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Back To School: DPS Is Fastest Growing Big City District In The Country

DENVER (CBS4) - It's back to school for students at Denver Public Schools and CBS4's Rahel Solomon visited Bryant-Webster Dual Language School Monday morning to see what the morning was like.

It was a very exciting morning with lots of young smiling faces with fresh stationery, and greeting them was the school's prized mariachi band.

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(credit: CBS)

Bryant-Webster is a dual language K-8 school. Parents and students alike heard from school administrators, but also special guests like Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg and Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia. They were there to thank the teachers and staff and of course get students excited for the new year.

Boasberg talked about how quickly DPS is growing. According to district estimates it's the fastest growing big city district in the country. Boasberg said after the voter-approved bond in 2012 it's meant expansions and renovations. And with even more growth they're working to keep up with the pace.

"That bond has been a huge success. Projects have all been on time, within budget. We'll be asking again next fall, fall of 2016, so we can make sure we have the expansions necessary, the renovations necessary, to meet that growing demand for our kids so class sizes don't get too big and our schools have the learning environment that our kids really deserve," Boasberg.

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Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia and Superintendent Tom Boasberg greet students at Bryant-Webster Dual Language School (credit: CBS)

DPS has grown about 25 percent over seven years ago. The district is now the largest in Colorado and has been for a couple of years, surpassing Jefferson County with about 92,000 students. Boasberg says when he started there were 73,000 students. It's not the largest DPS have ever been. In the late 1960s and early 1970s there were actually more students.

Growth of the past few years has been fueled by increases in places like Green Valley Ranch and Grant Ranch.

Boasberg, Garcia and Mayor Michael Hancock will be making visits to schools Tuesday morning as well.

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