WEEK OF DECEMBER 12, 2024
VOLUME 104 | ISSUE 42
$2
West Dry Creek Circle apartments are a go City approves future land use and character map change BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Englewood Middle School and Englewood Leadership Academy share a building on The Englewood Campus at 3800 S. Logan St.
PHOTO BY SCOTT GILBERT
Englewood could see middle school merger
Board plans to send survey, host town halls in new year before decision set for March BY ELISABETH SLAY ESLAY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Englewood Board of Education is considering a possible merger of Englewood Middle School and Englewood Leadership Academy. The two schools share a building and principal, and are located at the Englewood Campus at 3800 S. Logan St. “The board is in the beginning stages of exploring this decision,” Superintendent Joanna Polzin said. Polzin said at the request of families and administration, the board has been asked to consider combining the two middle schools. “Politics are not driving this decision,” Polzin said. “There are several factors
and criteria the board of education will consider during this process.” She said those factors include enrollment trends, educational quality, facility utilization, financial implications, community impact, opportunity and access considerations, and staffing and human resources. A look at the background
Official consideration of the possible combination of the schools came after EMS and ELA Principal Annessa Hart brought up the idea to the school board in a presentation at a Oct. 15 board meeting. Hart showed data and statistics that highlight the success of the schools, but that also demonstrate the struggle of two schools under one roof. EMS is the product of the district combining Sinclair and Flood Middle Schools in the early 2000s. According to the district’s website, EMS moved to its current location at S. Logan in 2014 along with ELA, which is a public school of choice.
VOICES: 12 | LIFE: 14 | CALENDAR: 17
Hart said that due to standardized testing reporting and aspects of the schools’ pasts – such as an application process for ELA – a stigma surrounds the schools that separates them as the high-functioning and the low-functioning. The state’s preliminary performance ratings for the two schools show that Englewood Leadership Academy’s rating is the highest on the scale, while Englewood Middle School’s rating is the second-lowest, just above the rating for “insufficient data.” Hart said along with the stigma, there has been some inequality in education opportunities at the schools over the years. However, beginning in 2019, Hart said the faculty began working toward breaking down those barriers by blending classes, extracurriculars and more. “In our small district where we do have big opportunities for all of our students, we need to make sure that those barriers are broken down for our students at both
Littleton City Council approved a change to its future land use and character map, a decision that means a 173-unit apartment complex on West Dry Creek Circle will go forward. In a 6-1 vote, the council approved a motion to change the future land use and character map to allow “suburban residential multifamily” uses instead of “suburban commercial” uses on the site. In approving the change, the city council set the planning commission’s recent approval of the development — which was conditional on the future land use and character map change — into effect. More than a dozen people attended the meeting to share their opinions on the proposed complex, with many residents opposing the new development. “I think the developer tried with this, but unfortunately, their plan is simply unmitigable,” said resident Pam Chadbourne. “It is too aggressive, too large to be mitigated.” Other residents spoke in support of the development, citing the need for more housing stock in Littleton. “As somebody whose friends — and myself — can struggle to afford housing, I urge you to please allow this,” said resident Keely Quinn. “Housing prices will never stop skyrocketing if we don’t start building houses.” The development, proposed by Vista Residential Partners, will sit on a 5.6-acre site at 16 W. Dry Creek Circle, which is located south of West Fremont Avenue, east of the High Line Canal and west of South Broadway. The apartment buildings will be four to five stories tall, with a maximum height of SEE APARTMENTS, P4
SUPPORT LOCAL NEWS SEE PAGE 32 TO LEARN MORE
SEE SCHOOL, P16
ENGLEWOODHERALD.NET • A PUBLICATION OF COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA