Amanda DeJesus

Mar 29, 2024 | kensingtonvoice.com | Sammy Caiola |Jill Bauer-Reese |Emily Rizzo |Amanda DeJesus

Tucked under a faded blue awning on Allegheny Avenue near F Street is an opportunity for people who commit certain nonviolent crimes to receive social services instead of jail time. Inside Kensington’s 1,300-square-foot Police-Assisted Diversion (PAD) office, there’s a long room with some folding tables that serves as an intake center where people can meet with an outreach specialist to make a plan for treatment, housing, or other next steps. The space can accommodate about five visitors at once.

Mar 26, 2024 | kensingtonvoice.com | Emily Rizzo |Amanda DeJesus |Chalkbeat Philadelphia |Jill Bauer-Reese

Artist and Kensington native Roberto Lugo wants Kensington residents to see themselves in long-lasting ceramic art. Over the past year, in collaboration with Mural Arts, Lugo collected input from community members to get a sense of the neighborhood’s patterns — patterns that reflect their background, culture, and everyday life. Lugo will infuse those ideas with his own designs. He’ll be outside this summer painting three 11-foot outdoor sculptures that will be installed throughout the neighborhood.

Mar 22, 2024 | chalkbeat.org | Ann Schimke |Yesenia Robles |Nadra Nittle |Amanda DeJesus

Denver school board members shouldn’t speak on behalf of the board or claim to exercise board authority when they post on social media according to a new policy the board unanimously adopted Thursday evening. The social media policy — a single sentence added to a broader policy on board member conduct — aligns with a March 15 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could give public officials more freedom to block critics or delete their comments.

Mar 22, 2024 | chalkbeat.org | Yesenia Robles |Ann Schimke |Nadra Nittle |Amanda DeJesus

Some students who are new to the U.S. and enrolled in Colorado schools after the official October count will not have to take any standardized tests this spring. That’s according to new guidance issued recently by the Colorado Department of Education. The department changed the guidance as school districts are seeing unprecedented numbers of new students who are new to the country.

Mar 22, 2024 | chalkbeat.org | Ann Schimke |Nadra Nittle |Amanda DeJesus |Becky Vevea

Sixth grade science teacher Savannah Perkins described a surprise meeting with her school principal in early January. He told her that she would no longer be teaching science because too many students were reading below grade level, she said. Her job would “pivot” to reading intervention for second semester.