Jared Polis Foundation Education Report: Schools

Named after, and inspired by, a key intellectual figure from the Mexican Revolution, the Ricardo Flores Magon Academy is a K-8 public charter school that opened its doors in August to serve children from low-income families in the Northwest Denver and Westminster communities.

Having received its charter status from the Colorado Charter School Institute in 2006, the school was in the planning and development stages for two years. Marcos Martinez, the founding principal, believes that thorough planning and preparation were crucial for conceptualizing and implementing a successful school: “I completed a one-year principal fellowship and residency through the Boston-based organization, Building Excellent Schools, and worked closely with KIPP-Sunshine Peak in Denver and its principal, Richard Barrett,” says Marcos. “The vision for the Ricardo Flores Magon Academy came together during this time.”

The school’s vision is to provide a strong K-8 college preparation education for low-income students and their families, largely of Mexican descent, in a Metro Denver area—the southern Adams 50 region and the northwest Denver neighborhoods—that has consistently experienced unsatisfactory test scores and high dropout rates, even among middle school students. “I am a Denver native, and I was motivated to start the school because in and around Adams 50 there is an area that has historically had a low-achieving minority population, and there is not an option in the area for children who want to engage in a college prep program,” says Marcos.

The primary goal of the Ricardo Flores Magon Academy is to “get our students into college,” he says. “They will attend a K-8 college prep elementary and middle school, and will go onto a college-prep high school with the support of the Academy’s counselors, who will also follow students into college, supporting them along the way. We’re committing more than 12 years to all of our students.” Starting out with 40 students per grade in K-2, the school will add one grade each school year and already has a waiting list for every grade enrolled this school year. Its student population is 80-90% Latino and 70-80% qualifies for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program, while 70% of the adults in the community have not earned a high school diploma.

With a research-based curriculum focused on reading, writing and math, which includes SRA Open Court Reading, Waterford Early Reading Program, Saxon Math, and Power Writing Plus, students receive more than 200 minutes per day of literacy training. The school also offers science, social studies, and two daily Spanish classes. For native Spanish speakers, one class emphasizes retaining the language and learning proper grammar to utilize it in professional settings. For non-native Spanish speakers, the second class will make students proficient by the time they graduate.

The school is also the only public tennis academy in the U.S., with a tennis professional on site who teaches tennis to all interested students on the campus’s professional court. Marcos strongly believes in the academic benefits of athletics. The focus a student brings to the tennis game translates into improved performance in school. A chess club is also available.

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