$12.6 million to be used to help turn around six struggling schools.

Written by Gayle Perez, The Pueblo Chieftain

Pueblo City Schools will receive more than $12.6 million in federal turnaround grants to help improve the achievement at six low-performing schools in the district.

The Colorado Department of Education approved the turnaround plans for 19 schools in the state.

As part of that approval, the schools were awarded three-year federal grants to help implement improvement plans and restructure low-performing schools.

“This is a strong commitment by the state of Colorado to turn these schools around,” said Joseph Garcia, senior vice president of district and school services for Global Partnerships.

“This is probably the first time they will have the resources to make improvements in these schools,” Garcia said.

City schools is partnering with Global Partnership Schools in helping turn around the schools.

City schools have been placed on transformation or turnaround status for failing to meet the standards of the No Child Left Behind act.

Freed, Pitts and Risley middle schools have been identified as turnaround schools and Roncalli Middle School, Central High School and the Youth and Family Academy charter school are on transformation status.

As turnaround and transformation schools, the district is required to make major changes in personnel, curriculum and strategies to improve achievement.

“This is the first step in the launch of a three-year process to improve Colorado’s chronically low-performing schools,” said Dwight Jones, commissioner of education. “The goal is to increase the academic achievement of all students attending these schools and utilize the support and services from the providers.”

Locally, Central High School received the largest grant at $2.7 million. Roncalli received $2.2 million.

Risley and Pitts received a little more than $2.1 million each, while Freed received $2 million and YAFA will get $1.5 million.

The grants will provide a variety of services and opportunities for the target schools, some which are already under way, according to Garcia.

Global Partnership has been hired as an education change leader to oversee the Pueblo schools.

Garcia said they are in the process of hiring two leadership coaches to help provide training for principals.