Jared Polis Foundation Education Report: Schools

The New America School (NAS), a system of public charter high schools founded by Jared Polis and dedicated to serving immigrant youth who want to learn English and earn their high school diploma, held its third graduation ceremony on June 8 at the Tivoli Center in Denver. More than 350 guests, including family members, friends, teachers and staff, were there to honor the graduates and celebrate with them their educational achievement. This year’s graduating class was the biggest ever: 75 students from the three NAS campuses in Lowry/Aurora, Northglenn, and Lakewood successfully completed a rigorous academic curriculum and met all of the graduation requirements, while improving their English skills through intensive language instruction.

This graduation ceremony was particularly special for five graduates who received four-year college scholarships from the Jared Polis Foundation and the New America School. These students were selected through a rigorous and competitive application process and they will attend local community colleges beginning this fall.

The New America School is also expanding to meet the growing demand for both educational opportunity and English language skills, and its new campuses are located in diverse communities with the greatest unmet need. The fourth campus opened its doors in August in Eagle County, just west of the Vail ski resort, and will serve the large population of English language learners in the area, beginning with a freshman class of approximately 40 students. The Jared Polis Foundation welcomes the principal of the new campus, Kathleen Brendza, a local educational expert who brings years of leadership experience to the job. Well-known in the community for establishing the Youth Foundation, which helps extend educational opportunity to lower income students, Kathleen has also received the Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education.

The Eagle County program will offer a full-time day and night high school program at the new Gypsum campus.