Venture Prep’s First Graduating Class Achieves 100% College Acceptance
This year marks the first graduating class for Venture Prep, a fast-growing sixth through twelfth grade charter school on Holly St. While the class is small at 17 scholars, its achievements are mammoth, as all 17 seniors have been accepted into at least one college for next year, amassing total scholarship offers of almost $700,000.
College offers range from close-to-home (Colorado State University, CU Boulder, University of Northern Colorado, Metro State) to across the country (Drake University in Iowa, Kansas University, Xavier in Ohio, Marshall University in West Virginia). Many of the graduating scholars will be the first of their families to attend college, according to Venture Prep College & Career Coordinator David Guillen. “Some of our scholars are even first-generation high school graduates,” said Guillen. “They truly are pioneers.”
The school achieves this success through a multi-faceted approach. Like many high schools, Venture Prep offers AP classes and concurrent enrollment in high school and college courses. “The difference is that while most large high schools have a student to counselor ratio of 500 to one, at Venture Prep our ratio is 200 to one,” said Guillen. “This gives me the opportunity to spend valuable time with each and every one of our high school scholars.”
One very unique benefit of attending Venture Prep is a dedicated college-prep course for all seniors. Guillen explains, “They spend 50 minutes each day on such things as completing applications, scholarship searches, and FAFSA (federal aid for college). And they get credit for it. I don’t know of any other school that provides this amount of intensive work toward reaching the goal of college success.”
But the work begins way before scholars reach their senior year. Juniors work on ACT preparation, focused career exploration and the college search process. Ninth graders coming in next fall will start looking at colleges at the beginning of the year, and will be encouraged to select one solid extracurricular activity to focus on all four years, a major factor in college acceptance. Even Middle School scholars have their own College & Career Counselor who teaches a class in character development and career exploration. “When scholars enter the door at Venture Prep, they know that college is the end goal,” emphasizes Principal Ken Burdette.
The members of the graduating class are understandably proud. “It means a lot to me to be graduating from high school this year because I’m the first person to graduate in my family and that’s a big thing,” says senior Mulbah Dolley. Classmate Emmanuel Ortiz adds, “Being the first graduating class at Venture Prep means a lot to me because it leaves the pathway for other students who are at Venture Prep.”
Venture Prep is a free, public charter school founded on the belief that rigorous preparation in middle and high school will lead to success in college for all students, regardless of background. Venture Prep serves students in grades sixth through twelfth with a unique blend of intensive skill-building and engaging hands-on project-based learning. For more information about the school or enrollment for next year, call 303-893-0805.