Our Jefferson Area community has seen a number of school changes over the last ten years. In 2015, Wheat Ridge 5-8 closed and Jefferson High School added 7th and 8th grade students to become Jefferson Junior/Senior High School. At the end of the 2022-2023 school year, Molholm Elementary closed and most students transferred to Lumberg Elementary.

As we sat through tough community conversations at Molholm, school community members expressed a strong desire to be part of the conversation earlier instead of just being told their school was closing. We are committed to bringing conversations we hear at the Jeffco Board of Education public meetings and informing our community on what is happening, so we don’t have a repeat of the fast Molholm conversations.

At the Jeffco Public Schools Board of Education Study Session on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, board members heard a presentation on the Boundary Study Summative Report. Jeffco Public Schools contracted with FLO Analytics to do a comprehensive study of Jeffco’s current school boundaries, articulation patterns, and enrollment patterns.

The full report can be read here.

The Jefferson Articulation Area, and specifically Jefferson Junior/Senior High School, stood out in the report as an area to watch over the next few years. Enrollment is high at both Edgewater Elementary and Lumberg Elementary, but enrollment continues to drop at Jefferson.

Here’s what the report said specifically about Jefferson Junior/Senior High School:

Enrollment projections suggest that the Jefferson articulation area is not sustainable. By the 2027–28 school year the Jefferson articulation area will have enough capacity to serve more than 2,000 students, but enrollment projections suggest it will serve less than 1,200. Enrollment in the Jefferson articulation area is projected to have a high decline (30.9 percent) by 2027–28. This includes projections that Jefferson Junior/Senior will only serve approximately 372 students in grades 7-12 in the 2027–28 school year. Students in grades K-12 who live in the Jefferson articulation area, primarily choice-out to Wheat Ridge articulation area schools (25 percent) and Lakewood articulation area schools (22 percent). This level of enrollment is not sufficient to sustainably provide quality instruction or experiences to students. The District should look at 2024-25 October count information, and if the information confirms these findings, the District should design a plan for long-term sustainability aligned with existing choice patterns with community engagement, principal leadership, and in tandem with the District’s strategic capital plan.

Here are some of the points made during the discussion at the Board of Education meeting.

• Jeffco Public Schools is not anticipating having to close any schools over the next three years and this includes Jefferson.
• A 7th-12th grade comprehensive school with under 500 students cannot offer great educational experiences.
• Based on enrollment numbers at Jefferson in October, Jeffco Public Schools will be start conversations with our community about what kind of educational model could serve the students enrolling at Jefferson.
• Instead of continuing to think of Jefferson as a comprehensive high school, it’s important to start designing something that could serve a smaller number of students.

So where do we go from here?

Since we launched in 2013, Edgewater Collective has remained committed to seeing thriving Edgewater schools. We are committed now more than ever to ensuring all our community members are heard, valued, and part of the coming conversations about the future of Jefferson Junior/Senior High School.

As we have studied the history of our Edgewater schools, we have come to understand that historically Jeffco Public Schools has not done the hard work of understanding our communities, valuing the diversity of languages and backgrounds of students and educators, and investing the right resources to provide extraordinary learning experiences for our students. We must advocate for Jeffco Public Schools to follow through on their promises to our students and educators.

Without blaming hard working educators, we need to acknowledge that Jefferson is in need of renovation and redesign. Incremental changes haven’t worked. We’ve been through too many principals. Our children, families, and educators deserve to be part of conversations where we dream big about what could be at Jefferson.

As we enter yet another round of community conversations about Jefferson Junior/Senior High School, we are committed to amplifying the voices of students, educators, families, and the community.

As conversations continue, we will ensure that you all know about meetings and conversations, so that you can speak up for your children and their future.

Saints on 3!