All the News About Denver’s Best Residential Community Since 1961 • Volume 58, Issue No. 10 • October 2019
By Rebecca Zimmerman For the GPHN
PAGE 13
Nursery rhyme at Smiley
continued on page 10
PAGE 17
One of our most well known haunts continues to provide shivering goosebumps to students at McAuliffe International School, at the historic Smiley Junior High campus at 26th and Holly. Students report having seen shades of a human figure lurking in one of the bathrooms at the school. Staff have experienced even creepier things. In September of 2017, at 5:30
Saving The Planet, Starting In Our Backyard
PAGE 12
Autumn has arrived. The nights are growing longer, and the moon shining brighter. The leaves are falling on the parkways, the mornings are crisp. Neighborhood kids are devising elaborate Halloween costumes, and the rest of us are stocking up on full-size chocolate bars and candy to hand out to the hordes, just as soon as the witching hour strikes. For years Park Hill – particularly the wealthier areas of the neighborhood – has been a destination for hordes of trick-or-treaters who descend from across the city. Many of us live in century-old homes with their share of creaks and groans. Often we wonder, are these sounds of old wood and plumbing settling? Or is something else afoot? Park Hill indeed, is filled with ghost stories. For good reason. Who could blame former occupants of these stately, historic residences if they choose to linger long
after their corporeal existence has finished, gracing us with Park Hill’s wonderful tradition of spookiness and ghost sightings? What spirit wouldn’t get into the spirit of scaring trick-or-treaters, or creeping unnoticed among the city’s best Halloween decorations and most jovial block parties? Some spirits prefer to stick around all year, inspiring our community’s many writers, artists, historians, and … suggestible middle-schoolers.
East Area Plan: We Must Protect Park Hill’s Past, And Future
PAGE 8
Ghost Stories From The ‘Hood
PAGE 4
Park Hill Haunting
Inside This Issue
Art Is All Around Us: 7th Annual Open Studio Tour Soak In Autumn At Rocky Mountain National Park
Dang, That’s Good: Football And Ice Cream Season Are Here
Upcoming GPHC Meetings A young trick-or-treater dressed to spook, circa 2017. More images of Park Hill in all its Halloween fun and gory are on pages 10-11. Photo by Reid Neureiter
education Update | Lynn Kalinauskas
Will the DPS Board Flip? Term Limits Set Stage For New School Leadership in November
It’s that time of year again. Nine canDPS has in recent years closed numerdidates are running for three open board ous schools it labeled “low-performing” – positions for Denver Public Schools. mostly affecting students of color and those In Greater Park Hill, voters will weigh in afflicted by poverty. on just one of the races – the at-large poIn Denver, reformers had sition to replace Allegra “Happy” Haynes, aimed to have at least 80 who is term limited. Other seats are conpercent of students attendtested in District 1 (in southeast ing high-performing Denver) and District 5 (in northschools by the year west Denver). 2020, as measured by Two years ago, Denver voters using the district’s School Perforelected Carrie Olson in District 3 mance Framework. and Jennifer Bacon in District 4, The 2018 SPF report shows, howboth of which include portions of ever, that only 42 percent of DPS Park Hill. Barbara O’Brien was reschools ranked as high-scoring elected as an at-large representa“blue” or “green” in the district’s tive, and Angela Cobián won a seat color coded system. The full color Lynn in District 2 (southwest Denver). spectrum for school performance The election of Bacon and Ol- Kalinauskas includes Distinguished (blue), son was seen as an upset to the 7-0 Meeting Expectations (green), Acmajority of education “reformers” that had credited on Watch (yellow), Accredited on previously controlled the board. This year, Priority Watch (orange), and Accredited on with three seats up for grabs, some activists Probation (red). have been calling for the board to “flip” – Denver’s SPF has been highly criticized making the reformers a minority bloc. by many education advocates for its emphasis on growth over achievement, for What’s education reform? constantly shifting the goal posts, for being overly complicated, for duplicating a Education reform is a national movestate-level system, and for its high cost. As ment backed by philanthropists and polia result of these concerns, the district’s new ticians in both major political parties. Losuperintendent, Susana Cordova, has concally, reform was aggressively implemented vened a 30-person task force to re-evaluate for a decade by former DPS superintendent and re-imagine the SPF. (For more on this, Tom Boasberg, who stepped down a year check out last December’s column at greatago. erparkhill.org/2018/12/choices-based-onThe reform mantra is to create marketa-flawed-system/.) based competition between schools, elimiAs a sign that tides are changing, Demonating those that are under-achieving. Focrats for Education Reform – which had cused on student achievement measured been heavily involved in previous board through data from high-stakes testing,
elections – appears to be sitting this one out. Two years ago the reform group spent more than $400,000 on loDPS School cal board elections through its political action commitBoard tee Education Reform Now. Election November 5 This year the group issued a statement saying it will not be helping to fund campaigns, directly or indirectly, in the upcoming Nov. 5 election. Given this political context, where do this year’s crop of candidates stand?
2019 At-Large Candidates Three candidates are running for the atlarge position: Tay Anderson, Natela Alexandrovna Manuntseva and Alexis Menocal Harrigan. Tay Anderson, who ran for the District 4 position in 2017, is now back with multiple endorsements, including the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, the Denver Area Labor Federation, the Network for Public Education, and Vote Pro Choice. In addition, he has endorsements from U.S. Congresswoman Diana DeGette, who represents Denver, as well as Congressman Jason Crow from Aurora and Congressman Joe Neguse from Boulder. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has endorsed Anderson, as has former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and former legislators Joe Salazar and Evie Hudak. Anderson is a graduate of Manual High School and is currently the restorative juscontinued on page 6
The annual community meeting is Thursday, Oct. 3. See below for details. The November meeting is Thursday, Nov. 7 at 2823 Fairfax St. at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend.
We’ve Got Dates
The Greater Park Hill Community Annual Meeting is Thursday, Oct. 3 at 6
p.m. at the rooftop event space the Carla Madison Recreation Center, 2401 E. Colfax Ave. The program includes dinner, a keynote presentation, board elections, and volunteer recognition. Everyone is welcome.
A public meeting on the East Area Plan is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 29 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Johnson & Wales University at 1900 Olive St.
The controversial urban design plan impacts five neigh-
borhoods in East Denver, including Park Hill. The city’s draft recommendation, detailed in last month’s issue, promotes high-density development between 13th and 17th avenues from Colorado Boulevard east to Aurora.
The plan is being created in conjunction with a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project that would permanently reduce car traffic on Colfax to one lane each way. Check out page 2 for details, including how to get involved.