Awards, Honors, School Performance

Awards, Honors & School Performance:

• 2021 National Blue Ribbon School – An important part of the U.S. Department of Education, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes outstanding public and non-public schools. Our nomination fell under the category of ,”Exemplary High Performing Schools,” which meant that we are considered to be among the state’s highest performing schools based on state assessments and nationally normed tests given. Visit this link for more information.

• 2017 John Irwin Award for Academic Excellence from the Colorado Department of Education. These awards are given to schools that demonstrate exceptional academic achievement over time. Out of the 1,854 elementary, middle and high schools in the state, we were among the top 168 that have received an “Exceeds Expectations” rating on the Academic Achievement indicator of the School Performance Frameworks. This distinction reflects our exceptional performance in Math, English Language Arts, and Science over three years. https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeawards/johnirwin

• #1 Middle School in the Central Park/Park Hill boundary area according to the DPS School Performance Framework.

• Awarded My Tech 1:1 Computing Grant in 2017 that will provide all Middle School students with a Chromebook for school work

• One of only three DPS schools awarded a grant to install a Creative Systems SMART Lab in 2016

• Top Performing School rating in DPS since 2009

• High Growth School since 2009

• Only Central Park school awarded Governor’s Award for Distinguished Improvement

• A 5280 Top Public Elementary School

• Ranked top overall in our boundary area in a recent survey given to Middle School students about their educational experience: Recognized by the Colorado Department of Education as a Highly Effective School Library honoree, 2013
  • 100% of our students believe they are getting a good education, that homework is valuable and relates to what they learn and that teachers care about how they are doing in their classes
  • Ranked number #1 in these specific areas:
    • Students feeling challenged
    • Students feeling safe
    • Students feeling supported by their teachers

• Awarded several grants for Health and Wellness programs in our school:
  • Colorado Garden Foundation to start a school garden in the playground area
  • NFL and Western Dairy’s Fuel Up To Play 60 grant award funding for PE, other physical activities and nutrition programs
  • DPS Wellness grant funding for culinary equipment
  • Stapleton Foundation grant funding for a Bike Rodeo safety skills class
  • RMC Health grant funding for wellness and cooking resources for the library

• 2022 Colorado Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Awards The Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Awards are given to schools that demonstrate exceptional student growth. On the school performance framework that is used by the state to evaluate schools, these schools “exceed” expectations on the indicator related to longitudinal academic growth at all grade levels.

• 2023 John Irwin Award for Academic Excellence from the Colorado Department of Education. These awards are given to schools that demonstrate exceptional academic achievement over time. Out of the 1,854 elementary, middle and high schools in the state, we were among the top 168 that have received an “Exceeds Expectations” rating on the Academic Achievement indicator of the School Performance Frameworks. This distinction reflects our exceptional performance in Math, English Language Arts, and Science over three years. https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeawards/johnirwin

School Performance:

Since our opening in 2006 we have shown strong growth year after year.

• A top Middle School in the Central Park/Park Hill boundary area and in the District, according to the DPS School Performance Framework. Read more here
• Top Performing School rating in DPS since 2009
• High Growth School since 2009