Colorado's Adams 12 Five Star Schools set to close 6 schools under closure, consolidation plan

It was a somber day for district leaders in the Adams 12 Five Star Schools district, as they announced their plans to close six schools after years of declining enrollment.

"I stand before you tonight with a mix of emotions. To be honest, obviously, a very heavy heart," said Beau Foubert, Deputy Superintendent for the district. "A lot of sadness, as this recommendation tonight includes the closure of six schools, and there are six special places. In many cases, there are places where there are years of memories that have been made. There are generations that have walked through the halls."

Adams 12 Five Star Schools is among a number of districts across the state that have proposed their own closure and consolidation plan, in the efforts to address declining enrollment, save costs, and improve students' education by moving them to schools where the district can provide more resources.

"Over the last seven years, Adams 12 has seen a decline in 6,200 future students, and you can see [our] October count last year. We were just a little bit over 29,000 students. We're projected this year to be around 28,600," said Foubert.

As part of the proposed plan, five elementary schools are slated for closure beginning in the 2027-2028 school year:

North Mor

Rocky Mountain

Centennial

Cherry Drive

The Studio School

Additionally, Shadow Ridge Middle School will also close. That facility will then be used to house Holstrom K-8. The district will also open a new K-8 magnet school.

We want to make sure that every student and every staff member is in a situation where they can thrive and have all the resources they need to thrive," said Foubert.

The district says because these schools are so small in class size, they are unable to provide the same resources to support students' education, including classes like Spanish at the middle school and full-time art, music, and PE at elementary schools.

"By moving to these new schools that are bigger, kids are actually going to have a better experience," said Superintendent Chris Gdowski. "We want to get it right. We want it to be built to last. We want it to upgrade the experience for kids and families, so it's been a lot of hard work, a lot of stress, sometimes some dramatic changes over time as we look at implications that would come. But we feel like we've landed in the best spot."

The district provided examples of how the boundary lines would change for students who currently attend these schools and the new school or schools in which they could be placed.

North Mor Elementary - students will move to Hillcrest and Westview

Rocky Mountain Elementary - students will move to Cotton Creek, Federal Heights and North Star

Centennial Elementary - move to Arapahoe Ridge

Cherry Drive Elementary - move to Riverdale

The Studio School - move to their boundary school or apply for choice

Shadow Ridge Middle School - move to Century and Rock Top

Students impacted by these closures will also have high prioritization if they choose to explore a new school through the choice process, and none of these changes would take effect until the 2027-2028 school year.

"These recommendations aren't about these schools not doing a great job in serving kids and families," said Gdowski. "It's just the brutal facts of the economics that we're facing in this declining enrollment trend, but families can trust us that we're going to take good care of their kids the rest of this year, and next year it'll be better."

Thursday's meeting kicks off the conversation that district leaders will continue to have with school board members, and the families and students who will be impacted by these changes, before the school board makes its final vote on the plan on Oct. 7.