511 S Downing Street
Denver, CO 80209

We decided to move here after our homeschool, which is a half a block away has 85% of the kids bussed in which has resulted in bullying on the girl side.Merrill seems to be a great fit. Our daughter has made some great friends, seems to be thriving in school.Parents are involved. Those who complain are probably not involved.Of course, there are always some issues with teachers. One or two that don’t seem to want to be there. School leadership seems to be top notch and headed in the right direction.Our daughter’s education is thriving. For the reviewer who had a weird comment about the food? Who cares how you cut the pizza if you don’t like the food, pack their lunch. Just be happy that they are serving lunch to the kids.Like any middle school, my daughter has noticed smoking. But we taught her stay away from those kids

2 kids here currently. 9 th and 11thOur son is thriving with sports and academics.He enjoys his teachers. My daughter will attend this fall. Anxious to see how she does academically. She is in sports as well and excited to see her play.

We have been at Steele for 8 years and can attest to both the positive and negative reviews here. First hand experience, I think they are both 100% accurate and it really highlights the good and bad aspects. Academics are above average for DPS and students are well prepared to handle middle school with critical thinking skills. The PTA does an amazing job raising money to supplement the lack of DPS funding for Art, Music, PE and the recently reduced Drama programs (also surprisingly- the special Ed gets an exceptional amount of funding compared to the % of overall SPED students, so note the 5 stars there). The neighborhood demographics allow them to raise a substantial amount of money compared to other DPS schools. The community aspect can be great, likely something for everyone. The parents are probably the same at many other schools with similar demographics – a lot of SAHM with lots of time on their hands, helicopter parents, career-oriented parents etc. Lots of gossips both in and out of school (because many mothers work/volunteer so many hours at the school). I will agree with the criticisms of the principal. She really lacks the ability to communicate and handle tough situations dealing with anything from violence to racism, which are serious issues and is really disappointing. There has definitely been a lot of turnover with teachers in the last few years. I heard that is attributable to many aspects including pay, principal, and feeling heard/valued. Others have been there forever, and of the ones I've had the pleasure of knowing are amazing.