Denver Discovery School

3480 Syracuse Street

School District

Denver County 1
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

School Map for Denver County 1 School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by teacher on July 17, 2019

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. Best thing would be to close the school.
Submitted by student on April 17, 2019

Absolutely horrific. Only go here if you want to learn screwed up morals and other than that nothing else. Possibly Independence though because teachers were not there to support you and often there weren't even teachers in the classroom
Submitted by parent on March 23, 2018

Horrible, do not go to the school. Each year I thought I should pull my child from this school but I didn't because some of the teachers are good and he had good friends. Now I regret ever keeping him there for one year. Just this year they have had 3 principals, staff quitting as the Titanic, I mean school, starts to sink. The new principal is taking care of the teachers now but the kids are being left behind. DPS should be ashamed of themselves for letting this school get so far behind before stepping in and trying to help. The focus on the students is completely lost...
Submitted by parent on February 06, 2018

Denver Discovery is a troubled school and I would not recommend it at this time. Staff turnover is high which is disruptive to learning. So far this year, my child has lost 3 teachers and I am aware of 3 others that have left as well. In addition, the principal, vice principal, and interim principal left. Bullying is also a problem. Although my child has not been bullied, I know other families who are struggling to get the school to adequately address this. Large class sizes are also a problem and this is made worse by the significant behavioral issues within the school. My child comes home talking about out-of-control classrooms where teachers are in tears and kids are yelling obscenities and refusing to leave the classroom when asked. How can any child learn in this environment? It doesn't help that most of the teachers are quite young and likely lack experience to deal with this. The district sent some type of intervention team in to deal with these issues and others (including some racial tensions it sounded like) but it doesn't seem to have helped yet. We’ve never seen such poor grades from our child. I've reached out to teachers and one of the interim principals (2 since the start of the year) for help and to express my concerns and I am unhappy with the school's response. I've emailed my child's teachers and received no response multiple times. The 2nd interim principal (previous teacher and now assistant principal) made multiple requests to my child's teachers to email us to keep us updated on classroom progress. This has yet to happen. The lack of respect for school leadership this shows is a worrisome sign. Overall, I do not think this school is capable of providing a good learning environment at this time. They recently hired a new principal and perhaps eventually she can fix the problems but it's going to take time. I don't want my child's education to suffer while the school gets their act together. Like other families, I am hoping to get my child into another school next year.
Submitted by parent on November 09, 2017

Obviously, this school has not been rated recently. I have a sixth grader who started this school year (2017-2018). One week before school started, I received notice that the principal and over half of the teaching staff either left or were let go. They scrambled, and the interim principal seems wonderful. The staff is inexperienced, but enthusiastic and passionate, however discipline at the school is such a problem that my student feels it is difficult to learn with all the disruptions in classes. 3 of the sixth grade teachers and the special education teacher have quit, and the Assistant Principal was let go due to budget (all in the first 3 months of school!) There are currently ineffective substitute teachers in these classes causing a huge interruption to learning. While the administration figures out how to deal with all of these issues, the students are the losers. This school has not turned out to be the sweet, smaller school with a more individualized learning environment that it was made out to be.
Submitted by parent on September 28, 2017

My daughter is a sixth grader at DDS this year. Our experience so far has been overwhelmingly positive. She loves her teachers, and seems so excited about the material they are learning. She is very excited to go to school everyday. The new leadership team has made great improvements in some areas that were a concern to families at the school last year. I have been pleased with our experience in these first couple of months at school.
Submitted by parent on July 23, 2017

this school could be a great school if they had different leadership. My son went here for 3 years and made some great friends and has had some great teacher in spite of what Ms. Atwood. A sign of a good school is the teacher attrition rate and 54% of the teachers left after the 2nd year and more than 52% the second year.
Submitted by parent on August 31, 2016

DDS is no ordinary middle school. I can't imagine sending my 8th and 6th grader anywhere else! At DDS my kids are challenged academically with a wonderful variety of courses, but even more important to me as a parent, they are loved, encouraged, motivated and respected by the staff. DDS is committed to developing character traits in my children like compassion, gratitude, collaboration, perseverance, leadership and discovery. There is open communication amongst the DDS community so I always feel assured that my voice is heard and any problem or concern will be solved in a timely manner. I feel confident each morning sending my kids off to such a great place, knowing they are in good hands all day. This small school has a BIG place in our hearts! Thanks DDS for your dedication to your families.
Submitted by parent on August 31, 2016

My daughter loves DDS! She has made such strides since being there. The teachers really get to know the students, and the principal is amazing. The smaller size of the school has truly benefited my daughter, and I look forward to the rest of her years at this wonderful school!
Submitted by principal on August 20, 2016

Our kids are what makes us great! They are happy, compassionate and driven young people.
Submitted by parent on June 01, 2016

My son recently finished his second year at DDS and is excelling. This school expects excellence, has traditional and progressive styles of instruction and fantastic teachers.