Denver opened a parent-backed, HBCU-style high school. It will close 6 years later.

Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy, a Denver Public Schools high school that opened in fall 2021 and was modeled on historically Black colleges and universities, is slated to shut down when this school year ends. It was envisioned to serve as many as 500 students but now has 24. Superintendent Alex Marrero is recommending what the district calls an operational closure, which applies when enrollment is too low to sustain a school financially. A district spokesperson said this type of closure does not need elected school board approval. District leaders told families and staff they would provide transition support.

The school grew out of advocacy by Black parents and coaches in far northeast Denver, following a district-commissioned report on how DPS served Black students. The board ordered the district to help the group improve its application in 2019 and then approved the school, though some members worried about declining enrollment. The school drew no neighborhood students by default, and the district initially listed a wrong address on its school choice site. Enrollment was 78 in its first year, 135 in 2022, and 44 in 2023 after a move to a building 10 miles away. Founders and students said the first building lacked promised facilities. This year the district dropped ninth grade after fewer than 20 applicants. The school also saw a leadership change and a dispute between the district and a founder, which ended in court.

Parent Chelsey Moore said families received little warning and wanted a chance to help recruit students. Marrero has warned that more closures may follow as districtwide enrollment falls.