The History of Skyland Community High School

The Beginnings

In January of 2002, local stakeholders such as the Colorado Small School Initiative, the Piton Foundation, the Stapleton Foundation, and the Sturm Foundation conceived of a Denver Big Picture High School.  Organizers of this plan approached Big Picture Co-Directors Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor to bring their design to Denver.  They hired Skyland’s founding principal, Jeff Park, and in December of 2002, the Denver Public Schools approved Skyland’s initial 3-year charter.  Founding advisors, Arthur Baraf and others, were hired, and a lease was signed with the Urban League of Metro Denver in Northeast Park Hill. 

The First Year   2003-04

Skyland opened in August 2003 with 60 students, 4 advisors and 3 other staff.  After six months of successes in the first year, the Mapleton District of Colorado invited Jeff Park to start another Big Picture school at Skyview High School, which was being broken into smaller schools.  Jeff transitioned out, and his successor, Allen Smith, took the reins of Skyland and led our school into year two.

The Second Year 2004-05

During this year, all-star advisor Jeremy Cooper was hired.  The school grew from sixty to roughly ninety students, and we had our first Gateway ceremony in September for juniors (class of 2006).  At the end of year two, we had our second Gateway ceremony and graduated our first senior who had received a full ride scholarship and acceptance to University of Louisiana, New Orleans. 

The Third Year 2005-06

In Skyland’s triumphant third year, our charter was renewed for a year, all graduating seniors were accepted into college, three seniors won the Daniels Fund full ride scholarship, and our first advisory (that of Arthur Baraf) graduated.  The school also grew to over 100 students and moved to its current location – the second floor of the historic Cole Middle School building in the Cole/Whittier neighborhoods.

The Fourth Year 2006-07

Former advisor, Arthur Baraf, became the new principal of Skyland and all-star advisors Eric Simonton and Thomas Absalom were hired, as were math and science gurus, Sirat Al Salim and Kevin Ryavec, respectively.  The Skyland population grew to 130 students and we had a wait list for enrollment.  Skyland was also granted a probationary 3-year renewal and graduated its second class with, once again, 100% college acceptance.

The Fifth Year 2007-08

Skyland hired all-star advisors Adrienne Williams, Elliott Wynne, Gretchen Ferrazza, Chapin Benninghoff & Anne Blackburn.  Also, new Assistant Principal David Fulton joined the team.