Colorado Legacy Foundation Awards $25,000 to Promote Safe and Welcoming School Cultures

DENVER, CO — Today the Colorado Legacy Foundation (CLF) announced the selection of two schools that will share $25,000 as part of CLF’s recently launched Safe and Welcoming Schools Initiative. The schools are Rangeview High School in Aurora and Manhattan Middle School in Boulder.

“The Colorado Legacy Foundation recognizes that students who feel unsafe at school suffer declines in academic achievement,” said Dr. Helayne Jones, President and CEO of the Colorado Legacy Foundation. “We are thrilled to launch our Safe and Welcoming Schools Initiative with two schools that have demonstrated a commitment to creating school cultures that are inclusive and respectful of individual differences.”

The selected schools will broaden their current efforts by expanding programs already in place, creating new programs, and providing staff with professional development that helps them drive the creation of safe school climates.  The funding, which was provided through an investment by the Gill Foundation, will be used to support work at each individual school as well as the creation and promotion of district-wide safe school strategies.

“For all students to succeed in Colorado, it is paramount that they feel safe and welcome at school,” said Leslie Herod, Program Officer at the Gill Foundation. “The Colorado Legacy Foundation was an effective partner in our earlier bullying prevention efforts, with a special focus on LGBT youth, and we are thrilled to continue our partnership by expanding the program into a Safe and Welcoming Schools Initiative that works to ensure the safety of all students in Colorado.”

Rangeview High School and Manhattan Middle School were selected during a competitive grant application process and will receive funding for one year. CLF will collect evaluation data on the effectiveness of their efforts, the challenges they faced, and the lessons they learned to share statewide.