VISION + ACTION
FREEDOM SCHOOL
WHY US?
Black students in the Denver metropolitan area need learning environments that are loving and safe.
The 5280 Freedom School will combat the oppression of anti-Black racism by creating a safe, racism-free space. 5280 Freedom School addresses the ways in which BIPOC students and educators are harmed by many of Denver’s current educational institutions and the school-to-prison pipeline.
5280 Freedom School creates greater spans of time during which BIPOC can exist free from racism and all its harmful manifestations. This, in turn, benefits whole communities and generations. 5280 Freedom School is designed close opportunity gaps that have existed for decades.
Our school culture creates safe and affirming learning spaces for students to take academic risks. We engage students in inquiry-based learning and Culturally Responsive and Sustaining pedagogy. We will prepare students to develop habits of mind that lead to them becoming independent learners and thinkers.
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OUR SQUAD
Branta Lockett, Executive Director
Branta Lockett identifies as a Black woman, educator, activist, and lifelong learner. Director Lockett founded the 5280 Freedom School Summer Program, which is now in its 5th year. She received her Master of Arts Degree from Brown University in Urban Education Policy. She has worked as an elementary school teacher and a Program Manager in the Leadership Development Pipeline Program for Denver Public Schools. Director Lockett has also completed the Residency Bridge Year Program and been a School Launcher Fellow for Moonshot edVentures. As a summer site Director of Generation Teach, Ms. Lockett directed teachers, cultivated a thriving culture, and mentored student teachers to help diversity the teaching profession to the benefit of students of color.
Marissa Chandler, Family Engagement Coordinator
Marissa Chandler, who prefers to be referred to as Marz, identifies as a Black woman, mother, entrepreneur, and educator. She is currently teaching pre-k through 4th grade literacy at the Wilson Baker Academy, a unique school that centers African culture and the African worldview. Marz is also the Program Director of the 5280 Summer Freedom School Program. Marz has developed programming, coordinated family involvement, built curricula, and provided direct instruction within the 5280 Summer Freedom School for five years in this capacity. Marz received an M.A. in Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education from CU Denver.
Amy Brown, Director of Development
Amy E. Brown identifies as a Black woman, mother, and activist. Ms. Brown is a Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter 5280, the chapter under which the 5280 Freedom School was formed. She is an experienced Community Organizer who has successfully executed advocacy efforts for communities of color while serving the Speaker of the California State Assembly, the Sacramento City Council, labor and civic service organizations. As Director of Development for BLM5280, Ms. Brown has successfully raised over one million dollars for the organization. She also supported the BLM 5280 chapter’s successful effort to purchase a building in Denver’s historically Black Five Points neighborhood, which will serve as home to the 5280 Freedom School.
Vincent Bowen, Board Treasurer
With over fifteen years of investment banking origination, strategic and institutional sales experience, Bowen’s experience encourages Vince to actively advocate for racial and economic justice by helping build economic self-sufficiency in Black and other marginalized communities in Denver and beyond as a core leader of BLM5280. Specifically, he is focused on building models of community ownership of sustainable food sources via urban farming, cooperative grocery store and other business ownership. Vince graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Economics and MBA from the University of Virginia with honors.
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ORGANIZATION BUILDS POWER
MISSION
The 5280 Freedom School teaches students from ECE-8th grade to become racially literate and civicallyminded by centering Black knowledge, people, and principles.
The 5280 Freedom School exists in order to dismantle oppressive systems, to liberate ourselves, and to empower our students to transform the world.
VISION
The 5280 Freedom School is where people are loved, valued, safe, and free to be themselves, and where students become leaders for social change.
VALUES
1. RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
We are committed to collectively, lovingly, and courageously working vigorously for freedom and justice for Black people and, by extension, all people. As we forge our path, we intentionally build and nurture a beloved community that is bonded together through a beautiful struggle that is restorative, not depleting.
2. EMPATHY
We are committed to practicing empathy; we engage comrades with the intent to learn about and connect with their contexts.
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3. LOVING ENGAGEMENT
We are committed to embodying and practicing justice, liberation, and peace in our engagements with one another.
4. DIVERSITY
We are committed to acknowledging, respecting, and celebrating difference(s) and commonalities.
5. GLOBALISM
We see ourselves as part of the global Black family and we are aware of the different ways we are impacted or privileged as Black folk who exist in different parts of the world.
6. QUEER AFFIRMING
We are committed to fostering a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking or, rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual unless s/he or they disclose otherwise.
7. TRANS AFFIRMING
We are committed to embracing and making space for trans siblings to participate and lead. We are committed to being self-reflexive and doing the work required to dismantle cis-gender privilege and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence
8. COLLECTIVE VALUE
We are guided by the fact all Black lives matter, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status or location.
9. INTERGENERATIONAL
We are committed to fostering an intergenerational and communal network free from ageism. We believe that all people, regardless of age, show up with capacity to lead and learn.
10. BLACK FAMILIES
We are committed to making our spaces family-friendly and enable parents to fully participate with their children. We are committed to dismantling the patriarchal practice that requires mothers to work “double shifts” that require them to mother in private even as they participate in justice work.
11. BLACK VILLAGES
We are committed to disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, and especially “our” children to the degree that mothers, parents and children are comfortable.
12. UNAPOLOGETICALLY BLACK
We are unapologetically Black in our positioning. In affirming that Black Lives Matter, we need not qualify our position. To love and desire freedom and justice for ourselves is a necessary prerequisite for wanting the same for others.
13. BLACK WOMEN
We are committed to building a Black women affirming space free from sexism, misogyny, and male‐centeredness.
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TIMELINE
SUMMER PROGRAM TO SCHOOL OPENING
2022
Charter Application Process
Summer Camp
FALL SPRING
Freedom School submitted their application with details on possible facilities, as well as curriculum and programming specifics. Their application was reviewed by both the staff and Denver Public School Board, but the charter was ultimately denied in June 2022.
SUMMER Location Scouting Construction
In July 2018, the first Summer Freedom School was held. Historically, Freedom Schools were developed and led by Black Americans in the South as an alternative school and encouraged Black youth to become change agents within their communities during the Civil Rights Movement. Summer Freedom School has been held every summer since.
Freedom School is appealing to the Colorado State Board and should receive final confirmation on the status of their charter by October 2022 at the latest.
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Summer Camp
School Opens
SPRING
Freedom School will have selected a location to open their school at and will be underway on the design and construction of any tenant improvements that need to occur.
Freedom School expects to open with at least interim capacity for the Fall 2023 school year.
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2023
FALL
EXISTING CHAPTER BUILDING
RECLAIMED SPACE
The purchase of historic Fern Hall is an initiative of Black Lives Matter 5280 that is strategically developed to reclaim space and reparations in the form of property in Five Points for Denver’s Black community.
Five Points is a historically Black neighborhood near downtown Denver that served as a home to Denver’s Black community for much of the twentieth century. Deeply impacted by over-policing and gentrification, Five Points now serves as a symbolic “last stand” for many Black residents and business owners whose numbershave deeply diminished.
The purchase of this property by an unapologetically Black-women-led, Black- centered organization sends a powerful message to profit-driven developers, local government entities/individuals, those who actively gentrify Black and BIPOC spaces, and most importantly to our Black community. With this purchase, BLM5280 is boldly stating that
Black people will not be driven out of our homes and communities. Black people will not be arrested, killed, intimidated, or priced-out of the neighborhoods that hold our legacies. Rather, we will reclaim these properties and transform them into safe, flourishing spaces for our community.
The purchase of Fern Hall aligns with the powerbuilding model of our Economic Justice Squad in multiple ways. The purchase equips a Black organization with a valuable resource. Additionally, Fern Hall’s three-unit layout provides retail space that BLM5280 can make available to Black-owned businesses who would not otherwise be able to afford retail space. Our model includes offering incubator space to up-and-coming businesses, offering incentives to those who employ formerly-incarcerated persons so that we can be a part of building Black economic power at various levels.
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WELTON CALIFORNIA ST 27TH 26TH AVE NWASHINGTON ST N CLARKSTON ST 9
ENROLLMENT MAPPING
SUMMER CAMP ATTENDEES
Now entering its fourth and largest year to-date, the 5280 Freedom School is one of the most successful programs offered by BLM5280. Summer Freedom School has doubled enrollment every year, added Saturday school in response to parent and student demand, and met the challenges of remote learning head-on amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 5280 Freedom School has been able to engage their families to understand location needs
for the future school location.
As shown on the adjacent map, Freedom School has the highest enrollment from students who live in East Denver including the Far Northeast. However, they also pull students from as far away as Longmont. Due to these enrollment patterns, locating near major highways and along transit lines is important to the school.
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Highest Enrollment Lowest Enrollment
Chapter Building
Lafayette
Northglen
Longmont
Aurora
Westminister
PRIORITY AMENITY MAPPING
RESIDENTIAL AREAS AND POLICE STATIONS
City Park West Colfax North Park Hill Lowry Field Elyria Swansea Clayton Cole12
Black, Indigenous, Students and Educators of Color are harmed by many of Denver’s current educational institutions and the school-to-prison pipeline. There is a lack of spaces in which our community can escape the violence of anti-Black racism in Denver.
At 5280 Freedom School, our goal is that our students not only feel safe but that they contribute to the safety of others. When our students grow up, we want them to expect safety from all spaces they enter. We want them to learn at a young age that their emotions deserve validation; that they are worthy of being heard and deserving of kind interactions.
Because of this, 5280 Freedom School is hoping to locate farther away from police stations to create a sense of security. Locating in a residential neighborhood is preferred over an industrial area so that the young students have access to green spaces and other neighborhood-level amenities.
Residential Areas And Police Stations
Police Staions
Residential Areas
Industrial areas
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SITE SCOUTING
FINDING VIABLE POTENTIAL SITES
Real estate cost and land value is at an all-time high in Denver, and is a barrier to many mission-driven developments. However, through partnerships with staunch supporters and those with a pulse on the market, several possible locations have been identified. Further feasibility studies will be done to ensure these locations are a good match and to determine whether they are suitable for full-capacity or interim occupancy.
African American Communities
0 Percent of Black or African American Population
100 Percent of Black or African American Population
City Park West Colfax North Park Hill Lowry Field Elyria Swansea Clayton Cole14
A
D C B
French American School
2280 E 16th Ave, Denver, CO 80206
This location is located in a neighborhood that has a significant Black population while also being easy to access from the existing Chapter building. However, this school would require Freedom School to be co-tenants with a private French preschool. Freedom School would ultimately like to operate their own ECE in conjunction with the K-8 program. This school also does not have outdoor play access, crucial to Freedom School as they seek to integrate access to the outdoors and play into their curriculum.
REACH School
940 Fillmore St, Denver, CO 80206
While this existing school building is outside of the target neighborhoods for Freedom School, it is still close to their existing Chapter building and easily accessible via transit and major roads. This location also has access to playground space and parks nearby. The school is up to code and would require minimal work by Freedom School in order to operate.
Hanger Building
7600 E. 1st Place | Denver, Colorado 80230
Ideally located along major roads in the Denver area, this building also has state-of-the-art facilities and is located near many park and greenway options. However, this building quickly went under contract once it hit the market.
Former Employer’s Council Building
1799 Pennsylvania St, Denver, CO 80203
The office building is owned by the Colorado Health Foundation (CHF). CHF will be redeveloping the property into family-focused affordable housing and there is future potential to collaborate on the development to include ECE or the full Freedom School. However, they will be breaking ground on construction sooner than anticipated and therefore is not a good fit for an interim site for Freedom School.
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C
D
B A
SPACE PROGRAM
Freedom School Space Program for First 2 Years Space Name # of occupants SF/Pupil Total SF # of rooms Parking requirement Parking spaces K 27 38 1,026 SF 1 2 spaces / classroom 2 1st 27 32 864 SF 1 2 spaces / classroom 2 1 Special Classroom 10 32 320 SF 1 2 spaces / classroom 2 Core Classroom Total 64 2,210 SF Core Classroom Parking 6 Kitchen area/ lunch room 25 75 1,875 SF 1 Bathrooms (1 per 50 students) 3 150 375 SF 3 Support Space Total 2,250 SF 0 Offices 2 120 240 SF 2 1 space / instructor 2 Room for small group teach 0 250 SF 1 Instructor Rest Room 3 50 150 SF 1 Instructor Space Total 64 640 SF Instructor Space Total Parking 2 Total 5,100 SF Circulation 15% 15% 765 SF Grand total 5,865 SF Total Parking Spaces 8
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INTERIM + FULL CAPACITY
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FULL CAPACITY PROGRAM
SCOUTED SITES FOR FULL CAPACITY PROGRAM
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FULL CAPACITY FREEDOM SCHOOL SPACE PROGRAM Space Name # of occupants SF/Pupil Total SF # of rooms Parking requirement Parking spaces ECE 16 50 1,600 SF 2 K 27 38 1,026 SF 1 2 spaces /classroom 2 Grade 1 27 32 864 SF 1 2 spaces /classroom 2 Grade 2 27 32 864 SF 1 2 spaces /classroom 2 Grade 3 27 32 864 SF 1 2 spaces /classroom 2 Grade 4 28 30 840 SF 1 2 spaces /classroom 2 Grade 5 28 30 840 SF 1 2 spaces/classroom 2 Specials 28 30 3,360 SF 4 2 spaces /classroom Special Ed- 1 classroom 28 30 840 SF 1 Core Classroom Total 10,258 SF Parking 12 Support Space 1 Social Services 16 38 608 SF 1 Small group 16 20 320 SF 1 Kitchen area/ lunch room 2,400 SF Library/tech space 30 40 1,200 SF 1 Small Indoor Gym 3000* SF 1 Small Auditorium + Stage space 360 10 2,400 SF 1 1 space / 3 seats 233 Bathrooms 10 150 1,500 SF 1 Support Space Total 8,428 Parking 233 Instructor Space 1 Offices 4 120 480 SF 7 1 space 7 Faculty Lounge - 1 2 250 500 SF 1 Instructior Space Total 980 SF Parking 7 Total 19,666 SF Circulation 15% 15% 2,950 SF Grand total 22,616 SF Total Parking Spaces 252 19
EXPENSE + REVENUE PROJECTIONS
SUSTAINABLE FINANCING
Freedom School’s Finance Committee has developed the draft budget including revenues and expenses for the first five years after the school opens.
The budget projections include expenses that are both instructional and supporting services and was developed in close partnership with the Board of Directors. The budget depends on local, state, and federal support for revenue streams. The Development sub-committee for Freedom School builds these revenue streams through grant-writing, networking, and additional research.
Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total Local Support $89,000 $377,776 $207,102 $314,976 $508,987 $601,986 $2,099,827 State Support $0 $525,196 $802,790 $1,436,894 $2,629,322 $3,267,697 $8,661,898 Federal Support $209,400 $214,860 $217,590 $14,385 $25,830 $31,500 $713,565 Total Revenues $298,400 $1,117,832 $1,227,482 $1,766,255 $3,164,138 $3,901,183 $11,475,290
Revenues
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Expenses Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Total Instructional Salaries & Benefits $0 $265,986 $466,816 $733,957 $1,437,780 $1,733,055 $4,637,595 Other Purchased Services $0 $2,363 $5,713 $9,600 $17,300 $20,750 $55,725 Supplies and Materials $34,000 $39,200 $49,000 $31,400 $53,200 $64,000 $271,400 Property $20,940 $90,000 $45,200 $12,850 $18,300 $21,000 $208,290 Other Objects $0 $1,300 $1,950 $3,425 $6,150 $7,500 $20,325 Total Instructional $54,940 $398,849 $569,279 $791,232 $1,532,730 $1,846,305 $5,193,335 Supporting Services Salaries & Benefits $136,003 $166,253 $196,070 $372,080 $469,663 $485,404 $1,825,474 Purchased/ Professional/ Technical Services $44,000 $155,956 $226,185 $300,122 $465,662 $531,132 $1,723,057 Purchased Property Services $0 $28,200 $29,620 $238,942 $515,905 $599,814 $1,412,482 Other Purchased Services $31,600 $43,600 $51,900 $36,500 $40,500 $40,500 $244,600 Supplies and Materials $11,500 $11,470 $14,700 $12,000 $12,000 $12,000 $73,670 Property $37,500 $38,668 $37,500 $6,000 $3,000 $3,000 $125,668 Other Objects $0 $754 $1,022 $1,632 $2,781 $3,398 $9,588 Total Supporting Services $260,603 $444,901 $556,998 $967,276 $1,509,512 $1,675,248 $5,414,538 Total Expenses $315,543 $843,750 $1,126,276 $1,758,508 $3,042,242 $3,521,553 $110,607,87 21
VISUAL PRECEDENTS
MOOD BOARD AND DESIGN
At 5280 Freedom School, Culturally Responsive and Sustaining pedagogy is the umbrella that connects specific curriculum and instruction practices and ensures all students are effectively and appropriately challenged.
5280 Freedom School promotes CR-S through:
• Universal culturally responsive social-emotional learning
• Instructional materials and complex text selections that highlight Black history, art, and scientific contribution
• Key instructional frameworks and strategies: (then these are sub bullets)
• Zaretta Hammond’s Ready for Rigor framework
• Universal Gifted & Talented Instruction
• Science of Reading: Systematic Phonics
• Instruction and Close Reading for Making Meaning in English Language Arts
• Gholdy Muhammed’s (2020) Cultivating Genius framework
• Cognitively Guided Instruction and ProblemBased Learning
Following this pedagogy, 5280 Freedom School is excited to have flexible and playful space for their students. Radian led the leaders of 5280 Freedom School through several charettes related to school design and intent. Ideally, the ultimate school location will have natural light, Black artwork, and integrated, flexible play as illustrated here.
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Reduce classroom hierarchy
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Natural light Flexible seating
Black Artist’s artwork Play and learn
Integrated play
A PATH FORWARD
IDENTITY-AFFIRMING OPPORTUNITY
When Freedom School opens in Fall 2023, there will be a school where Black people are loved, valued, safe, and free. A school where students are leaders for social change like how Black youth were encouraged to become change agents within their communities at the historical Freedom Schools during the Civil Rights movement. We believe that education is crucial to building Black power and thus, feel that having a permanent location for the Freedom School in historically Black Denver offers an opportunity to build power through educating the youth of our community while building on the historic legacy of Freedom Schools.
The physical location of Freedom School will be the home where we can offer a year-round school centering Black and BIPOC students, provide brilliant Black instructors, and create a space where Black children know that they are safe, celebrated, and free so that they can engage in education that prepares them to be leaders for social change. Our year-round, full-day Freedom School will teach children about Black and Diaspora history, engage children in political resistance
to anti-Black racism and state violence through a trans-feminist lens, and offer children an entry point into the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Curriculum and lessons are focused on socialemotional learning, coping skills, community wellness, self-care, Black love, and Black liberation. The curricula will uplift and empower our studients while creating opportunities to demonstrate their inate brilliance. We believe that learning should be rigorous, engaging, joyful, and relevant.
Content taught at the BLM 5280 Freedom School will: assist students in exploring their identity; provide historically accurate Black history (predating American slavery); allow for discussion of elements of white supremacy and how it impacts learning; express resistance through the arts; help youth discover how to become an advocate in their schools and communities. All courses will intentionally integrate different disciplines. Our content will uplift and highlight Black, Indigenous,
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People of Color. We will design content that integrates literacy, social studies, math, science, and enrichment programs.
The Freedom School will support children and families living and growing in a reality of witnessing police violence in our communities and support parent and youth voices. Our team of educators, the Education Squad, addresses pressing issues that result in disparities in the school system, including school discipline issues, school-to-prison pipeline factors, educational inequities, and inadequate cultural training. The Education Squad is presently composed of mostly K-12 educators who teach in Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools. BLM 5280 and its Education Squad are continually educating its members to provide better relationships with the community.
Freedom School offers an opportunity to Black and BIPOC youth that has been systemically denied in the traditional public school system. We are
excited to offer this opportunity. Not only will the lessons and curricula be tailored towards the lived experiences of these youth and educators, but so will the building. By incorporating opportunities to play in a building that feels safe and light, we will uplift education as an opportunity for each individual to feel celebrated.
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