Bruce Randolph School

Reinventing an Urban School to Boost Graduation Rates and College Aspirations

http://randolph.dpsk12.org/

Location: 3955 Steele Street, Denver, CO

Principal: Cesar Cedillo

Background

Bruce Randolph School serves students in grades 6 through 12. Formerly one of Denver’s lowest performing middle schools, today it is making dramatic advancements toward becoming a model for the educational community. Bruce Randolph, which serves a predominantly Hispanic student population, is one of a dozen schools in the district undergoing reform and revitalization. The school was granted autonomy to include flexibility in such areas as the length of the school year, the use of time during the school day, hiring, teaching loads and the ability to pay staff above the levels stated in the collective-bargaining agreement for certain assignments.

Today, the school curriculum calls for all high school students to take some college classes during their junior and senior years that earn both high school and college credit. High school students also participate in executive internships with local businesses to earn graduation credit. Bruce Randolph graduated its first class in 2010 with a 97 percent graduation rate. Eighty-seven percent of those graduates were accepted into college. In most cases, these graduates are the first in their families to attend college.

Partnering to Prepare Urban Teachers

Bruce Randolph School partners with Metropolitan State College of Denver’s Center for Urban Education as part of the Urban Teacher Partnership (UTP). The school’s teaching corps have committed to help bring up a new generation of teachers prepared to impact urban classrooms in a positive way. While most of the partner schools have hired UTP graduates, at Bruce Randolph School, five UTP graduates have joined the school community since 2006. As a group, these new teachers recognized that they could help guide the preparation of the next generation of UTP students. They approached school leaders requesting roles as mentors and cooperating teachers for UTP pre-service students. Over the past two years, they have enhanced pre-service field experiences by coordinating orientation sessions, responding to questions and helping pre-service students connect what they were learning to teaching practices.

School Community

Student Population: There are 717 students at Bruce Randolph School, equally divided between males and females. The group is 85 percent are Hispanic, 12 percent Black, and the remaining 3 percent is White and Native American. English and Spanish are the languages spoken by students and their families, with 123 students classified as English Language Learners.

Staff: There are 72 staff members at Bruce Randolph. The average number of years teachers have taught is 8 with an average of 2.5 years at Bruce Randolph. Eighteen staff members are fluent in both English and Spanish. Twenty staff members hold a masters degree and one has earned a doctorate.

Parents/Community: In Spring 2006, Bruce Randolph established a partnership with the Metropolitan Organization for People to begin a parent organizing committee at the school. Parent involvement has tripled and continues to grow under the guidance of a parent liaison and parent volunteers. Parents were successful in working with the Denver Police Department and DPS Security to receive additional security allocations.

Bruce Randolph has many partner organizations in the community including cityWild, Casa Start, Positive Connections, Metro State College, the University of Denver, the Hyatt and many others. Bruce Randolph now employs a full-time executive internship/travel program coordinator who works to create business partnerships for the high school internship program and who plans and secures funding for the school’s extensive travel learning program.