Lone Tree Voice 0122

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January 22, 2015 VOLU M E 1 4 | I S SUE 1

LoneTreeVoice.net D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O

A publication of

Student headed to D.C. Lee one of two Colorado teens chosen for annual program By Jane Reuter

jreuter @coloradocommunitymedia.com

passing over RidgeGate Parkway to its end point at RidgeGate near the I-25 interchange. Bolstered by a $40-million contribution from several south metro entities including the City of Lone Tree and RidgeGate, the Regional Transportation District agreed in 2014 to move forward with the extension. While the project still needs federal funding approval, RTD’s vote gave RidgeGate’s developers the confidence to take the next step in planning development of land adjacent to the future stations. “We’ve got the key in the ignition and we’re starting to turn it now,” said RidgeGate development manager Darryl Jones. “This really just sets the stage for there to be a context for future development. Public infrastructure facilitates private development. Realistically, we’ll see more interest once the light rail station is under construction.”

ThunderRidge High School senior Brandon Lee was only 3 when his parents decided to immigrate from South Korea to the United States. He believes that decision provided him with a wealth of opportunities, which he hopes he can use to someday help other Asian-Americans. Lee is off to a good start. Recently accepted to Harvard University, he also just learned he was selected as a Colorado delegate to the 53rd annual U.S. Senate Youth Program. Lee is one of only two Colorado students chosen represent the state. “I was honored,” Lee said. “It blows my mind I was able to get offered this. I’ m so thankful to my teachers and peers and community members who have helped me along the way. And my family for supporting me so much for Lee 17 years.” A total of 104 students from across the country will participate in the program’s annual “Washington Week” in Washington, D.C., in March. They’ll spend the week seeing government in action, hearing major policy addresses by senators, cabinet members, officials from the Departments of State and Defense and directors of other federal agencies, and participate in a meeting with a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Lee also receives a $5,000 scholarship. “For me, this is not just another outlet into my interest in learning about politics,” said Lee, who is the Colorado Association of Student Councils’ executive representative

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Lee continues on Page 4

The Sky Ridge Station area includes undeveloped parcels south of the AMLI RidgeGate apartments (formerly The Vue), right, at Lincoln Avenue and Park Meadows Boulevard to near Sky Ridge Medical Center, visible in the background. Photo by Jane Reuter

Plans for rail-station area OK’d Lone Tree looks ahead to future development along planned extension in Sky Ridge area By Jane Reuter

jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com Spurred forward by positive 2014 news about construction of the southeast light rail extension, RidgeGate’s developers are preparing to develop the area around the future Sky Ridge Station. The 28 now-vacant acres that front Interstate 25 south of Lincoln Avenue will teem with life in a vision shared by the City of Lone Tree and RidgeGate’s developers. The Lone Tree City Council approved the subarea plan during its Jan. 6 meeting. A portion of the area is now home to a Hampton Inn and AMLI RidgeGate apartments — formerly The Vue. In the future, the

strip of land east of Park Meadows Boulevard and south of Lincoln Avenue also will include an Embassy Suites hotel, a light rail station with limited parking, a plaza, parks, restaurants, shops, offices and another apartment complex. Those uses, in such close proximity to major employer like Charles Schwab and Sky Ridge Medical Center, add up to a vibrant future gathering place. “It’s really designed to make it very easy for workers and residents to just hop on the rail and get back and forth,” Lone Tree senior planner Jennifer Drybread said. “Hopefully if we have this core commercial area, it’ll serve not only the Schwab campus but Sky Ridge hospital and the larger community.” The light rail line will extend from its current end point at Lincoln Station over Lincoln Avenue to the Sky Ridge Station, then east over Interstate 25 to the future Lone Tree city center south of Lincoln Avenue, and turn south,

Perspectives vary on information flow The difference between fact and spin in the school district depends on whom you ask By Jane Reuter

jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com The longest-standing objectors to the Douglas County School District’s education reform efforts repeat the same concerns now that they did from the start: The board of education and top administrators are too focused on their efforts to set a national model, and not focused enough on constituents’ concerns. Parent Laura Mutton has spent hours researching DCSD data, releasing her findings on her Strong Schools Coalition website after she said district officials ignored her efforts to communicate with them. “Our board is entitled to their vision of education, but when they are not accountable to it, that is when I have a problem,” she said. School board member Judi Reynolds hears often from community members. “It certainly informs some of my questions, whether that’s at a board meeting or in a conversation with (Superintendent) Dr. (Elizabeth) Fagen,” she said. “My hope would be there’s always an ongoing process of looking at what works well, what doesn’t work so well, and to always be evaluating. A large system like a school district has to be constantly evaluating. We should be consistent, but we shouldn’t be stagnant in what we do.” Some community members point to what they see as

a district pattern of presenting news in a flattering light, while leaving out relevant facts. Among recent examples, Mutton and Douglas County Parents spokeswoman Cristin Patterson cite the district’s regaining of its “accredited with distinction” rating. The Colorado Department of Education assigned the ratings, and raised DCSD a notch after the state reviewed their calculation, excluding the performance of the district’s highest-risk students and factoring in improved ACT scores and graduation rates. “They made it sound like it was due to teachers’ efforts and, of course, to their reforms,” said Patterson. A news release issued by the school district about the Voice continues on Page 4

School board member Judi Reynolds talks with community members during a March 2014 Board Unplugged meeting at Cimarron Middle School. Some say communication has been a problem between the school district and parents. File photo


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