Location: 2960 North Speer Blvd., Denver, CO

Principal: Ed Salem

Background

North High School has had a prominent presence in its community for over a century, since 1886. Today, like many urban schools, it faces formidable challenges in student performance. With the strong support of its teachers, administration and the community and a rigorous turnaround plan, North’s administrators are hopeful that 2010 will put the school on a rising trajectory.

• Among the many efforts underway to help students are:

• A well-established mentoring program

• Summer enrichment programs for entering freshmen

• The Future Center, which provides counseling, informational materials and other resources to help students prepare for college

• Credit Recover and Night School for students who fall behind in their academics

• Computer Magnet program that prepares students with 21^st century technology skills

• Numerous advanced placement courses

• Ongoing weekly teacher professional development training

Partnering to Prepare Urban Teachers in the P-16 Zone for Student Achievement

Metro State’s CUE program supports North’s endeavors by using the school as a host site for a Metro State English content methods class – Teaching Composition 7-12 -- through which students also conduct their field experiences. Pre-service teachers from all discipline areas work with classroom teachers to reinforce lessons taught. This often includes conducting small group sessions and working one-on-one with students. Whenever North has a school activity or event, our pre-service teachers are available to help out. 

As part of the content methods class, Metro State’s English professors work with the school to develop and direct the Vikings Writing Center. For more information about this undertaking, please see the Projects page on this website.

School Community

Student Population: Nearly 90 percent of North High’s 1,079 students are Hispanic. Slightly over 7 percent are White, about 3 percent are Black and the remainder of the student body is made of up Asian and American Indian students in about equal proportions. One out of four students has limited proficiency in English and 80 percent are eligible for free or reduced rate lunches.

Staff: The average student to teacher ratio in the classroom at North High is 19:1. This is slightly higher than the average across all Colorado schools, which stands at 15:1. There are 55 teachers employed at North, 51 percent male and 49 percent female.

Community: The community surrounding North High School offers an extensive network of support through in-school resources, non-profit organizations and local business contributions.