Deb McVicker, who teaches media, computers and math at M-CHS, told Cortez City Council members Tuesday that providing a dorm option for 5 to 10 percent of the high school\u2019s 630 students would improve graduation rates.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany students go home to an environment where they cannot complete their studies,\u201d McVicker said. \u201cA dorm would provide them a safer environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dorm would be open to 25-30 students at M-CHS, from freshmen to seniors, McVicker said. In order to be given the privilege to live at the dorm, students would meet a rigorous guidelines and be very serious about graduating, she said.<\/p>\n
McVicker said the idea came to her after she housed a student in her home for three months last year. The student, a senior, would go home from school, and her parents would have her work at the family business until 9 or 10 p.m. every night, McVicker said. The student would not have energy or time to complete homework after working, and she was in danger of not graduating.<\/p>\n
With the consent of her parents, McVicker invited the student into her home and put her on a strict schedule. She would get home from school, exercise, do chores and finish homework and be in bed by 9 p.m. every night. The student traveled to and from M-CHS with McVicker.<\/p>\n
The student graduated from M-CHS and is enrolled in a culinary arts school in Boulder. She\u2019s on track to graduate with a culinary arts degree in a few months, McVicker said.<\/p>\n
When asked about others who might benefit from a similar situation, McVicker said the student told her there were many M-CHS students who would benefit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have that need,\u201d McVicker said. \u201cStudents need to go home to somewhere where they are encouraged to do homework and to graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n
McVicker said she had discussed the project with Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 Superintendent Lori Haukeness, but had not approached the Re-1 Board of Education. Haukeness has said the district\u2019s graduation rates are improving, but she also identified raising the rate as a priority for her tenure as superintendent.<\/p>\n
McVicker said similar facilities exist in Shiprock and Bloomfield, New Mexico. In Shiprock, two students share a room and a bathroom, she said. There\u2019s a common area with a pool table and a TV, and a dorm parent supervises the students, she said.<\/p>\n
M-CHS architecture students are working on drafting design plans for a facility in Cortez, McVicker said. A building would need to be within walking distance of the main M-CHS building, she said.<\/p>\n
McVicker told council members she was exploring funding options and asked for suggestions from the city.<\/p>\n
Mayor Karen Sheek said McVicker should visit the facilities in New Mexico to see how they operate. Council members did not take a vote on McVicker\u2019s proposal or commit any funds toward it, but they were receptive to her idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely has potential,\u201d Sheek said.<\/p>\n
City Manager Shane Hale said the city has been supportive of education and youths. He told McVicker the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority might offer some suggestions.<\/p>\n
The proposed budget for the dorm would include food for the students, McVicker said. An annual budget for the dorm could be close to $1 million, she said.<\/p>\n
Some students are supportive of the idea and were prepared to write formal letters endorsing a dorm, McVicker added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really feel this would be a positive move for the district,\u201d she said. \u201cI really feel we need this as a district. It\u2019s a burden on my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
McVicker, who teaches media, computers and math at M-CHS, told Cortez City Council members Tuesday that providing a dorm option for 5 to 10 percent of the high school\u2019s 630 students would improve graduation rates. \u201cMany students go home to an environment where they cannot complete their studies,\u201d McVicker said. \u201cA dorm would provide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[21,13,60,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-105179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-montezuma-county","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105179\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105179"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=105179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}