Immediate Release
November 27, 2001

Denver Public Schools Partners with Assets for Colorado Youth to Advance Reform Efforts for Three Schools

Denver, CO - Three Denver Public Schools are working in formal partnerships with Assets for Colorado Youth, a nonprofit organization, to assist school staff and parents in three schools rated "unsatisfactory" by the state of Colorado to bolster student achievement through increasing parent engagement and creating a caring school climate.

This effort marks the first partnership to link parent engagement, developmental assets and academic achievement in school reform plans. A research team from the University of Denver will conduct an evaluation of the pilot project.

ACY will partner with Castro Elementary School, Horace Mann Middle School, and Lincoln High School to provide training, resources and technical assistance in this pilot project. These schools are 3 of 21 Denver Public Schools that had a majority of students scoring at "unsatisfactory" levels on last year's Colorado Statewide Assessment Program (CSAP) standards test. Colorado law requires these schools to put a reform plan in place to improve academic achievement in their schools.

Says María Guajardo Lucero, Ph.D., executive director of ACY, "Study after study has confirmed that parent engagement in schools leads to higher grades and test scores, better school attendance and improved student attitudes and behaviors. But to engage parents meaningfully, schools need to be intentional about strengthening the home-school connection. The asset framework provides school staff and parents with common goals that focus on success for all students."

In the past year alone, ACY has worked with several individual schools, including 15 elementary, three middle and one high school in Denver Public Schools, to provide information, tools and training toward asset-building goals. In addition, ACY has partnered with the Office of Community Relations to present the asset framework to members of Collaborative Decision-Making teams, bus drivers and parent and student groups.

Jim Trevino, principal of Horace Mann Middle School, says, "The asset framework can become a unifying force for change because it provides concrete, tangible roles and actions for all stakeholders."

Assets for Colorado Youth (ACY) champions positive youth development by building capacity, focusing on individual and community strengths and increasing "developmental assets" in youth. Developmental assets are a research-based set of opportunities, values and positive relationships that all young people need in their lives to succeed.

For more information, contact Assets for Colorado Youth, 303-832-1587, or the Denver Public Schools' Public Information Office, 303-764-3414.

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