Original Research by School Decision on Prep Academy
Prep Academy is an alternative school in Denver Public Schools that serves grades six through twelve in a small environment where the student body numbers in the low dozens. Its designation as an alternative school signals that it is designed for students whose needs are not well met by a conventional middle or high school setting. The school sits in the 80205 zip code, a centrally located Denver neighborhood.
The student population is small, a handful of students across most grade levels. The largest cohort is at the senior level. Hispanic and Black students together make up the vast majority of the student body, with a small share of students identifying as two or more races. The school did not report data on special education or English learner enrollment. A very large proportion of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in a high-poverty context.
Because of its small enrollment and its nature as an alternative setting, state testing results are not available in a useable form. The proficiency rates for math, English language arts, and science were suppressed, and the number of students tested was reported as zero in each subject. Participation rates in math and ELA were low. A parent looking for standard academic benchmark data will not find it here. This is not unusual for a school of this type and size. The state's comparison system placed the school alongside other Denver County districts, but the key metrics for proficiency, graduation, and chronic absenteeism were not applicable because the entity-level data was missing.
The school environment and access section, which would cover discipline, course access, staffing, and attendance, contained no reported data. The district brief notes several recent Denver Public Schools changes that would affect families district-wide. In 2022, voters approved a mill levy override to increase teacher pay and expand mental health services. A major bond measure passed in 2024, the largest in district history, to fund facility improvements, safety upgrades, technology, and new construction. In the 2023-2024 school year, the district adopted a new K-5 literacy curriculum based on the science of reading. And for the 2024-2025 school year, DPS launched a unified enrollment system that changed how families apply to schools. These district-level shifts are standard context for any school in Denver.
Given the absence of the core academic, discipline, staffing, and attendance data, a parent considering Prep Academy would need to contact the school directly to understand its educational approach, curriculum, graduation pathways, student support services, and daily operations. The school is a specific option within a large, complex district, offering an alternative structure that serves a small student population, but the available public data leaves many basic questions unanswered.
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