by the behavior I have seen.
The difference has to be the parents as much as (more than?) the program. What is to be done with kids whose parents don't value education? And how do we hold teachers and admin responsible for unteachable kids?

Posted by Mark Costello on April 29, 2007 09:51 AM

I love Smiley Middle School, I say this with faith, pride, and joy because in the beginning I did not want to send my daughter there. My husband and I both believe strongly in education, we both have Master’s degrees and both work in education. However while I attended school on military bases around the world and my husband attended his neighborhood schools. While I worried every mother’s worries, “Will everyone be nice to my little one? Will she never see a bad thing, hear a bad word, or have a bad experience?” My husband wondered what planet I thought we lived on.

Thank God we have different perspectives and I trusted his advice. Smiley was a joy for us; my daughter thrived academically in the IP program scoring proficient and advanced on the CSAP all three years she attended Smiley. She bonded deeply with several teachers including her social studies, science and band teachers. She emails her science teacher regularly and earned an four year youth internship at the Denver Zoo because of her newfound love of biology and desire to be a veterinarian. Her band teacher engaged her so thoroughly that she has been accepted into East’s highly regarded Jazz Ensemble, is now auditioning for the Smooth Jazz Youth Ensemble, while playing regularly in our church music ministry program.

My daughter is a joy, shaped by teachers who loved their profession, and connected to the funny characters, neighborhood hangouts like Perk Hill and Obilio’s, and all the good, bad, and positively hilarious things that happened at Smiley. Mr. Sulley (Social Studies), Mr. Shear (Science), and Mr. Young (Band) all left such a lasting impression of excellence and caring on our whole family we will never forget them. I believe

Posted by Janet Damon on April 25, 2007 02:45 PM

I hope that the media and school board will start to attend to the wonderful and successful program at Smiey. We need to look beyond general statistics to understand each individual program. As a Smiley parent, this program is indeed a "shining star" and the best kept secret in DPS.

Posted by Pamela Marsh on April 25, 2007 06:16 AM