THE FACES OF
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PREP How we’re transforming elementary education in Denver 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
THIS IS LILLIANA.
88%
SCHOLARS OF COLOR
WE BELIEVE IN
DIVERSITY 2
CAMPUSES
84%
$$$
OF SCHOLARS ARE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED
40%
OF SCHOLARS ARE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
585
SCHOLARS
OUR SCHOOLS “ This year, I want to read all 150 books in my classroom.” Liliana is one of 130 southwest Denver scholars who became a part of the inaugural class at the RMP 2 campus on August 10, 2015.
AT A GLANCE RMP 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
|
2
A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER
Friends, Each morning, as I walk down one of our bright hallways, I am always greeted by smiling faces. Many of these faces are new to Rocky Mountain Prep this year - new scholars, new families and new staff members - and each one has strengthened our community, making our organization even more vibrant and diverse. Spending time in classrooms and participating in family meetings, I also see so many familiar faces who have been with us from the beginning and helped build a program that is transforming elementary education in Denver Public Schools. Each of these faces belongs to a teammate, scholar or family member who have boldly committed to our vision that every child should have access to an exceptional public education regardless of the neighborhood in which they happen to live. Together, we are building schools that break the cycle of poverty and launch our scholars on a successful path throughout middle school, high school, college and beyond. This year, as we opened our second campus, we are struck by the immense power of our community. We are so grateful to our staff, scholars, families and supporters and are humbled by your consistent engagement and dedication. Our impact wouldn’t be nearly as deep without it. Thank you,
“ Together, we are building schools that break the cycle of poverty.”
J A M E S C R YA N Founder & CEO
RR MM P P2 2 0 01 5 1 5AANNNNUUAALL RREEPPOORRTT || 3
HOW WE CREATE SUCCESSFUL SCHOLARS
RMP ESSENTIALS
THE FACES OF RMP REPRESENT AN innovative ORGANIZATION BUILDING A FOUNDATION OF transformational SUCCESS. 1. SCHOLARS HAVE MORE TIME TO LEARN.
An extended daily and yearly school calendar gives scholars 20% more learning time than a traditional elementary school.
2. CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION IS DATA-DRIVEN.
Teachers receive more than 250 hours of professional development each year, allowing for intentional and informed lessons and assessments.
3. OUR YOUNGEST SCHOLARS ARE THRIVING.
full-day pre-kindergarten program sets scholars up for success - more A than half were reading above grade-level at the end of last year.
4. WE’VE INVESTED IN AN EXCEPTIONAL ACADEMIC TEAM. They’ve created a college-prep curriculum that allows teachers to provide learning experiences that drive scholar success.
5. PARENTS ARE ENGAGED AND EMPOWERED. On the Denver Public Schools survey, 97% of families strongly agreed with the statement, “RMP teachers care about my scholar’s success.”
6. PERSONALIZED LEARNING IS WORKING. Our innovative program was awarded the NextGen Personalized Learning Grant for meeting our scholars’ diverse needs.
7. INSTRUCTION IS RIGOROUS AND JOYFUL. With science class every day, there’s constant adventure, exploration and discovery for all scholars.
8. WE PREPARE EDUCATORS TO LEAD IN THE CLASSROOM. 90% of our 2014-15 Teaching Fellows continued on to become lead or associate teachers at RMP.
RMP 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
|
5
SAY HELLO TO JAYDEN.
THE FACES OF RMP REPRESENT empowered FAMILIES BECOMING AGENTS OF CHANGE FOR SYSTEMIC EDUCATION reform. Our families are the backbone of RMP. They are our biggest partners in the work we do and the future of our schools. We empower parents to form strong relationships with our educators and become advocates for education issues that influence scholar outcomes. A parent-teacher partnership is what drastically changed the trajectory of Jayden StoutAshley’s education. Before attending RMP, her parents had been told Jayden had a learning disability and were encouraged to have her repeat kindergarten. Her parents decided instead to enroll Jayden at RMP, where teachers worked alongside her parents to instill in Jayden a love of reading. Last year, Jayden became the first scholar in RMP history to complete and test out of the 13-level STEP1 reading process.
“ All three of our kids are doing amazingly well at RMP. It has been teamwork between us and RMP from the beginning. The school exceeds our expectations all the time.” – Miranda Stout-Ashley, Founding RMP Parent
STEP is the Strategic Teaching and Evaluation of Progress, an acclaimed system designed to help students from Pre-K to third grade learn to read.
1
Jayden Stout-Ashley will be in the first class of fifth graders to graduate from RMP in 2017.
RMP 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
|
6
HOW WE COMPARE
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA
RMP IS THE top performing ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 2 SERVING PREDOMINANTLY low-income students WITHIN DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS. MATH
MATH & READING
Percentage of RMP scholars who met or exceeded expectations
Percentage of RMP scholars who are approaching, met or
on the PARCC math exam.
exceeded expectations on the math and ELA PARCC exams.
DPS
26.4%
STATE
80%
32.3% 70%
0
10
20
30
40
50
M AT H M E T O R A B OV E
READING Percentage of RMP scholars who met or exceeded expectations on the PARCC English Language Arts (ELA) exam. DPS
31.9%
STATE
40.2% 42.6%
RMP 0
10
20
30
40
ELA MET OR ABOVE
50
ELA APPROACHING OR ABOVE
48.1%
RMP
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10% 0 0
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
M AT H A P P R OAC H I N G O R A B OV E
Represents a DPS elementary school with more than 45% students qualifying for free and reduced lunch 2
Schools with at least 50% of their student population qualifying for free and reduced lunch.
RMP 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
|
8
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA
THE FACES OF RMP REPRESENT curious SCIENTISTS EAGER TO explore AND investigate THE WORLD AROUND THEM.
100
3
2
The NWEA MAP is a personalized assessment that precisely measures scholar progress and growth.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS MADE AN AVERAGE OF GROWTH IN SCIENCE.
1.6
YEARS
AVERAGE OF MORE THAN OF GROWTH IN SCIENCE.
YEARS
SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOLARS MADE AN
PERCENT OF RMP SCHOLARS REACHED OR EXCEEDED THEIR SCIENCE GROWTH GOALS.3
RMP 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
|
9
MEET MS. REESE THE FACES OF RMP REPRESENT amazing EDUCATORS MAKING OUR SCHOOL CULTURE OF rigor AND joy COME ALIVE EACH DAY. Hiring great people and developing them effectively is the most important lever to ensure scholar success. Our incredible staff works tirelessly and compassionately to support a new generation of learners. Each day, the 84-member RMP team is creating change in the face of adversity. To some, that adversity is intimidating. To Jenni Reese, it’s motivating. Jenni joined RMP as a founding pre-kindergarten teacher at RMP Creekside and then became the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. She is now the founding School Leader at the RMP 2 campus, impacting a whole new community of scholars in Southwest Denver.
“ The hundreds of tiny milestones I witness every day add up to a transformational education by the end of the school year. There is nothing like the beam of pride that comes from a scholar when she solves a math mystery, learns a new sight word or counts a little bit higher.” – Jenni Reese, Founding RMP 2 School Leader
Jenni Reese with her Pre-K scholars on the first day of school at RMP Creekside in 2012. RMP 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
|
10
FROM OUR SCHOLARS THE FACES OF RMP REPRESENT scholars WHO EMBODY perseverance, EXCELLENCE, ADVENTURE AND kindness. Our teachers use character standards to help our scholars develop not only as students, but as values-based humans, driven to leave the world better than they found it. The PEAK values of perseverance, excellence, adventure and kindness equip our scholars with the skills to work through challenges, try their best, explore new ideas and treat others with love and respect.
“ In math, if there is a hard question, I persevere and use what I know to get to the right answer.” - Mathious, 3rd grade scholar (RMP Creekside)
“ I’m adventurous when I try new things, like when I pick a new book and stay focused while I’m reading.” - Brandon, Kinder scholar (RMP 2)
“I like kindness because it means you’re showing others the respect you have for them, and doing that can spread kindness around the entire world.”
“ I show excellence by trying my best at school every day.
– KaiLecia, 2nd grade scholar (RMP Creekside)
- Karen, 1st grade scholar (RMP 2)
RMP 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
|
11
SUCCESSFUL SCHOLARS MADE POSSIBLE BY YOU
CHAMPIONS OF RMP
THE FACES OF RMP REPRESENT bold champions COMMITTED TO supporting AND CARRYING OUT RMP’S MISSION. BOARD OF DIRECTORS (2014-15)
$250,000+
UP TO $999
Pat Donovan, Board Chair
Charter School Growth Fund Daniels Fund Walton Family Foundation
Amy Anderson Richard Billings Carter & Peggy Bacon Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Fredrica Cryan James Cryan & Elizabeth Coogan Patrick & Marcy Donovan Thomas Gougeon Pamela Harris Jessica Johnson Patrick Scott & Renee Laband Lundquist Associates, Inc. April Manzanares Jeremy Morgan Marjorie Salinas Sue Tompkins Michael Turner Nicholas Waugh
VICE PRESIDENT, REVOLUTION FOODS
Scott Laband, Board Vice Chair PRESIDENT, COLORADO SUCCEEDS
Rich Billings, Treasurer PARTNER, CHARTER SCHOOL GROWTH FUND
April Manzanares, Parent Representative FOUNDING PARENT, ROCKY MOUNTAIN PREP
Amy Anderson SENIOR DIRECTOR, DONNELL-KAY FOUNDATION
Tag Hansen CHIEF COUNSEL FOR LABOR & EMPLOYMENT, CH2M HILL
Pamela Harris PRESIDENT AND CEO, MILE HIGH MONTESSORI
Nick Waugh IMPLEMENTATION LEADER, MCKINSEY
Lee White EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND MANAGER, GEORGE K. BAUM & COMPANY
$100,000-$249,999
Broad Foundation Gates Family Foundation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Louis Calder Foundation The Colorado Health Foundation $50,000-$99,999
Summit 54 - Tony and Terri Caine $10,000-$49,999
Buell Foundation Carson Family Foundation $1,000-$9,999
The Denver Foundation Double Eagle Foundation The Friedman Foundation Michael & Connie Gill Grogan Family Fund Mike & Viviana Jenner Lee & Suzanne White
This reflects grants and donations secured during the 2015 fiscal year, ending June 30, 2015.
IN-KIND GIFTS
Eric Sondermann & Tracy Dunning Elizabeth Cryan Photography
RMP 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
|
13
FINANCIAL DATA 2013 2014 2015 ENROLLMENT
296
388
585
PUBLIC REVENUES
1,319,151
2,600,430
3,532,779
GRANTS AND DONATIONS
859,637 863,273 1,444,290
TOTAL REVENUES
2,178,788 3,463,703 4,977,069
INSTRUCTION EXPENSES
731,584
1,626,038
1,913,254
SUPPORT EXPENSES
976,724
1,553,795
2,183,093
TOTAL EXPENSES
1,708,308 3,179,833 4,096,347
TOTAL ASSETS
618,792 957,360 2,199,074
TOTAL LIABILITIES
7,284 61,982 309,326
TOTAL NET ASSETS
611,508 895,378 1,889,748
FY15 EXPENSES SPLIT PEOPLE
2,370,378
SUPPLIES & SERVICES
613,502
FOOD SERVICE
279,494
FEES
258,585
FACILITIES
236,430
TECHNOLOGY
211,790
TOTAL
3,970,179
FACILITIES - 6%
TECHNOLOGY - 5%
FEES- 7%
FOOD SERVICE - 7%
SUPPLIES & SERVICES - 15%
2015 EXPENSE OVERVIEW PEOPLE - 60% RMP 2015 ANNUAL REPORT
|
14
WWW.ROCKYMOUNTAINPREP.ORG EDITING: Rose Eppensteiner DESIGN: Joel Hill, Jeanné Reed PHOTOGRAPHY: Elizabeth Cryan, Ellen Jaskol and Laura Kinser
7808 CHERRY CREEK S. DRIVE #3-300 DENVER, COLORADO 80231