Sherman is part principal, part salesman

Back-to-school involves marketing lessons as DPS reinvents itself.By Jeremy P. Meyer Denver Post Staff WriterAugust 9, 2007
Peter Sherman clutches a handful of fliers about a new program at his elementary school and darts across Federal Boulevard to post brochures at nearby businesses.
Sherman, the new principal at Denver's Valdez Elementary School, is trying to get kids into the school's new dual-language Montessori program for preschool and kindergarten.
"I'm not used to being a salesman," Sherman said.
But for the past few weeks, Sherman has walked the streets of northwest Denver, visiting businesses and talking with community groups about changes at his school - which will eventually grow into a dual-language school serving preschoolers through eighth-graders.
Changes at Valdez are part of a broader revamp at neighboring North High School, which has been losing students and posting low achievement marks for years.
Last year, the district forced North's 67 teachers, counselors and social workers to reapply for their jobs. Twenty- seven of them will be returning, according to the district.
On Wednesday, Sherman taped fliers to business windows, urging parents to sign up for the early-childhood classes, which cost $370 a month for five days a week of full-day kindergarten and half-day preschool. About 60 slots remain, he said.
The reaction around the neighborhood about the changes at his school has been one of relief, Sherman said.
"A lot of people have acknowledged, 'Finally. We have been working on this for a long time,"' he said.
Denver Public Schools administrators are trying to stop the hemorrhage of students leaving for suburban districts or private schools.
Northwest Denver has seen a dramatic demographic shift over the years. A thriving middle class is demanding changes to low-performing schools, particularly North High.
"We don't want to leave," said Melissa Craven, who is considering putting her 3-year-old daughter in Valdez's preschool. "But we're willing to drive our kids to Jeffco or put our kids in private school to give them every opportunity to succeed academically. Part of me questions whether DPS can do that."
Administrators last school year held a series of community meetings in northwest Denver, dubbed "the 19 nights of North," to find out what parents want.
Among the requests was for more Montessori programs, similar to Academia Ana Marie Sandoval - a high-performing, dual-language school in the neighborhood for preschoolers through sixth-graders. Sandoval has a waiting list of about 150 students.
Within a mile radius of Valdez Elementary, the district is now offering a dual-language Montessori at Sandoval, a dual-language preschool through eighth- grade program at Bryant- Webster and a International Baccalaureate program at Brown International.
In an era of choice and a mobile student population, public schools must offer specialized programs and market them to parents - even if it means a principal going door-to-door, said Denver Superintendent Michael Bennet.
"Every school has to have a story to tell about what the academic program is and what the proposition is for kids and for families, because there is so much choice," Bennet said. "Parents and kids are expecting it. (Valdez) is a good example of that."
Academic experts say offering "boutique schools" is one way urban schools can compete.
Dual-language programs appeal to both Latinos and Anglos and draw in low-income kids and their middle-class peers, said Van Schoales, an education policy expert who works for the Piton Foundation.
"It's a good example of the district being responsive," Schoales said. "It is an improvement to establish schools that have a focus, a coherent instructional design and to think of that in the market of what families want."
Community members applauded the efforts of a principal taking his message to the streets.
"If you have the leadership isolated from the community, you have a problem," said Ricardo Martinez, co-director of parent advocacy group Padres Unidos.
"What he is trying to do and the whole idea is ... create good neighborhood schools that parents will send their kids to. We just have to make it happen."
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer can be reached at 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.