Durango’s newest charter school didn’t get the $180,000 per year it sought from the state – it got more.

Mountain Middle School last week learned it had received a start-up grant of $195,000 per year for three years from the Colorado Department of Education.

Receiving the money was welcome news during a time when schools are experiencing drastic decreases in per-pupil funding, said Nancy Heleno, president of the school’s board of directors.

“We’re very pleased and proud and humbled that our grant was reviewed and deemed worthy of extra funds,” Heleno said. “In light of the fact that all Colorado schools will be losing per-pupil revenue dollars this coming academic year, we’re especially grateful to have that extra $15,000.”

The state education department rated schools for funding, and Mountain Middle School scored high enough to qualify for extra funding, Heleno said.

The money will go toward teacher training in three areas related to the school’s curriculum: the middle school learner, the high-tech middle school model and project-based learning, Heleno said.

“We would not have had the funds for that training (without the grant),” she said. “Those funds are absolutely crucial to a successful first year.”

Also last week, the school signed a contract with its top choice for head of school, Jackie Oros. Oros most recently served as an assistant principal at Timberland Regional Middle School in Plaistow, N.H.

Members of the school’s board of directors were unanimous in their support of Oros, Heleno said.

“Middle school students are a very unique group of students. They are going through very significant developmental changes, and if you don’t understand all those elements, you lose some of the potential of educating these kids,” Heleno said. “We’re lucky to have Jackie because she is experienced and has her finger on the pulse of this particular group of middle-level learners.”

Oros has spoken regionally and nationally about her area of expertise and has helped implement project-based learning at Timberland Regional Middle School, Heleno said.

Oros said she was excited to continue her career in Durango.

“Mountain Middle School’s mission and their charter really grabbed me as a middle school administrator, and the project-based-learning model is very exciting to me,” she said. “Durango is just a phenomenal community, warm and welcoming. I am so impressed by the commitment to quality education here.”

For her first assignment with Mountain Middle School, Oros will be visiting High Tech Middle School in San Diego this week to shadow teachers there before she starts the hiring process at Mountain Middle School.

“I hope to get a really good sense for what a whole school approach to project-based learning looks like,” she said.

Since holding a lottery enrollment on March 2, Mountain Middle School is full in all three grades. Currently, sixth grade has 56 students enrolled and 27 on a waiting list, seventh grade has 56 students enrolled and 13 waiting, and eighth grade has 28 students enrolled and 18 waiting.

ecowan@durango herald.com