• Accountability results released
• Jeffco works to meet No Child Left Behind requirements
• Jeffco enrollment figures
• Choice enrollment set to begin
• December construction update
• Board of Education Meetings

Chris Sanders
Academy Award Nominee
Best Animated Feature Film
Arvada High School Alumnus

The Bright Stars program recognizes Jeffco
Public Schools' graduates who have gone on to distinguished careers or have accomplished a significant achievement. If you have a Bright Star you would like to nominate, please e-mail Communications Services.

2007 Jeffco school accountability ratings reported

Jeffco Public Schools had 56 percent of its neighborhood, option and charter schools earn excellent or high ratings in the most recent School Accountability Report (SAR) results released today.

Jeffco’s 2006-07 SAR results also included 27 percent of schools with “average” ratings, 13 percent “low,” 2 percent “unsatisfactory,” and 3 percent that received no ratings.  Schools do not receive ratings if they meet one of the following criteria:

• The school does not have students within the grade level for Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) testing.

• More than 95 percent of enrolled students had an Individual Education Program (IEP).

• More than 95 percent of enrolled students met the definition of “high risk” as determined by state statutes.

For Jeffco “neighborhood” (excluding option and charter schools) elementary schools,  half (50 percent) were rated “excellent” or “high,” while more than 75 percent of Jeffco “neighborhood” middle and high schools were rated “excellent” or “high” for the 2007 SAR.

“I am incredibly proud of these results because it shows how hard our students, staff and parents are working to achieve academic success for all Jeffco children,” said Jeffco Public Schools Superintendent Cindy Stevenson.

The Colorado School Accountability Report primarily focuses on student performance by using scores from CSAP, and ACT for high schools.  Schools receive an overall rating of excellent, high, average, low or unsatisfactory, and a rating indicating how much the school has improved from the previous year.

Other highlights from Jeffco’s School Accountability Report:

• A total of 15 percent of neighborhood elementary school are rated “excellent” in 2007 – an increase of 1 percentage point from 2006.

• The number of neighborhood middle schools rated “excellent” doubled from 2006 to 2007.

• The “high” rating for neighborhood high schools increased by 6 percentage points from 2006-07.

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Jeffco Public Schools work to meet No Child Left Behind requirements

Jeffco Public Schools continues to work to meet the federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.  A total of 136 schools in Jeffco met 100 percent of the targets for 2007, according to the data released by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE).  Jeffco made the greatest number of targets of any school district in Colorado (145 targets met out of a total of 153 possible targets).

“Our students, teachers and staff have worked very hard to increase learning and improve scores. We are committed to meeting the Adequate Yearly Progress targets and will continue to work toward those goals,” said Superintendent Cindy Stevenson.

According to CDE, Jeffco Public Schools’ Program Improvement Rating is “high” with a growth rating of “increasing” for the AYP two-year trend.
 
NCLB, signed into law by President Bush in January 2002, requires states to set target goals based on 2001-02 and 2002-03 student achievement data.

Under NCLB, a measure known as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is used to report student progress on the state’s reading and math tests. By school year 2013-2014, all students in Colorado are required to be successful on these tests, according to NCLB.

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Jeffco Schools 2007-08 Enrollment Figures

Jeffco Public Schools has released 2007-08 enrollment figures, which show the district’s enrollment has increased slightly. The 2007-08 enrollment is 84,861students, an increase of 71 students from the previous year. Last year saw a decrease of 293 students for the state’s largest school district. (see chart, below). These numbers may be adjusted based on the outcome of a review by the Colorado Department of Education.

Several districtwide grade level totals saw increases in enrollment this year: kindergarten (+152), second grade (+137), third grade (+244), fourth grade (+16), fifth grade (+122) and eleventh grade (+24).

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2008-09 choice enrollment set to begin

Jeffco Public Schools' first round Choice Enrollment process for the 2008-09 school year will be January 8-24, 2008. The district is committed to providing a variety of learning options to meet the diverse needs of its students.

Most students enroll in their neighborhood school; however, families who wish to enroll their students for the first time in a school other than their neighborhood school must complete a first round Choice Enrollment Application. The application can be downloaded or obtained from any Jeffco school. The deadline for first round applications is Thursday, Jan. 24. Once the first round application period closes, enrollment shall be guaranteed for:

• Applicants who, for various reasons, have a new neighborhood school and wish to remain at their prior neighborhood school.

• Applicants wishing to return to their neighborhood school from the school they are currently attending.

During the first round, applications will be randomly assigned a priority number for each grade level. Priority categories are as follows:
- Jeffco resident siblings of students currently enrolled and projected to be enrolled in the school for the following school year.
- Applications for all siblings should be submitted at the same time.
-Other district resident applicants (This includes district resident employees).
-Children of non-resident district employees of the school.
-Non-resident siblings of students projected to be enrolled in the school for the following school year.
-Other non-resident applicants.

The school will review its space and programs at each grade level. Based on this review, the principal will determine the number of spaces available for choice enrollment. If a student is not accepted at a school during first round Choice Enrollment, their name stays on the list for the second round Choice Enrollment process, which runs February 16 - August 30, 2008. Applications received during the second round are added to the round one list on a first- come, first-served basis.

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School construction, funded from 2004 bonds, continues on-time and on-budget. To keep accurately informed, and to help inform others, please download and print the December District Construction Update fact sheet.

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The Board of Education holds study/dialogue sessions (Seminar Room, 4th floor) and business meetings (Board Room, 5th floor) at the Educational Services Center, 1829 Denver West Drive, Bldg #27, Golden, unless otherwise noted.