New Fully Electrified School in Far Northeast Denver

The Responsive Arts & STEAM Academy FNE (Far Northeast), a new fully electrified DPS school, opened its doors at the start of the school year at 19201 E. 62nd Ave. just east of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (it can be tricky to find via GPS unless you include the 80249 ZIP code).

RASA is an elementary school and launched with grades ECE through first grade. About half of RASA’s electricity is renewable using efficient heat pumps and electric resistance for space heating and water heating, and an all-electric kitchen. The school building also has a solar-ready roof, electric vehicle chargers, outdoor classrooms, gardens and native plants, and water efficient landscaping. RASA will add other grade levels over time.

Both the DSA project (see story below) and the RASA campus were funded through a bond passed by voters in 2020.

Back to Class Bash

Volunteers, community members, parents, and students worked together to get three schools ready for the new school year. The volunteer projects were arranged through the Denver Public Schools Foundation. Every year the “Back to Class Bash” brings volunteers together at different DPS schools. This year the focus was on Ashley Elementary, Wyatt Academy, and Doull Elementary. The projects included painting murals, planting gardens, and improving playgrounds to make the schools more welcoming and inspiring for students starting a new school year.

Northfield Students Win Grant for Solar-Powered Charging Stations

Thanks to the resourcefulness of three Northfield High School seniors, students can now gather at three solar-powered picnic tables to charge their phones and laptops. Last school year, Sofia Chaparro Will, Maile McManis, and Isadora Puckett applied for a grant and were awarded $25,000 from the Denver Public Schools Climate Champions program. The goal of the new DPS program is to encourage students to implement climate-friendly projects at their schools.

“I feel as though it’s our responsibility to do things to improve the environment as much as we possibly can,” says Will. The students researched several products before choosing a system that students would actually use.

The picnic tables contain charging ports powered by solar panels that form umbrellas over the tables. They were installed this summer in common areas outside the school. “I take a lot of pride in making our campus better,” says Puckett. “To see [the project] come to life and see people enjoying it is really cool.”
The three seniors say the grant has inspired them to do additional sustainability work at the school. “I was just talking to the principal about making ‘Climate Champions’ into a club to encourage more student commitment and involvement,” says McManis.

Future projects that the girls are considering include additional charging stations, reducing plastic use in the cafeteria, and establishing a community garden.

New Denver School of the Arts Campus Opens

The new Denver School of the Arts South campus, located on the former Johnson & Wales campus at Montview Blvd. and Quebec St., welcomed its first students on August 19. The campus, across the street from the current location, has been renovated and updated to suit the needs of current and future DSA high school students. The expansion was designed to open more enrollment opportunities to students of color and low-income students by growing the size of the middle school, which will remain in the original building on the north side of Montview

The DSA community was given the opportunity to provide input on the design and remodel of the buildings, focusing on safety and inclusiveness. For example, former students proposed a multi-stalled all gender restroom, which is now complete and called one of the first-of-its-kind. The design was inspired by the restrooms at Red Rocks.

DPS says all school bathrooms have options for non-binary students, as agreed upon by the District, to make sure there’s always a single-user restroom for LGBTQ+ students.

DPS hopes the new campus is an asset to the community, welcoming students and families from across the District to festivals and performances.