RSS
Home
Girls Athletic Leadership School excited about making the next hurdle
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
The Girls Athletic Leadership School was just recommended for approval in Denver Public Schools. I had an opportunity to chat with Liz Wolfson, founder and board chair, recently about this monumental step for this all girls’ charter school.
Liz said, “The GALS leadership team is thrilled that we are one giant step closer to full authorization as of Monday's night's recommendation by Superintendent Boasberg, Special Assistant Kristin Waters, and the OSRI staff.”
She also expressed great appreciation for the process and the preparation demanded of charter school applying in DPS. Her founding team along with Expeditionary Learning experts “left no stone unturned.” Liz also expressed appreciation for the encouragement they received from “strangers to parents to educators.”
So, close to making the first all girls charter school in Colorado a reality, GALS still need the Board of Education’s approval on the 30th, which will be followed by contract negotiations. Because the school wants to open in the fall, Wolfson and her staff will have to begin marketing and enrollment as soon as they receive final approval.
One way that GALS will begin their campaign is a series of community and parent meetings. The schools unique model has already spread. Wolfson’s inbox is filled with messages from people who want to join the staff. Parents are sending emails of support, telling Wolfson how excited they are that this program that started as a dream to support girls and their specific needs through high school is finally coming to fruition.
All of this and the web site doesn’t even go live until after the board vote on November 30th, but GALS’ staff is ready. The web site will go up immediately after the vote, and the staff anticipates “a swarm of families ready to explore the possibility of GALS educating and care-taking their daughters.”
GALS will be housed in central Denver, the facility has not yet been secured, but GALS has worked with others who have been through the facility search process and looks forward to publishing a physical address soon.
If you’d like to know more about GALS and the program, please either contact Elizabeth Wolfson at ewolfson@galschools.org, Nina Safane at nsafane@galschools.org or Jessica Newman at jnewman@galschools.org. Jessica is fluent in Spanish as well.
Liz said that as she was exiting Starbucks in Northeast Denver the other day a woman stopped her and her colleague and apologized for eavesdropping. The woman inquired if Liz was the person who was on Colorado Matters on Colorado Public Radio earlier in the week. When Liz said that she was, the woman explained that she is an anthropologist and is excited about what is happening with GALS.
After talking with Liz and having seen a video that the staff created for their final public comment session with the DPS Board of Education in which a diverse group of kids and adults screams ecstatically, “I believe in GALS,” I have to say that I am a believer too. I believe in GALS. I hope you do too.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
