DENVER — When Eric Armas' son started attending the American Indian Academy of Denver (AIAD), he said he noticed a change at home that he felt brought him closer to his roots.
"It makes me happy knowing we’re speaking more Lakota," he said, crediting that to his son's experience at the school.
Another parent, Hathor Brown, said her daughter in 7th grade now has an opportunity to stay immersed in her native roots.
“They’re learning the culture, they’re learning the respect that comes with the culture…on top of the language, the traditions, the community," she said.
While both parents are thankful such a school exists, they're also hoping it's future stays in tact.
In November, supporters of the charter gathered for a rally to advocate for "saving" the school.
While no action has been taken on the school by the Denver Public Schools (DPS) board of education, 9NEWS obtained a memo sent from DPS to the school, as previously reported.
The district issued several notices of concern to the school over the last two years – including struggles with finances, declining enrollment, understaffed mental health services, and high turnover among special education staff, among others.
Back then, Grant Guyer, associate chief of strategic operations to the school's board chair, laid out options for the future of AIAD, including having the charter revoked or consolidating with another school.
The school opened during the pandemic, and the school's founder and head, Dr. Terri Bissonette argued that they had not had an opportunity for a "normal" academic year to show what the school could do.
“Giant problems require giant solutions and unprecedented situations, they also require unprecedented solutions," Bissonette told 9NEWS Thursday.
Meanwhile, a DPS spokesperson said in an emailed statement that, "Denver Public Schools has offered to partner with AIAD to bolster the Native American programming at DCIS Baker in an effort to serve the students currently enrolled at AIAD. This would begin at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year."
Follow up questions for what that exactly means for the students currently attending AIAD were not answered by the time of publication.
But recently, the charter's leadership wrote a letter of intent to apply as an "innovation school."
"As demonstrated during public comment at DPS' Board of Directors' meetings, a significant number of our families and students believes that AIAD needs to continue to be in operation beyond this school year to be able to fully provide our students with what they need to be happy, healthy, and academically successful," the letter reads in part.
Bissonette added that becoming an innovation school would enable them to more support from DPS. "...would allow us the flexibility and the autonomy to still you know implement our cirriculum..." he said.
While there is no word yet on a timeline for when decisions would be made either by the school or the district, Bissonette and others hope the school stays together.
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