Youngquist Announces Candidacy!
John Youngquist Announces Candidacy for Denver Public Schools Board of Education At-Large
Schools and school districts run on trust. The higher the level of trust between the student and the teacher, the teacher and the principal, and the parent and the school, the better a student will learn. A school district runs on the same principle.
In Denver, we must be able to trust that the leadership of our district has the capacity to secure safety for our children. Safety is a base need of every human being. When a child feels safe they are able to learn. When our schools are safe they are able to focus on their most important effort: to ensure that our children experience a fun and academically successful journey through school and into their future.
I am entering the race to become an At-Large Director of the Denver Public Schools Board of Education. I am running for this position because I have the experience, the knowledge, and the track record to help lead DPS into a successful future. With decades of experience in metro area districts, I will use my eighteen years as a principal, ten years as a district leader, and my high level of motivation as a DPS parent to lead our board from its current state of discord into its most important work: to create a vision of excellence, hire and retain the best talent for our schools, and secure the academic gains that every student deserves.
My personal and professional passion is to create great schools for Denver’s children. A part of this stems from my experience as a kid on free lunch, a kid who found a home during busing in a DPS junior high, and a kid who then struggled through four schools in four years, thankfully graduating from DPS and progressing to college and a career serving youth.
Another part of my passion for creating great schools is grounded in the success that I have experienced in this work. I believe that past performance predicts future success. My work as a principal and district leader has yielded strong and more equitable results for the students and communities I have served. I have created safer schools, improved student attendance, increased academic results and graduation rates, energized parent and community engagement, and secured the kind of organizational momentum that creates higher degrees of success over time. I have done this in partnership with teachers and parents and will bring my experience to the work of our school board.
It is time for leadership in DPS that is accountable for the actions and the outcomes of our efforts. We need to own the harsh realities of our current context, create a different vision to lead us into the future, engage the strategy and action that are most likely to succeed, and take responsibility for the results that we experience as a community.
As your At-Large DPS School Board Director, you will be able to trust me to be accountable for the actions that I take and for the results of the decisions made by our board. I will listen to our community, value the unique perspectives and ideas we share, and work to create a level of synergy that empowers us to grow successfully into the future for our children.