Denver Charter Network Focuses on STEM for Underserved Students

Horizon STEM Academy, a Denver charter school network operating three campuses in historically underserved neighborhoods, has built its entire academic model around intensive science, technology, engineering, and math instruction, aiming to close achievement gaps that network founders say have persisted for too long in traditional neighborhood schools.

Network founder and executive director Camille Ashworth says the STEM-intensive model was a deliberate response to research showing that students from underserved backgrounds often have less access to rigorous STEM coursework and enrichment opportunities than peers in wealthier school districts. "We didn't want to just talk about closing gaps," Ashworth said. "We wanted a curriculum specifically built to do it."

An Extended School Day Built Around STEM Enrichment

Horizon STEM Academy schools operate an extended school day compared to traditional district schools, using the additional time for hands-on STEM enrichment activities including robotics, coding, and hands-on science labs that go beyond standard curriculum requirements. Ashworth says this extended time was essential to providing the kind of intensive STEM exposure the network's academic model is built around, without sacrificing core academic instruction time.

The network has also built partnerships with several regional technology and aerospace employers, who provide volunteer mentors and occasional hands-on workshop sessions for students, giving students exposure to STEM career pathways that Ashworth says many wouldn't otherwise have access to given their neighborhood schools' more limited resources.

Measuring Results Against Traditional Public Schools

Network officials point to student performance data showing STEM assessment scores exceeding district averages despite serving a student population with higher rates of poverty than typical district schools, evidence they say validates the network's intensive STEM-focused approach. Independent education researchers have taken interest in studying the network's model, though Ashworth notes that isolating which specific program elements drive the strongest outcomes remains an ongoing area of study.

The network says it's evaluating whether to open a fourth campus, though Ashworth emphasizes that maintaining consistent program quality across a growing number of schools remains the network's top priority over rapid expansion.