Littleton Public Schools

Littleton Public Schools
Location
Littleton, Colorado
Information
Motto	Big enough to serve you; small enough to know you
Founded	1889
Superintendent	Brian Ewert
Enrollment	15,445[1] (2012-13 school year)
Area	Littleton, Centennial, and portions of Greenwood Village, Columbine, Bow Mar, and Englewood[2]
Website	Littleton Public Schools

Littleton Public Schools (aka Arapahoe County School District No. 6 or LPS) is a school district in Littleton, Colorado which serves several communities within the southern Denver metropolitan area. It is governed by a five-member Board of Education, and administered by a superintendent and four executives.^[3] Its headquarters, the Education Services Center, is located in Downtown Littleton. It is the fifteenth largest school district in Colorado.^[4] LPS operates 13 elementary schools, four middle schools, three high schools, several alternative programs, a preschool, and two charter schools.

Steve Spangler, known for his experiments on local TV station 9news, previously acted as a science consultant for the school district. His experience helped students to get motivated and more interested in the hands-on aspects of science.

History

In 1889, Littleton Public Schools (then Littleton School District Six) was officially incorporated with the State of Colorado. It was established in the fall of 1864 when residents of the South Platte Valley voted to establish a public school district, the boundaries of which extended from what is now Sheridan Boulevard thirty miles east to the Kansas territorial line.^[5] The first president of the school district was Lewis B. Ames, for whom an elementary school and administrative building are now named. In the winter of 1864, construction of the first school, a log cabin, was completed. In 1868, Littleton's second school, a frame building, was erected on the Lilley Ranch west of the Platte River. In 1873 the Rapp Avenue School was built, a one-room, brick structure with one teacher and 70 students. Littleton Public Schools then grew exponentially, experiencing the most growth during the "baby boom" era. Most LPS schools were built between 1950 and the late 1970s.

Achievements

LPS is the only school district in the Denver Metro Area that is "Accredited With Distinction" by the Colorado Department of Education.^[6] It is one of very few schools to have maintained this level of accreditation since the inception of this rating system. All three LPS high schools have been featured in US News' "Best High Schools", Newsweek magazine’s "Top High Schools in America" and 528 magazine’s "Top High Schools in Denver."^[7] LPS has the lowest dropout rate and highest graduation rate of any school district in the Denver Metro Area.^[8] In 2013, Security Magazine ranked LPS 11th best in the nation for school security.^[9]

Schools

Elementary schools

Middle schools

There are four traditional middle schools in Littleton Public Schools and one alternative middle school, serving grades seven through nine:

• Euclid Middle School web site
• Goddard Middle School web site
• Isaac Newton Middle School web site
• John Wesley Powell Middle School web site

High schools

All LPS high schools offer a wide range of Honors and AP courses. In addition, Littleton High School is an International Baccalaureate World School.^[10]

• Arapahoe High School web site
• Heritage High School web site
• Littleton High School web site

Charter schools

• Littleton Academy Public Charter School web site
• Littleton Preparatory Charter School web site

Alternative programs

• Options Academy web site
• Pathways (7th-9th grade) web site

External links

• Littleton Public Schools District

References