Denver schools encourage students to take responsibility for their education

DENVER — Downtown Denver Expeditionary School helps students take ownership of their learning and connect it to real-world problems and needs.

The kindergarten through fifth grade public charter school opened in 2013 and is part of the Denver Public Schools (DPS) system. Founded by parents, community members, and business leaders, the school is comprised of approximately 250 students and follows an expeditionary learning curriculum in which students delve into projects both inside and outside of the classroom.

“At the Expeditionary Learning School, we do a lot of field work and adventures,” said Principal Aubrey Wilk. “We're really trying to understand what are the issues that are relevant to the community, looking at the standards and thinking, 'How can we learn this through issues that are relevant to the community?' Masu.”

DDES is located in the Emily Griffith Building at 1860 Lincoln Street downtown. Students will engage in learning expeditions, fieldwork, and case studies as part of Colorado's Academic Standards and Common Core Standards. Wilk said DDES is different from many expeditionary learning schools in the area because it is located downtown.

“We go out into the city and learn outside of the classroom,” Wilk said. “We’re in a place where it’s a little bit easier because we have access to a lot of different resources and people.”

The school says it is intentionally diverse. They said they prioritized applicants from low-income households, with 40% of the population being families of color, 80% working downtown and 60% living within a three-mile radius.

“We're probably one of the most diverse in the area because of our location,” Wilkes said. “We're not a neighborhood school. We draw from over 40 different zip codes.”

Wilk said having such diverse voices helps students learn to collaborate. She believes that a completely different quality of learning occurs when learning is student-driven and based on repeated review and feedback.

“I think one of the most difficult things about teaching EL schools is actually developing leaders of their own learning,” Wilk said. “A fundamental principle of EL learning is that students should be the leaders of their own education and should be able to answer why they are doing what they are doing.”

The school's Creation Lab is one way DDES harnesses students' creativity and encourages them to take ownership of their education. Wilkes said the class is not a typical visual arts program. Reeves McDonald, the school's Creation Lab teacher, said he doesn't focus much on teaching art.

“It's more about teaching kids how to really unleash their creative selves and kind of demystifying what creativity actually is,” McDonald said. “We don't do art here. What we do is answer questions. Sometimes we create new questions. We solve problems and share ideas. I We just happen to be doing it with tools other than reading and writing.”

“It's fun. It's creative,” sophomore Omar Jones said. She says, “Sometimes it's not “mistaking'' but “mismaking.''

DDES also works to empower students to become their own expeditionary learning leaders through a unique program developed by schools for math classes. According to the school, the entire class will work on one word problem. The class will break into groups, discuss independently, and try to solve problems using the skills they have developed over time. The students meet again and discuss how they solved the problem.

“Their voices are raised higher than the teachers,” Wilke said. “A lot of discoveries are happening and we've seen mathematics performance explode as a result.”

This school is characterized by craftsmanship, compassion, self-discipline, tenacity and courage. Wilke said he hopes to use these traits to help students achieve what they want to accomplish in life.

“I think the key to success is being clear about what we value,” Wilk said. “[If] They don't own it, have no intention of giving it away, and have no intention of bringing it into their lives. ”

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