5280 High School

Support 5280 High School, a hands-on, project based learning school that focuses on comprehensive wellness and also includes a program for students in recovery.

5280 High School provides an innovative, hands-on, and collaborative classroom experience. We create the entrepreneurs, innovators, leaders, collaborators & designers for future jobs and college success through project based learning. PBL, or Project Based Learning, is a teaching method that engages students actively in learning by asking them to investigate an interesting and complex question, problem, or challenge, and then to create something in response. Students engage in large, meaningful projects that require creativity and bring to bear skills and knowledge from multiple disciplines to solve real problems or build something for the benefit of the community. It is hands-on, collaborative, and challenging for students, who see the real-life or personal relevance of what they are learning-think "students doing, not teachers delivering." Projects can vary in length; some may take a week or two, others a month or more. Projects may be done individually, in teams, or by a whole class. PBL gives students more responsibility than they think they can handle, but supports and guides them through the challenge. Once students realize they are capable of greatness, they are forever changed. They will have the skills to succeed in future jobs-even those that haven't yet been created.

5280 also embraces a wellness philosophy that develops students' minds, hearts, bodies and souls, creating well-rounded and balanced adolescents. Teenagers grapple with where they belong, what they value, and what kind of person they want to be. We will tackle the challenges of adolescence head-on and support students as they learn to navigate life more independently. Our culture is both purposeful and cultivated, emphasizing inclusiveness and empathy within a strong, diverse community. Adolescents struggle with immense pressures, and we don't shy away from confronting these stressors to engage students in a safe, positive community that builds empathy in a diverse world.

5280 High School also includes the Summit Program, a program specifically designed to support students in recovery from addiction and eating disorders. Summit provides peer support and a strong community to allow students to learn to live out their recovery throughout high school. This support is currently unavailable in Denver Public Schools and 5280's Summit Program would be the first of its kind in Denver. 5280 provides a safe, supportive community for students to walk alongside peers facing similar challenges, and to receive guidance and support from specialized staff. Also, the Summit Program occurs within the context of a public school-which will ultimately prepare them for success in the real world.

Please help to support our cause! We will open to over 100 students in August 2018, and need your support to make sure we open with the right facility, the right people, and with the right supplies to ensure we are successful right from the very start. Our school will not reach full enrollment (and therefore full funding) until 2021, and we rely on community support in our first few years of start-up. Thanks for your support to this innovative and much-needed school.

For more information, visit www.5280highschool.org

Thank you!