The Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) announced today that Mark Heffron, a math teacher who joined DSST in 2005,received the first Sie Faculty Excellence Award in the amount of $6,000.
The Sie Faculty Excellence Award was presented by John and Anna Sie at the Denver School of Science and Technology 2008 graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 31, 2008. All 79 seniors are graduating and have been accepted to college.
Heffron received the $6,000 award from the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation. The award includes a $3,000 stipend to support an educational study experience of the teacher's choice, and a $3000 cash award to be used at the discretion of the teacher.
Heffron was chosen for the Sie Faculty Excellence Award by positively impacting student achievement both quantitatively and qualitatively and was recommended by students, faculty and staff. In his two years at DSST, Heffron produced back to back 3+ point gains on pre-post tests on the ACT.
"Our teachers put a tremendous amount of work into our students and we couldn't be here without them today. We are so grateful to the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation for creating this award so that we can recognize our teachers in an even more meaningful way", said Bill Kurtz, Head of School for DSST.
"Anna and I lived the American Dream as immigrants to this country and we are strong believers in meritocracy and hard work", said John Sie, co-trustee of the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation. "It is so appropriate that we are able to present this award to the teachers who have produced the first ever Denver public school class where 100% of the seniors are graduating into a four-year college. We are very proud. Moreover it is an extraordinarily remarkable achievement when you consider that the acceptance to DSST is by a lottery process"
Teachers were nominated by faculty, staff and students. The finalists were selected based on their ability to best further DSST's mission, to positively impact student achievement and consistently demonstrate professional excellence in daily work by being innovative and relentless in the pursuit of student and staff excellence.
From the school's inception, DSST has set a new bar in Denver and Colorado for student achievement. DSST has had a singular focus on student achievement and ultimately preparing students to succeed in a four year college and beyond. DSST is the only high school in the state to earn a "Significant Improvement" growth rating on the State Accountability Report for three years in a row. DSST was the only high school in the metro area to earn both an "Excellent" rating coupled with "Significant Improvement" in year-to-year student achievement.
In the Fall of 2007, the Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) began its fourth year by welcoming 430 students in grades 9-12. Since opening in the fall of 2004, DSST has added a new class of freshman each year until reaching full enrollment last fall with all four grades. DSST will be opening a Middle School Program in the Fall of 2008 with its first class of 6 th graders. DSST is an innovative public charter secondary school in the Denver Public Schools that serves students from across the city and is located in the Stapleton neighborhood.
Additional information about DSST and the admission process is available on the school's web site at www.scienceandtech.org.
The Anna and John J. Sie Foundation is a private 501(c)3 established in December of 2003. Its mission is to give back to the community in Colorado through philanthropic support of education, arts and culture, and health services. The Foundation has a special emphasis on improving the lives of people with Down syndrome and to the long term sustainability of the world's energy, water and environment. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funding.