DENVER — Cutting-edge technology to combat climate change arrives in Denver Public Schools (DPS) – a new school under construction won't just have air conditioning – it will be fully sustainable.
The new school under construction is on the far northeast side of Denver where new neighborhoods are taking shape.
And the newest Denver school sits right in the middle.
"It's very, very exciting," said Amy Sponsler, a project manager with DPS's operations team.
In a few months, this building will become the Responsive Arts and Steam Academy Far Northeast, or RASA.
"It looks awesome. I've only seen it in design so it's really impressive to see," said Adam West, an energy engineer with the DPS sustainability team.
For the past year, Sponsler's been checking in on the new school's construction. She said the building has gone up fast.
"The far northeast area of Denver is our area that's growing the fastest and so this school is in response to that growth," Sponsler said.
But, this isn't just any school.
"This school is unique because it's DPS's first all-electric school building and one of the first all-electric schools in Colorado," West said. "So we're really excited to push the envelope in terms of sustainability."
The heating and cooling equipment? Electric.
The kitchen? Electric.
Inside the classrooms, daylight windows will help to maximize the light.
"Yeah, DPS tried to push the envelope in terms of sustainability for this building," West said.
Inside the main hall, tubular skylights let the sunshine in. Mass timber decorates the ceiling, another sustainable choice, West said.
This building is the first-of-its-kind for the district. And DPS wants to see more schools built like it down the road.
"Our DPS planning and design department wanted RASA to be a model for schools we build into the future," West said.
West said without the dedication from students around DPS, RASA might not have been built.
“We wouldn’t have a climate action plan or a climate action policy without heavy student involvement. We actually had about 30 students from eight different schools put pressure on our board of education and worked with them to pass a climate action policy. So that climate action policy set the stage for our plan and for reducing emissions," West said. "Definitely I think our students would be super proud of this building in that it’s fighting climate change with cutting-edge technology.”
"So it's definitely an expectation and we're really proud to be I think really ahead of the game in the state of Colorado," Sponsler said.
Construction on RASA is expected to wrap up in June in plenty of time to open for the start of the new school year in August.
The school choice window for DPS parents to choose a school for their children will be up on the DPS website through Feb. 12.
RASA will be one of the choices for early childhood through second-grade students for the 2024-25 school year.
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