City: Denver, CO

Category: Education

Telephone: (303) 428-3511

Address: 6933 Raleigh St.

Description: School District No. 50 serves the city of Westminster and parts of Arvada and unincorporated Adams County with one early-­childhood program, 15 elementary schools, four middle schools, three high schools, and a career enrichment park. Its average teacher salary is competitive in the metro area, and its revenue per pupil is the lowest. Its mission statement is “Push to excel; prepare to succeed.”In 1993 the district began the Graphics Communication Cluster, a prototype for a new method of integrating academic and technical education. Today there are four cluster programs: Graphics Communication, Business Cluster, Engineering Cluster, and Health Studies Cluster. Through these, students are afforded the opportunity to succeed in an applied setting, where they can see the relevance of academics in a real-­world environment.Adams County 50 pushes for technological innovation and offers such features as comprehensive networked computer labs and a computer in every classroom that provides the teacher with classroom management.