Henry Middle School is closing. DPS has decided to phase out the existing school and has requested proposals for a replacement school. Henry has had 4 leadership changes in the past 5 years, and as a result the strong IB/MYP program that was once a pillar in the community has dissipated. Student achievement is not at the levels we need to prepare every child for college and career.  

-    A new school (Bear Valley International School) is being proposed to replace Henry Middle School. Principal Lindsay Meier is working with the district and a committee of parents and teachers from the community to design a new school which we are calling “Bear Valley Middle School” while we are gathering input on names.

- Two charter schools, Compass and DSST, are also submitting proposals to serve this Southwest Denver Community. If approved, these schools could be placed in the Henry Middle School building. We want to have a high quality district-run neighborhood school in the Henry school building. Having high quality charter school options in the area does not replace the need for a high quality district-run neighborhood school.

-          Our proposed new school (Bear Valley International School) will be a neighborhood public school and we hope to be located at the Henry campus. We know that parents in the community want to send their kids to a neighborhood school, but need a great school option in order to do so. The Denver Plan 2020 promises the community a quality district-run neighborhood school option. This new school would fulfill that promise.

-          The new school will have a strong academic IB/MYP program with personalized learning opportunities for students. The IB MYP program includes instruction in eight subject areas: 1) language acquisition, 2) language arts & literature, 3) social studies, 4) science, 5) mathematics, 6) arts, 7) physical and health education, and 8) design and interdisciplinary collaborative projects. Personalized learning will include the frequent use of computers and other technology to customize teaching and learning to meet student needs.

-     The quality of schools in the neighborhood directly impacts the quality of life, safety, and real estate value in the community. Whether you have school-aged children or not, you have a vested interest in the decision about what kind of school replaces Henry Middle School.

-     Henry MS shares a campus with Traylor Elementary, and is adjacent to Bates-Hobart Park and in close proximity to Bear Creek. Building a strong academic, values-based neighborhood school will re-attract neighborhood families who are currently sending students elsewhere for middle school. Currently, 53% of middle school students who live in the Henry MS neighborhood boundary do not attend Henry MS, while a large majority of elementary school students living in the Traylor and Sabin neighborhood boundaries attend Traylor or Sabin.

Please support our proposal for Bear Valley Middle School by: 1) signing a petition in support of the new school, 2) writing a letter of support to the board of education that we can submit with our proposal, and/or 3) speaking at a board of education meeting.