Animas High School is finding its stride nearly five years after opening to its initial class of freshmen.
The school’s enrollment has grown to 269 students, and administrators expect 280 to 300 to attend in the fall.
The charter school has come a long way since it was founded in fall 2009 in a storefront on north Main Avenue. Now, AHS has a new home in Twin Buttes along with a growing student population.
The charter school expects to graduate 43 students May 23. If they follow the path of their predecessors, the vast majority will go to college. Every student but one from last year’s graduating class applied for and was admitted to a four-year college. (The only student who didn’t apply for college joined the Marines).
AHS graduated 49 students from its initial senior class last year. While this year’s class is slightly smaller, the school’s overall enrollment is up.
Of the students admitted to college from the 2013 class, 80 percent matriculated at a four-year institution. The rest went to two-year colleges, the workforce or the military, or are taking a “gap year” before college.
The school’s relationship with Durango School District 9-R has improved after a rocky start when the charter school was founded without the district’s authorization. AHS founders instead obtained the school’s charter through the Colorado Charter School Institute.
Jake Lauer, head of school, said AHS’ relationship with the district is “very collaborative toward the end of getting each individual student into the right program for their needs.”
The rhetoric from 9-R also has changed.
“We’re very friendly to the charters here in Durango,” said 9-R spokeswoman Julie Popp. “Every school serves a certain need. We’re a community of choice, and we have and (continue to) support the choices the community has for their children.”
AHS struggles to diversify
At AHS, 91.3 percent of the student body is white, according to data provided by the school. Five percent is Hispanic or Latino, and less than 2 percent is Native American or Alaskan native.
The school has 233 white students, 13 Hispanic or Latino students, four Native American or Alaskan native students, three Asian students and two black students.
That’s somewhat less diverse than La Plata County as a whole. The county had 89.7 percent white residents in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Hispanic or Latino residents were 12.3 percent of the population, while Native American and Alaskan natives were 6.5 percent of county residents.
AHS’ student body also appears to be less racially diverse than 9-R. For the school district, 27 percent of students are from a minority group. The district said it does not have statistics for individual schools, including Durango High School.
Charter schools nationwide struggle to attract diverse student bodies. The Civil Rights Project at UCLA found in a 2010 study that charter schools were less diverse than traditional public schools.
The study said “recent data finds that charter schools are more racially isolated than traditional public schools in virtually every state and large metropolitan area in the nation. While there are examples of charter schools with vibrant diversity, this report shows these schools to be the exception.”
Lauer acknowledged AHS needs to improve its student diversity.
“Our goal when it comes to racial diversity is to have a student population that’s reflective of the general population, not just in Durango, but in Bayfield, Ignacio, Cortez and Mancos,” he said.
AHS has no geographic restrictions on recruiting students. The school can enroll students from other cities, and even New Mexico.
AHS also has made an effort to provide more services to students in need of help. The school hired an Exceptional Student Services staff member and a mental-health counselor.
“I think we’re doing better,” Lauer said. “I think we’re also doing a better job of supporting students with academic challenges and social and emotional challenges.”
AHS, 9-R intertwine
AHS’ application process is not competitive. Essentially, any ninth- through 12th-grader who wishes to enroll can do so.
“You attract certain kinds of people to your schools for a variety of different reasons,” said 9-R’s Popp.
AHS does not provide transportation to school, and its location on the western edge of Durango, near the heavily trafficked U.S. Highway 160, means few students walk or bike to school.
District 9-R last fall began providing bus transportation from DHS to Animas, a gesture for which the district is not reimbursed.
AHS students avail themselves of 9-R services in other ways. AHS does not offer its own sports teams, but AHS students can participate on DHS sports teams. AHS students pay a higher rate – $112.50 per student, per sport – to play DHS sports. DHS students pay $75.
The same goes for nonathletic activities such as Future Farmers of America and speech and debate.
Like other public schools, AHS is funded largely by per-pupil operating revenue that comes from state tax dollars. AHS has revenue of about $2.5 million a year, which includes about $100,000 in annual fundraising. AHS has been a beneficiary of Durango philanthropists such as Mercury co-founder Marc Katz and real-estate broker John Wells.
Unlike a public school district like 9-R, AHS cannot issue construction bonds. That’s proved to be a barrier.
“Funding facilities, that is a primary challenge for us,” Lauer said.
Students laud charter school
Students gave many reasons for attending AHS, from the required junior-year internship to the small-school environment. Being teenagers, many said friends attending AHS prompted them to follow.
Marley Weaver-Gabel, a junior, moved from Pagosa Springs before her freshman year specifically to attend AHS. Weaver-Gabel praised the cohesiveness of the project-based curriculum.
“Things we learned in freshman humanities are relevant to what we’re learning in humanities this year,” she said.
Drew Allsop, a sophomore, said he likes that the school places more emphasis on projects than textbooks, and praised students’ close relationship with teachers.
“Students are very close to all their teachers and are well-known by their teachers,” he said.
Gabe Garcia, a freshman, came to AHS from Mountain Middle School. A charter school based on the same model as AHS, Mountain Middle School was designed to graduate pupils to AHS.
Garcia said he wants to attend arts school after he graduates to pursue a career as a tattoo artist.
“I love it here,” he said. “Everybody’s really nice.”
cslothower@durangoherald.com
