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The Isabella Bird School will be ready for operation this coming fall, but that doesn’t mean construction will be completed. “We are continuing to build up and add on,” said project manager Eric Kesti.” “By the time the school is finished, it will be larger than the Wells Fargo Center (cash register building) and the Four Seasons Hotel, and just a little smaller than Republic Plaza and 1801 California St.” Originally, DPS decided to add enough room for 5th graders. “When we looked at the plot of land and where the structure was at, we decided, ‘why stop there?’” said DPS official Kyle Clark. “The building and area had the infrastructure to hold more, so we decided to add some more space.” In fact, Isabella Bird will eventually be able to hold a junior high and will also have several floors of office space. The design team even made sure the school was big enough to house the high school in case things don’t work out with the current design. “We are very pleased with where things are going,” said Isabella Bird Principal Sue Ackerman. “Leasing office space will add huge dollars to the schools budget, and you can never have too much space for the school.” Getting around may be a little more challenging for the students and staff however. “We will have a series of colors and numbers in the hallways and by the elevators so that kids will understand where to go after a short time,” said Ackerman. “Plus, we will have bellman in all the elevators as well as hall monitors to make sure people are in the right area of the building. In fact, we already have seven golf carts like they do at the airport to get kids back to the appropriate area quickly if necessary.” Parents should not be concerned about the future office traffic. “Office employees will have their own unique doors to enter through,” said Kesti. “They will have to have a badge to get in, and the kids will never see them. They won’t even know they are there.” 2014-15 will be a big year for the new elementary school, but it appears even bigger years are to come. ]]>

The official process for naming DPS’ newest high school has finally come to its conclusion, with the Naming Committee announcing its decision earlier this evening after a three-hour, closed-door session. In what has at times been a passionate and heated debate over a good and proper name for the school, the committee finally came together unanimously over a name submission received last week. Next fall, Stapleton’s brightest young minds will be attending Hunter S. Thompson High School. Citing Thompson’s body of bold and courageous work, his well-known affinity for Colorado, and his current status of being deceased, the committee voted overwhelmingly in support of the name. [Read more…] about It’s Official: DPS High School Naming Committee Reaches Decision

We have all seen them. The dozens of Stapleton dads skating around Stapleton with their kids, but often even without their kids. Some take to it pretty smoothly, but others appear pretty dorky while awkwardly pushing around their longboard. “We have several of the dads in our hood messing around with skateboards,” says resident Kathy Hanson. “I guess it is some sort of mid-life crisis. I guess it’s better than having an affair with a 25 year old or buying a red convertible, but it is still pretty obnoxious.” Due to the large number of longboarders in Stapleton, Ryan Walker, a longtime longboarder, has decided to run a camp in Stapleton for the dads attempting to look cool. “We are providing the newbies to the sport an opportunity to do it the right way,” says coach Walker. “If you’re going to do something, you want to do it right. Whether or not you should be doing it in the first place is inconsequential. Why you’re doing it also doesn’t matter. What matters, is doing it the best you can.” [Read more…] about Longboard Camp to Help Stapleton Dads Not Look Like Posers

Stapleton schools celebrate several holidays, hold theme days, and have many concerts throughout the year. This year, the school has added even more 2nd-tier holidays so that teachers can have a little less prep work, and kids can just focus on dressing up and having fun. The most recently celebrated of these holidays was St. Patrick’s Day. Of course, the kids were encouraged to wear green, but it was all of the other activities that were disturbing. [Read more…] about St. Patrick’s Day School Theme Falls Off the Wagon

Denver Public School officials met with members of the Stapleton community last Tuesday to discuss where things are at in regards to the high school being built in Stapleton. Pretty early into the discussion, officials let community members know that the project was a tad over budget. “Right now, I would say our shortfall is a little over $15 million,” said Scott Jackson, one of the DPS officials attending the meeting. “So, I guess, first things first, anyone have $15 million dollars?” Community members were outraged. “So, we passed a bond in 2012 to pay for this thing,” said Allie Miller. “And now, one month before groundbreaking, we find out we are $15 million short? How in the hell does that happen?” Miller was not the only person confused. “I own a construction company,” said community member Keith Heller. “I would like to know a lot more about your process. Of course, our company has had budget issues before, but you guys must have a significantly different process in regards to bidding out projects than the rest of the construction world.” DPS officials quickly attempted to deflect and diffuse the situation. “Before we get too far off track, we want to reign everyone back in,” said DPS official David Erickson. “What we want to do here today, is look at some other design options that we think will fit the needs of the community.” Erickson then dimmed the lights and began showing a brief slide show of some of the options. Options included some one-room school houses, rural schools fit for less than 500 students, and even a series of giant circus tents. “We feel that any of these options could be tweaked to fit perfectly with the needs of the Stapleton community,” said Erickson. “So, we want to schedule another meeting the day before the groundbreaking to go over the final plans. This concludes this meeting, and we are looking forward to your feedback at the March 31st meeting.” Community members were less than enthused about how the meeting went and the proposed next steps of DPS. “This was nuts,” said Victoria Bidler. “This is not a plan. Something needs to be done. They were just shoving new designs down our throats without asking for any real feedback.” Other community members agreed. “I knew the proposed design was not going to come out exactly as planned,” said Steve Moellering. “But, we went from 60 to 0 in 1 second here. There has to be something else that can be done.” If something is to be done, it needs to happen very, very quickly. ]]>

This month’s Front Porch has a great article on how Stapleton is developed and all of the entities involved. There were, however, a few pieces and parties left out, which The Stapletonion covers with the information below. [Read more…] about Developing Stapleton: Sifting Through the Bureaucracy

In a recent meeting with Denver Public Schools, the “intense” parents who actually want their kids to have a high school to attend discovered there is a $15 million shortfall in school building budget. To offset this budget crisis, DPS has decided that it would be a good experience for the Stapleton kids to build the high school themselves. [Read more…] about New Stapleton High School to Have Experiential Learning Focus

It didn’t take long for former Miami Dolphin Richie Incognito to land on his feet after being let go by the Dolphins. The NFL cast away was given an opportunity by a Stapleton family. “We have a seven year old boy and a 10 year old boy,” said Stapleton parent John Gibbs. “I have been trying to toughen my kids up, but I feel like they need a little bump in the right direction. I figured no one would be better than Richie at bullying my kids to put a few callouses on their souls.” [Read more…] about Stapleton Family Hires Former Dolphin Incognito to Toughen Up Kids