Inner-City School

3560 Josephine Street
Denver, CO 80205
PH: 303-316-4533
FX: 303-316-4535

Jacquelyn Graham, Executive Director

Our Vision...

Inner City School’s vision is to provide a model for quality preschool – 6th grade education offering a safe haven that serves a diverse urban community whose children consistently exceed academic standards, honoring God, others and themselves.

Our Mission….

The mission of Inner City School is to provide academic excellence, spiritual enrichment and character development to equip children the skills, values and self-discipline necessary to become successful and productive members of society.

Formed to help children in the city…. ICS was formed in 1996 by cross-cultural team of pastors, businessmen and community members concerned about the high rate of academic failure and high school dropout rates of among inner city youth. The founders envisioned a faith based, culturally relevant, academic program that would enable disadvantaged children to reach their highest potential.

The school began with phonics and math based preschool program and grew by one grade level each year until it reached the fifth grade.  ICS outgrew its space at 2609 Lawrence Street and relocated to 3560 Josephine Street.

The integration of faith-based principles into the curriculum mirrors the culture in which ICS students live.  Historically, people of inner-city have looked to church leaders for guidance and leadership in solving their social ills.  The urban pastors who helped found the school and who are still active as board members reflect this relationship with people in the city.  While Bible teaching and chapels are part of our curriculum, students may be removed from these activities at the parent’s request.  

THE CHILDREN WE SERVE……. Forty-Four percent of our students are African American, Fifty-Four percent are Hispanic and One  percent are Caucasian. Ninety percent of our students qualify for the federal free lunch program, a current marker of child poverty.

 Growing up in Denver’s inner-city where many negative factors converge, these vulnerable children have few, if any resources needed to succeed in life. Concentrated poverty makes unlikely the prospect of economic improvement or academic success. Without intervention, they face discouraging odds.

 Recent research by the Piton Foundation reveals that child poverty, single-parent homes, teen births rates, crime rates, the educational levels of parents and other factors pose an overwhelming threat to the academic progress of the children we serve.