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We appreciate how essential the Colorado PK-12 education projects have been to Nunn’s 40-year history. Many, if not all, of our team members have contributed to our strong, enduring relationships with school districts in the community, especially Harrison School District 2. After being awarded a contract for the District’s 2018 bond improvement projects, Nunn has completed renovation projects at more than 10 Harrison School District 2 schools, with another three renovations in the late stages of construction and one more in preconstruction.
But Harrison School District 2’s commitment to students extends beyond facility improvements. The Dakota Promise Scholarship they offer, which started in Fall 2020, has pioneered inspiring and unprecedented opportunities in Colorado Springs postsecondary education.
MAKING A PROMISE TO STUDENTS BEYOND GRADUATION
With the Dakota Promise Coaching Program, high school graduates from Harrison School District 2 with a 2.5 or better grade point average are provided free college tuition at Pikes Peak State College. Harrison School District 2 developed the program with additional funding from the Dakota Foundation and the Legacy Institute.
“The idea behind this scholarship is to create new on-ramps, new ways for young people in some of our most underserved areas to reach their dreams,” said Dr. Lance Bolton, Pikes Peak State College President.
“Those conversations at the dinner table when a parent tells their child, ‘You’re not going to college. We can’t afford it’…Those conversations are over.”
EXPANDING WITH COLORADO SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT 11
Earlier this year, the Dakota Foundation and the Legacy Institute additionally started the Mitchell Promise, an initiative funding full-ride scholarships for Michell High School graduates to Pikes Peak State College.
The results have been encouraging: Forty-one recent Mitchell High School graduates recently enrolled at Pikes Peak State College for the 2023-2024 school year, and Mitchell High School has since improved one rating level from being a turnaround school, among the lowest-performing schools in Colorado.
Even better, the reach and impact of the Mitchell Promise have not gone unnoticed. Colorado Springs School District 11 recently announced they will be expanding the scholarship to their graduating seniors.
What started as a promise to Harrison School District and Mitchell High School is flourishing in Colorado Springs, spreading inclusive opportunities where many underserved students have been denied. We are seeing more and more students are being empowered and given the resources they need to take charge in their futures.
All of us at Nunn are rooting for them to thrive, and we owe special thanks to those generous benefactors for stepping up to fund and extend these post-secondary opportunities. Your commitment to serving students, before and after graduation, is truly admirable and building a Colorado for all of us to enjoy.
