![A nursing student monitors heart rate.](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/09/IMG_8510.jpg)
Mannequins that give birth, breathe, and bleed: New Metropolitan State University of Denver lab simulates real-life situations for students
And it’s just the beginning, the university is also making a big investment in its programs to help fill a looming shortfall of health professionals.
![Man in a blue button down shirt and black stripped jacket holding a microphone at a table with two water bottles and papers strewn about. His name tag, Tony May, is sitting on the table.](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/06/Tony-e1698450338325-1024x683-THIS-WAS-IN-A-CPR-STORY-IN-OCT.-1.jpg)
Garfield County voters oust school board member who backed conservative ‘American Birthright’ standards
Voters recalled a former school board president who pushed for conservative social studies standards.
![The new president of the Colorado Education Association, Kevin Vick, speaks with a group of students.](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/08/kevin-vick-cea-talks-to-elementary-school-students.jpg)
New Colorado teachers union president on one-size-fits-all learning, cell phones in the classroom and other challenges
Kevin Vick discussed what’s great about the teaching profession, its challenges, social media, and how to make schools more creative.
![Students stream into Morey Middle School](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2023/12/230822-MOREY-MIDDLE-FIRST-DAY-OF-SCHOOL-BUSES-TRANSPORTATION-07-1024x683-1.jpg)
Student attendance improving as state launches campaign meant to curb chronic absences
The new statewide campaign has a goal of cutting chronic absenteeism in half by the end of the 2026-27 school year.
![A window in a classroom at a school.](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/08/240821-back-to-school-jb-003.jpg)
The new school year welcomes back old teachers, new teachers, students and colorful shoes
New kicks for an assistant principal, what one student hopes to learn in class and an alternative to “baptism by fire” for an aspiring educator.
![ELIZABETH-SCHOOL-BOARD-ELECTION-JB](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/08/ELIZABETH-SCHOOL-BOARD-ELECTION-hwv-0007.jpg)
Elizabeth School District latest in Colorado to enact book ban despite new poll showing most Americans support public schools’ selection of books
If a student checks out one of those books, like Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl,” a parent is automatically notified and can block their child from checking out further “sensitive” books.
![Empty Denver South High School](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/05/200505-SOUTH-HIGH-SCHOOL-ED-BUDGET-215.jpg)
The 2024 Colorado standardized test scores are in. Here are 5 key takeaways
Some students are back to testing at grade level — which is a win post-pandemic — but achievement gaps are still troubling.
![A fourth grade student makes a point to her teacher](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/08/Fort-Morgan-classroom-1.jpg)
Colorado has the fifth highest rate of students who miss a lot of school. Districts rally to improve but need help
National researchers call the issue of chronic absenteeism a “crisis” because of the link between skipping school and not graduating.
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Colorado students filed highest number of reports in Safe2Tell’s history in 2023-24
Safe2Tell saw more concerns about suicide, bullying, and issues with schools and home life last school year than ever before.
![Terri Ruffennach fields questions from second-graders](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/08/200313-CARSON-ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL.png)
Is the four-day school week in many Colorado school districts helping students and teachers?
A new report states four-day school weeks in Colorado doesn’t provide a net benefit to the state’s public-school students, and doesn’t achieve a main goal of boosting teacher recruitment and retention.
![A student in a black t-shirt holds a sign up that reads "A Movement Starts with a Voice" during a protest.](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2023/05/DOUGCO-SCHOOL-BOARD-PROTEST-2.jpg)
Castle Rock Middle School discrimination lawsuit can go on with principal as defendant, federal judge rules
Families allege that their Castle Rock Middle School principal knew about racism and bullying their Black and biracial students faced, and did nothing about it — in violation of civil rights law.
![Toy models demonstrate an image recognition program that uses AI.](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/04/IMG_1035.png)
Colorado schools have AI roadmap to guide students and teachers into brave new world
The Colorado Education Initiative released its new set of guidelines to help integrate AI into education policy and curriculums.
![A model holds Colorado carnations in a Vogue ad.](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/08/Postcard-illustrating-the-second-Cropped.jpg)
Colorado was the Carnation Capital of the World … until it wasn’t
However, the Centennial State no longer holds that title. Colorado Wonders looked into what changed.
![POY-2022-SEPTEMBER-ANIMAL-SHELTERS](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2022/12/POY-2022-SEPTEMBER-HVANDENBURG-0008.jpeg)
Proposed ballot measure would create a position to ease pet care shortages and costs, but it faces opposition from veterinarian groups
Initiative 145 would make a new mid-level position between a veterinarian and a vet tech. Opponents call the concept “reckless.”
![Desks fill an empty classroom.](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/04/AP23291654877474.jpg)
Judge says Colorado Springs area school district violated federal law over special education student’s care
Under the ruling, Academy 20 has to offer homebound education and services to a child with spina bifida and other disabilities.
![Three educators in front of a whiteboard create a "driving questions board" with sticky notes during an inquiryHub workshop.](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/07/openscied3.jpg)
New, open-source science curriculum out of CU has high school students learning through real-world situations and puzzles
Teachers across the country now have free, open-source access to a new series of science curricula called OpenSciEd High School that is focused instead on the driving questions critical and relevant to the lives of young people.