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Dear Beacon Families,
Hello. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Alex Magaña, the Executive Director of Beacon Network School. I started as the principal at Grant Middle School and then worked with our teachers, parents and community in developing the Beacon Model. GBMS and KBMS are district-run innovation schools that have provided the flexibility and autonomy that we need to better serve our students and families. Many of you selected our schools because of the opportunities our students experience through enrichments and our academic programming. I am sending this message because what makes us a Beacon School is being questioned by the current DPS Board. We need your help.
I remember years back when we started this journey; Grant MS was one of the lowest-performing schools in the district. Teachers, other educators, parents, and the community came together, and we asked ourselves, what do we want to look and feel like and what do we need to get there? That's how it all started. We needed a plan and a commitment to the plan by everyone involved.
We strive to personalize the learning of each of our students by committing to; enrichments, blended learning, character development and critical thinking. GBMS has been nationally recognized for the hard-work work of turning a school around and making it one of the highest performing schools in the district.
After showing incredible success, we were asked to do the same at Kepner Middle School. The parents and families in the Kepner community wanted something different for their children. Hence, we are one of the first public schools to replicate itself, which was not easy. I am proud to share that thanks to your support and our commitment to the promises we detailed in our approved plans, we have increased enrollment and significantly impacted the academics at the school.
Unfortunately, the DPS Board has submitted executive limitation proposals that will negatively impact our programming. I am concerned that we are undoing the process of bringing communities together to serve our students better. If the executive limitations are approved, it will mean that our families' voices were not heard, and our educators' choices were not considered. More specifically, it will impact our students.
I would encourage all of you to reach out to your DPS Board members and share your experience at GBMS and KBMS. Share with them why you selected our school for your child. For me it's simple, we have the best teachers and staff at both schools. They all commit to what we do as a Beacon School and embrace the flexibility and autonomy in their classroom. If we need to opt-out or change something in our plan, we come together to make the necessary changes that best support the students and families we serve.
Please email me or reach out if you have any questions. Additional information can be found in our weekly newsletter.
Thank you for your listening.
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