On March 27, the Cherry Creek School District, City of Centennial, and Denver National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team announced an exciting new partnership.
The Denver NWSL will call Centennial home and build their new team headquarters and training center while we will help build 8 new playing fields and a stadium to be utilized by our new professional women’s soccer team as well as Cherry Creek Schools students, families, and communities across Arapahoe County.
When we were first approached about this exciting new opportunity, we recognized that it came at an interesting time. With so much uncertainty around state and federal funding for K12 education, we had to proceed thoughtfully, weighing both short- and long-term scenarios.
While potential operational funding cuts loomed large, we understood that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was knocking. The project aligned perfectly with our Core Values and advanced our vision of helping every student pursue their Pathway of Purpose. Ultimately, we made the decision to invest in a long-term benefit for our students and our community.
At the same time, we continued to advocate against potential state funding cuts because both efforts were important to the future of our organization. We appreciate the willingness of several of our state lawmakers who took the time to meet with and listen to our Board of Education, parents, and students who took their time to voice their concerns via phone calls, emails, or visits to the Capitol. As a public school district, we interface with our constituents on a regular basis and appreciate when other public servants do as well.
For the past several years, we have seen the state’s share of K12 funding in Colorado continue to decline, leaving us in the bottom third of states for per pupil funding. Understanding our reality today and for the foreseeable future, we continue to explore alternative solutions to the inadequate funding levels we face as a public school district in Colorado.
This out-of-the-box approach is only possible thanks to the support of our community. We are incredibly lucky and grateful to continue to enjoy the strong support of our community when it comes to mill and bond elections which provide additional funding for our schools and students. The 2024 voter-approved bond measure provided us with the opportunity to rebuild many of our aging schools and grow our excellence with the expansion of the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus.
In the first round of bond sales, due to the excellent credit rating of the district and strong demand, we were able to raise an additional $46 million dollars. These bond premium dollars can only be used for capital construction projects and cannot support the operating expenses of CCSD, such as increasing teacher pay or reducing class size. Reinvesting a portion of this revenue does not come at the expense of other bond projects and instead allows us to maximize taxpayer dollars while attracting families and economic activity to our community.
In the long-term, this first-of-its-kind partnership will mean much-needed playing fields for school and community use, long-term control of the Centennial stadium, and revenue-generating opportunities such as facility rentals and naming rights.
As the City of Centennial noted, “Bringing a professional women’s performance center to Centennial lays the foundation for a lasting partnership between the Team, the City, and the Cherry Creek School District, fostering community engagement and youth opportunities. This partnership also provides significant long-term financial benefits to the school district, creating a dedicated home for district team sporting events.”
The partnership comes with a robust list of immeasurable benefits as well, including internship opportunities, instruction and mentorship from Denver NWSL staff and/or players for CCSD athletes, support for our Teacher Apprenticeship Program for athletes interested in pursuing a future teaching career, a donation to the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation, and free tickets for students and families to regular season games.
We have been so pleased to see so many of our female sports at all levels expand across the state in recent years, such as girls flag football. This project was another way to explore and promote pathways, specifically for our girls. Several of our female athletes from elementary school to high school got to participate in the announcement and help us celebrate this milestone in women’s youth, amateur, and professional sports in Colorado.
Since announcing this partnership, the positive energy and feedback we’ve received from our community has been electric. We appreciate the support from many who share our innovative vision to provide unique, world-class programs for students and look forward to working together to ensure Cherry Creek Schools remains a destination district for academics, activities, and athletics today and in the future.
Chris Smith is superintendent of the Cherry Creek School District.