2601 W 55th Ave
Denver, CO 80221

Scott Carpenter is truly well on its way to be a world class middle school

The adults in the building don’t care about the students all they care about is getting paid, if they really cared then maybe the kids there wouldn’t be ditching and not showing up or maybe they wouldn’t have a 3 out of 5 star rating I don’t recommend sending kids here at all no kid that goes to Westminster high school is going to go to college they don’t teach you anything and what they do teach ain’t helpful for the kids GPA’s again I do not recommend sending your kids to this school.

After teaching here for many years, I was delighted to finally get my chance to move to a different school. The leadership is atrocious, and it shows in every facet of the building. The Previous leadership (Years ago) had created a very tight and supportive community of staff and other stakeholders. The current principal has eroded this sense of community to the point that the overall attitude among staff members can only be described as toxic and disgruntled. Staff turnover each spring is well above any school I have ever seen, and in my opinion, it is almost exclusively due to poor treatment from the administration. For the most part, the teachers are amazing and passionate educators and try their very best to serve the community that they are part of, despite being treated so poorly. What students and families don't often see is how the teachers are consistently yelled at, outright lied to, blamed for the failures of the principal, micro-managed, and regularly treated in an unprofessional manner. The principal preaches the benefits of teaching the 'Whole child" using trauma-informed pedagogy, but most students don't even know who their principal is. They only know her as the angry lady who visits their classroom a few times per year to yell at them for whatever current "Fire" she is trying to put out, in order to look good to the higher-ups. Poor student behavior is so constant it is unbelievable. There is very, very little consistency in enforcing school policies and behavioral norms. The middle school population Is out of control, to the point that it is downright scary to be in that section of the building. Fights, vandalism, screaming of foul language, defiance of teachers and other staff, drugs, and general disrespect for the school run rampant on a daily basis.