In art class on a recent Friday, Cheltenham Elementary students made puppets out of paper bags. In instrumental music, they plinked out patterns — “ta, ti-ti, ta-ta” — on wooden xylophones. In dance class, they took turns doing a step-touch to a version of the disco hit “Stayin’ Alive.”

The west Denver school has a whopping six elective classes, often called “specials,” this school year, up from two last year. Cheltenham also has 10 mental health and behavioral specialists, two assistant principals, two reading interventionists, two math interventionists, and a full-time gifted and talented teacher.

For a school with 425 students, it’s an abundance of staff.

Principal Felicia Manzanares has another word for it.

“It’s a dream,” she said. “But you only get that for one year.”

The one-year-only staffing bump is because Cheltenham was on the receiving end of a controversial school consolidation. In the face of declining enrollment, the Denver school board voted last spring to close tiny Fairview Elementary and reassign its students to Cheltenham.

Read the full story at chalkbeat.org.

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