🍌 More compost, less recycling

🎒 DPS Proposes Closing 7 Schools

Just eighteen months after a dramatic boardroom battle ended with three closed schools, DPS superintendent Alex Marrero has proposed closing seven more schools and restructuring an additional three in response to declining enrollment across the district. The DPS board is set to vote on the proposal on Nov. 21. [9News]

• Have questions about DPS? An education expert will be joining the City Cast Denver podcast soon, and we’d love to hear your questions and concerns!
  

♻️ More Compost, Less Recycling

City officials announced last week that every Denverite who wants a compost bin should have one by the end of March — much sooner than the previously planned end of 2025 deadline. While the compost program is being accelerated, recycling is decelerating, with the current weekly pickups switching to every other week starting in January. [Denver Post 🔒]

😋 New Mezcaleria Coming From Michelin Star Winner

The acclaimed chef behind Alma Fonda Fina, Johnny Curiel, is set to open a new Mexico City-inspired mezcal bar, Mezcaleria Alma, on Nov. 16. But that’s just one of the exciting restaurant openings the Mile High will see in the coming weeks. [City Cast Denver 🎧]

With potential school closures on the horizon, all eyes are on DPS. The district has a long and complicated history within Denver, and each school tells a story. One of the schools on the list for possible closure is Castro Elementary in Westwood.

So, who was Castro? Richard T. Castro was a born and raised Coloradan who lived a life of service. Before his death at the age of 44 in 1991, he was elected to state office, worked under Mayor Federico Peńa, and became a foundational figure within the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. He was also a champion of marginalized youth and their right to an education.

Chicano Civil Rights Movement

While in college, Castro worked as a street outreach worker serving young people on the city’s Eastside; he was also co-founder of the Westside Coalition, a group formed to address the issues of Chicanos and Latinos displaced from their Auraria community. But this work also put him at odds with others who were organizing in the same sphere – he survived being shot in the neck by a member of Corky Gonzales’ Crusade for Justice and an unattributed bombing of his neighbor’s house was thought to be meant for Castro.