STERLING RANCH, Colo. — With most, if not all, of Colorado schools back in session for the 2026-2027 school year, it's an exciting time in Sterling Ranch for Douglas County's newest school.
On Friday, John Adams Academy, a charter school in Sterling Ranch, wrapped up the first week of its first-ever school year.
Watch Tyler Melito's report in the video below:
"We've just loved seeing all the new families walk through the doors, get to meet each other, and learn about this educational option," said Co-Founder Ellie Reynolds.
Reynolds and fellow Co-Founder Kim Gilmartin sat down with Denver7's Douglas County Reporter Tyler Melito to share their vision for the school and what they hope students achieve.
Part of that is inside the classroom, where the school teaches a Classical Education Model.
"I always like to explain classical education as one that's sort of going back to basics," Gilmartin explained. "It's content-rich. We put a lot of emphasis on phonics and cursive and Latin and proper sentence diagramming."
The school is a low-tech school, centered around students being engaged with their teacher.
"We definitely look at a well-rounded liberal arts education," Gilmartin said. "So we have the sciences, math, liberal arts, you know, music, fine arts, those kinds of things. So it is a well-rounded education, and it's one that parents are clamoring for these days."
"As a parent, I think I really looked at this because I thought there was really a need in Douglas County," added Reynolds, who will have a child attending John Adams.
The school is authorized through the Charter School Institute (CSI), not part of Douglas County Schools. Because of this, official enrollment numbers aren't required until after Oct. 1 for funding purposes, but a spokesperson for CSI told Melito that the school, in its initial request for its first year, expected to have 275 students.
"Our enrollment is changing every day, and so we can't take a snapshot in time. It's probably changed in the few minutes that we've been sitting here talking to you," Gilmartin said.
Recently, the Douglas County School Board advanced a resolution submitted to the Colorado Association of School Boards to approve changes to the Charter Schools Act that would give local school boards greater ability to consider how a new charter school could impact an existing school.
While there isn't a DCSD school in Sterling Ranch, one is set to open in 2027, there are DCSD schools in nearby communities such as Roxborough.
During Tuesday's Board of Ed meeting, several parents of students and administrators at charter schools in Douglas County expressed their frustration with the resolution.
"Parents know that two schools offering similar programs can provide very different experiences for a child," one parent said. "I am asking this board to explain what problem this resolution is solving. Provide the evidence supporting it, and most importantly engage the charter community before advocating for statewide change."
Gilmartin also wrote an opinion piece in Rocky Mountain Voice expressing her opinion on the resolution. She wrote in part:
"The existence of one successful school should not automatically become an argument against opening another. In some cases, it may prove exactly the opposite by showing that there is enough demand to support more than one."
Then there are detractors online. Some posting to social media express concerns about JAA's Certificate of Occupancy Inspections, which the school failed multiple times, including on Aug. 5, before passing on Aug. 7.
Reynolds and Gilmartin say they are focusing on what is going on inside the classroom.
"We believe that at John Adams, we're going to focus on opening our doors to those hundreds of families that do want the education, not the people online that don’t," Reynolds detailed.
They are also hoping that students, or scholars as they are called at John Adams, become servant leaders and embrace their community, which also includes parents.
"We truly want to embody servant leadership, and so we want our parents to also be invested in this school, giving back to the school, we want to model that for our kids," Reynolds described. "What better place to do it than your own community?"
Ultimately, both co-founders have their vision for what a successful first school year looks like.
"A successful school year here at John Adams Academy means hundreds of children showing up on day one, enjoying the school, loving their teachers, loving the community, and for parents to be so excited and to be excited to be a part of this community because we want them in the schools.," Gilmartin said. "We want everybody to be a part of this."
"I think for me, 2026-2027 school year success looks like kids really coming in, embracing, meeting each other, making new friends, meeting the teachers, and you know, kind of seeing what Kim and I about two years ago dreamt of," Reynolds added.
You can learn more about John Adams Academy here.
