December 17, 2015 VOLUM E 127 | IS S U E 21 | 75¢
HOLIDAY WORSHIP
SERVICE GUIDE INSIDE
A publication of
LittletonIndependent.net
A R A P A H O E C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
LITTLETON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Discipline program deemed a success Options principals say grades up, suspensions down By Jennifer Smith jsmith@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Simon Hamilton, 10, couldn’t contain his excitement about the gifts he got to choose thanks to the Littleton Police Department’s first-ever Shop With a Cop event at Walmart on Dec. 9. Photos by Jennifer Smith
‘Shop With a Cop’ makes holidays happy Littleton officers put smiles on faces, gifts in carts
Officer James Fountain checks the fit on a new pair of shoes for Naimah Armstrong, 11. She wanted something to go with the outfit she was going to wear in a Christmas play, singing in the choir.
By Jennifer Smith jsmith@coloradocommunitymedia.com There is perhaps no child more excited about this holiday season than 10-year-old Simon Hamilton. “Oh yeah!” he exclaimed loudly on Dec. 9, while sitting in a shopping cart full to the brim with new toys — among them a dinosaur, a weed trimmer, a light saber, a tool kit and a somewhat more practical new pair of jammies. Which one is his favorite? “This one, this one, this one, all of them!” Simon is a star, says his mom, Judy Aguilar. He even had an official police escort to navigate him through the Walmart Super Center at Bowles Avenue and C-470. “I have a soft spot for him,” said Littleton Police Officer Luke McGrath. “It’s a neat thing to do this time of year, especially for somebody so appreciative.”
New discipline paradigms are making a difference in the Littleton Public Schools alternative programs, say the principals. “We’re not lowering our expectations, we’re increasing our level of support,” said Ashley Broer, the middle school principal at the Options campus. In 2011, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill that did away with “zero tolerance” discipline and encouraged each school district in Colorado to replace it with restorative-justice practices that focus not on punishment, but on righting the wrong. To that end, the district garnered $865,470 from the state’s Expelled and AtRisk Student Services grant in 2012. Staff used it to implement a skillsbased curriculum designed to help kids make healthy decisions for themselves and learn to manage anger in nonviolent ways. It includes a parent program and peer-leadership groups, all with the goal of reducing truancy, increasing academic achievement and building a more positive environment. It’s working, according to Broer. Her students’ average GPA has increased from 1.7 in the first year to 2.16. Last year, there were 322 reported behavior incidents; so far this year, just 50. Involvement in the parent group has increased from just 23 the first year to 149 this year. And there were 260 suspensions last year, and just 35 so far this year. “What I’m most proud of is that the average length of suspensions last year was 59 percent one day or less, and now it’s 79 percent,” said Broer. Now at the end of the grant’s four-year term, staff is hoping to find new ways to continue funding the program, at a cost of about $130,000 a year. Nate Thompson,
Shop continues on Page 17
LPS continues on Page 17
Mention this ad when scheduling your ultrasound and receive
$50 OFF your First Session of Cosmetic Sclerotherapy 303-945-2080
See Page 9 for Dr.Verebelyi’s Column About Common Vein Problems LITTLETON INDEPENDENT (ISSN 1058-7837) (USPS 315-780) OFFICE: 2550 S. Main St., Littleton, CO 80120 | PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Littleton, Colorado, the Littleton Independent is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 2550 S. Main St., Littleton, CO 80120. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT LITTLETON, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Thurs. 5 p.m. | Classifieds: Tue. 8 a.m. | Obits: Tue. 11 a.m. | Legals: Thurs. 11 a.m.