Video: Montbello students speak up

What do some Montbello High School students have to say about the district’s reform plan for their school?

Plenty.

Montbello High School juniors Ashley Short, left, and Amani Valentine were two of four Montbello students who spoke with EdNews about a district plan to reform their school.

Sure, these four high-achieving students want to save their school as one. The part of the Denver Public Schools’ proposal that comes in for the biggest blast is the idea of converting the traditional high school into three smaller programs – a college prep academy, a high-tech early college and an international studies 6-12 program.

But they also see the need for some change, particularly in academics. They’re not blind to the fact that the school is struggling with a 59 percent graduation rate.

And they place much of the blame for that on the students themselves. They’ve also got some ideas about how to turn it around.

The four students – juniors Ashley Short and Amani Valentine and sophomores Christopher Urias and Ariel Valdez – were interviewed Tuesday night at Rachel B. Noel Middle School, where the second of two packed community meetings on Far Northeast Denver reforms was held.

The reporter’s voice is left on the video so viewers can hear the questions asked. For complete coverage of Tuesday’s meeting, including links to the full district proposal, click on the EdNews’ story, Alternative proposals, impassioned pleas.