Our Values

In support of our students, The West Denver Preparatory Charter School is passionately committed to three Core Beliefs:

1. Every child deserves a demanding, standards-based education.
2. Accountable community develops character.
3. Great teachers are essential for academic excellence.

These three Core Beliefs underpin our entire school design, for college readiness is the goal of a West Denver Prep education. This simple commitment drives the development of our school and the daily execution of our mission.

In a community where only 5% of the eighth-grade students leave middle school proficient in mathematics, the remaining 95% are essentially guaranteed a future where success at a four-year college is impossible. West Denver Prep offers a very different guarantee. Our outstanding educators expect accountability from every child, and each child receives a demanding, standards-based education such that they are fully prepared to succeed in college-preparatory high schools. The future that follows this education is one where excellence at a four-year college is the celebrated expectation and is completely attainable.

1. Every child deserves a demanding, standards-based education.

In our society, an outstanding, college-preparatory education has developed into a privilege, not the absolute right that it must become for every student. The students of West Denver have received little opportunity for such an education. West Denver Prep brings these students an education of solid academic preparation, and one that opens doors to promising futures. In order to achieve this critical yet demanding goal, our school includes the following elements:

• An intensive curriculum with a strong focus on skill development, especially in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics.
• A longer school day (approximately 8:00 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.) and a longer school year, with classes during the summer. (In total, students attend 25 more days of school than traditional Denver Public School students, and West Denver Prep students have approximately 40% more time in school to focus on academic mastery.)
• Extended class time in literacy and mathematics to ensure proficiency in basic skills for all students.
• Regular homework to ensure skill development and content mastery. (Students who do not complete homework or do not meet academic expectations will spend afternoon elective hours with teachers to complete these tasks.)
• Extensive high school preparatory activities during the seventh and eighth grade to prepare students for high school selection and secure scholarships.
• A simple uniform to ensure respect for themselves and others and to diminish social stress.

With the support of all of these elements, students leave West Denver Prep prepared for and confident about a future that guarantees college acceptance and success.

2. Accountable community develops character.

At West Denver Prep, students, faculty, and administrators participate in a rigorous, accountable school community with high behavioral expectations. Students learn in a community with a high degree of personal respect and are accountable to communicate their learning with their peers in an environment that always rewards outstanding effort and high achievement. These characteristics of personal and community accountability drive the development of responsible character:

• Students learn and follow the STRIVE Values: Scholarship, Teamwork, Respect, Intelligence, Virtue, and Effort. Students are regularly evaluated on clear expectations derived from these values. Excellent performance on these evaluations will result in rewards; poor performance may lead to disciplinary consequences or parent communication.
• Students, parents, and teachers commit to The West Denver Prep Family Contract. This contract outlines expectations in such areas as attendance, classroom and school behavior, appropriate language and address of peers and teachers, assessment, and uniforms.
• Students are held to extremely high behavioral expectations, founded on respect, and even minor transgressions are dealt with expediently and with clear consequences. Behaviors that merit severe consequences include violence, weapons, drugs, alcohol, vandalism, and any disruption of learning or disrespect of another community member. Students participate in the school as respectful, professional members, in conduct, dress, language, and presentation.
• Our school holds weekly Community Meetings at which students are accountable for communicating their learning with their peers and develop excellent public speaking and self-advocacy skills.
• As a public school, our community is open to visitors by appointment.

3. Great teachers are essential for academic excellence.

West Denver Prep recruits and selects outstanding educators with passion, subject mastery, extensive experience with urban youth, and the commitment to do whatever is necessary to ensure the uncompromising academic performance of their students.

• West Denver Prep expects to attract applications from exceptional teachers who reflect the background and experience of its students and have the subject mastery and teaching skill to achieve outstanding academic outcomes.
• The school’s comprehensive hiring process selects teachers ready to commit to the demands of educating all students at the highest level without excuse.
• West Denver Prep supports its faculty with professional development specific to their individual needs as educators.
• Teachers are closely supervised through frequent observation and evaluation in the areas of content delivery, effective classroom management, and appropriate use of student achievement data to individualize or modify instruction.
• Six-week assessments are used by teachers and students alike. While teachers review the results of these assessments with students and use them to drive instruction, teachers also meet with supervisory staff to review these assessments, as the school leadership uses them to drive professional development. Students, teachers, and administrators all benefit from the transparency and excellence of data-driven instruction.
• Teachers are regarded as respected professionals throughout the school. They receive excellent compensation packages and have regular access to technology, telephones, voice mail, email, and other necessary instructional resources. Teachers will be eligible for bonuses based on exceptional student performance, measured by both internal and external evaluative measures.
• Teachers benefit from common planning periods to ensure ongoing collaboration. Teachers who teach the same discipline plan together to link instruction to state standards and use student achievement data to constantly adapt curriculum. In addition, teachers with the same students meet together to review each student’s academic progress individually and collaborate with parents to provide students with the most appropriate, rigorous, and data-driven individualized attention.