Animas High will push students to excel
Something very exciting is happening that parents of eighth-grade students in La Plata County must be sure to find out about. A new, free public charter school - Animas High - will open its doors to its first freshman class this August. For your children's sake, find out everything you can about this innovative school and run, don't walk, to get them enrolled in the inaugural class.
The high school years should be a time of joy and expansion as our children turn into responsible, confident, happy adults. Instead of what too often is dread, imagine your son or daughter waking up eager to get to school, to be with friends where exciting and "real" work awaits. With a super team of teachers, in a small school setting, they will have the best of both worlds, a reasonable ratio of young people to adults who care about them and offer a rich curriculum of innovative, collaborative projects that engage students' interests and push them to excel.
The local founders of this school have spent four years making this a reality: getting their charter approved by the state of Colorado and ensuring that our new high school is a careful replica of the High Tech High campus of schools in San Diego. National leaders in education describe this model as "transformative" for the 21st century.
My own son is a senior at Durango High, and I have spent many years working for changes in public education at the local and state levels. This is the real thing! I wish this option had been available four years ago. Don't miss it now. Visit www.animashighschool.org for times and locations of coffee chats and informational meetings. Visit www.hightechhigh.
org to find out about the amazing work that students do in this model.
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Anne Spence
Durango
