Fast-Growing Douglas County Builds New Schools to Accommodate Growth
academics, douglas county high, douglas county schools, education, lisle gates, school,
Douglas County is growing so fast that an eighth high school is being readied for the 2006-07 academic year.
The school is scheduled to open in August 2006 at The Meadows in Historic Castle Rock‚ on the city’s west side. It will begin with grades 9 and 10 only‚ then add grade 11 in 2007 and grade 12 in 2008.
The school is being built to accommodate 1‚600 students‚ with expectations of 500 students when it opens in 2006 and 1‚500 by 2008. There will be 25 teachers hired for 2006‚ and a total of 100 by 2008.
“I was hired in Douglas County 10 years ago and was principal of the third high school (Highlands Ranch)‚ so we’ve gone from three to eight high schools in only 10 years‚” says Lisle Gates‚ principal of the new school at The Meadows. “There is currently only one other high school in Castle Rock itself – Douglas County High – and it is bursting at the seams with 2‚600 students. This is the first time that Castle Rock has had a high school other than Douglas County High‚ and alleviating the overcrowding problem alone is just one of the many pluses of opening the new facility.”
The two-story‚ 260‚000-square-foot building is costing about $35 million to construct and equip. A few years after the opening‚ the school is slated for a new wing‚ upping the enrollment capacity to 2‚000 students.
School colors and the mascot were finalized at a school board meeting on Dec. 6‚ 2005.
Gates says one of the interesting aspects of the new school is that freshmen and sophomores will concentrate on core academics and then pinpoint a specific curriculum during their junior and senior years.
Those 11th and 12th grade students “will focus their curriculum on one of five fields of interest that we call academies‚ which will somewhat prepare students for college‚ technical school or work after high school‚” he says. “The tentative five academies that students will be placed into are math/science/engineering‚ performing and visual arts‚ e-communications/information technology‚ humanities/foreign languages/social science‚ and business and marketing.”
Gates says the academies will offer smaller class settings‚ with more attention given to each individual student.
“Kids often get lost in high school‚ and the academies will provide a stronger relationship opportunity between adult teachers and these young students‚” he says. “After all‚ helping kids is what it’s all about in the school business.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
