Westminster Public Colleges will shut three faculties and scale back the variety of grades served by three different faculties because the district seeks to consolidate amid declining Ok-12 enrollment.
The modifications, which had been permitted by the district’s Board of Schooling on Tuesday, will likely be carried out over a four-year interval, starting within the 2026-27 educational 12 months, in accordance with a information launch.
The three faculties focused for closure are Westminster Academy of Worldwide Research, Mesa Elementary and Hidden Lake Secondary College.
“These suggestions replicate considerate, long-term planning,” Superintendent Jeni Gotto stated in an announcement. “Our objective is to align services and enrollment in a approach that strengthens educational programming, preserves scholar alternative and ensures sustainability for years to come back.”
The district’s first step is to shut the Westminster Academy of Worldwide Research later this 12 months and have college students transfer to Harris Park Elementary to kind a PK-6 Worldwide Focus Program. The academy’s seventh- and eighth-graders will go to the brand new Uplands Discovery Campus, in accordance with the information launch.
John E. Flynn A. Marzano Academy and Shaw Heights Center College are merging to kind the Uplands Discovery Campus. Flynn college students will attend faculty at Shaw Heights beginning within the fall till the brand new campus opens in 2028, in accordance with the district’s web site.
The opposite modifications by Westminster embody:
- Fairview PK-8 and Tennyson Knolls Preparatory College will now not serve seventh- and eighth-graders beginning within the 2027-2028 educational 12 months. Fairview college students in these grades will transfer to Colorado Summit Management Academy, whereas TKP college students will go to Hodgkins Management Academy.
- Mesa Elementary will shut in two years. A boundary committee will decide the place college students go for the 2028-29 faculty 12 months, however not all pupils affected by the closure will attend Uplands Discovery Campus, in accordance with the information launch.
- Sundown Ridge PK-8 will now not train seventh- and eighth-graders. As a substitute, these college students will transfer to Uplands Discovery Campus within the 2028-29 educational 12 months.
- Hidden Lake Secondary College will shut in 2029. The academic program will relocate to the previous Mesa Elementary constructing.
Ok-12 enrollment is falling statewide, principally as a result of fewer Coloradans are having youngsters. Housing costs are additionally shifting the place households reside in metro Denver. The drop in college students is hitting districts financially as they obtain much less per-pupil funding from the state once they have fewer college students of their school rooms.
Different districts have additionally closed faculties due to falling enrollment, together with Denver Public Colleges and Jeffco Public Colleges. The Douglas County College District will shut down three elementary faculties this summer time.
Westminster Public Colleges enrolls 7,590 college students as of the 2025-26 educational 12 months, in accordance with state knowledge.
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