February 10, 2017
Dear Superintendent Boasberg and Members of the Board of Education,
Through your visionary leadership, The Denver Plan 2020 was established to ensure a great school
in every neighborhood. Further, as you have regularly reminded our city, the plan intentionally
highlights the urgent need of our city to close the opportunity gap for our African American and
Latino students. 2020 is rapidly approaching and today, with three years remaining in the plan,
43,000 Denver students languish in low-performing schools. Less than 50% of our city’s students are
enrolled in a green or blue school and more than 26,000 low-performing seats must be transformed
to achieve the central mission of our collective plan – at least 80% of children in green and blue
seats.
University Prep, STRIVE Prep, and Rocky Mountain Prep are collectively submitting ten charter
applications in this cycle to continue to do our part. DSST has previously been approved to open
six additional schools​ over the next several years, and STRIVE Prep has two charters awaiting
permanent placement. Collectively, this effort represents 18 schools that could serve up to 11,300
additional students across our city at full capacity.
All of our charter networks have clearly demonstrated success and success with all children from all
backgrounds. Our networks represent 90 percent students of color, 81 percent FRL eligible, 47.5
English Language Learners, and 10.5 percent receive special education services. Between our four
networks we operated 20 blue and green rated schools in 2016, which created more than 8,650 high
quality seats and represents nearly​ 20% o​f all high performing seats across Denver. 91% of the
schools in these networks are green and blue, exceeding the Denver Plan target.
We are asking district leadership to approve and ultimately open our schools in the years ahead
with an eye on 2020 and the promises we’ve made to the children of our city. We are one important
part of the solution and represent a strong option for families who fundamentally deserve high
quality choices.
The Denver Plan 2020 is our collective responsibility and the deadline is rapidly approaching. We
can and must achieve the goals outlined in the Plan that ultimately lead to great schools in every
neighborhood, closed achievement gaps and significantly increased opportunities. Together, with
the district, our charter networks have been and will continue to be part of the larger solution to the
challenges facing our students, schools and community.

 Thank you for supporting the work we’ve done to date, the work we will continue to do moving
forward, and for your urgent efforts to ensure the success of all students across our city.
Respectfully,

James Cryan
Rocky Mountain Prep

David Singer
University Prep

Chris Gibbons
STRIVE Prep

Bill Kurtz
DSST Public Schools