Kunsberg School FAQ
Question: Where is Kunsberg School located?
Answer: We are located in Denver on the campus of National Jewish Health, which is on the corner of Colfax and Colorado Blvd. Kunsberg School is located directly behind the main hospital building. Once on the campus, take the sidewalk between the Molly Blank building and Goodman building and you will find us next to the grassy knoll and the playground.
Our physical address is 1400 Jackson Street Denver, CO 80247.
Question: Who attends Kunsberg School?
Answer: Kunsberg School enrolls students in grades K-8 with a wide range of chronic illnesses. We have or have had students with all of the following medical conditions:
Question: What are Kunsberg School's goals?
Answer:
- Stabilize and improve the health status of the student/patient
- Improve the academic status of the student/patient
- Enter the student/patient back into more traditional medical and school systems.
Question: What programs are offered at Kunsberg School?
Answer: Programs offered, include:
- Education and Disease Specific Case Management — Applies principals of case management to meet individual education and disease management goals
- Curriculum based on Colorado Content Standards
- Programs for fine arts, physical education, literacy block and math block
- Active Volunteer Programs — Grandparent and Reading Buddies Programs
- Field trips/special events on site
Question: What Medical Services are provided at Kunsberg School?
Answer: We have three full time nurses on staff that oversee individual case plans and disease education. Students are given the opportunity to do breathing treatments, nose washes, wet wraps, nutritional supplements and pre-treat before PE and recess times. We also offer speech, physical, and occupational therapy with an IEP as well as psychosocial intervention.
Question: What grades do you offer at Kunsberg School?
Answer: We currently have students in grades K-8.
Question: My student has severe allergies so I'm worried about the lunch program. How does your lunch program work?
Answer: All of our school meals are provided through the National Jewish Health Cafeteria. We have a set lunch menu that will go home with your student before the beginning of the month, noting what is offered each day. We are VERY careful about what we serve our students, and we are a nut-free school. We ask that if you send a lunch to school with your student, the drinks they bring should only be 100% juice, water or milk. If your student has any other food allergies, we will ask the cafeteria to make an alternative meal for your child that he or she can enjoy.
Question: What does a typical school day entail?
Answer: Students can arrive at school anytime after 7:30am to eat free breakfast. Our first bell rings at 7:45am. Our tardy bell rings at 7:50am. Students have 40 minutes of Fine Arts and 40 minutes of PE daily. They also have a 20 minute recess and a 20 minute lunch. Each day we have 2 literacy blocks (about 45 minutes each). The upper 3 grades have 2 math blocks, and the lower 3 grades have 1 math block. School dismissal is at 3:20pm. On Fridays school is dismissed at noon to allow for teacher in-service.
Question: What is the typical class size?
Answer: Our typical class size is 8-15 students.
Question: What is your school calendar?
Answer: We try to follow the Denver Public Schools Academic Calendar as closely as we can. The first day back for students is August 17, 2009 and the last day is May 27, 2010.
Question: Do you have all-day Kindergarten?
Answer: Yes, we currently have all-day Kindergarten. All Kindergarteners have nap time each day to adjust to the long schedule.
Question: Do you have special education services?
Answer: We do have special education services available to students with identified educational needs, which can be met by our school staff. All of our teachers currently have, or are working on, their Master's degree, and all have a background working in special education. We offer a wide variety of therapy (physical, occupational, speech) and have a full-time child advocate to work with students on behavioral issues.
Question: What qualifications does school staff have?
Answer: Kunsberg School has licensed regular or special education teachers, all of which currently have or are working on their Master's degree. We also employ a full-time library media specialist, fine arts teacher and physical education teacher. Kunsberg School has a full-time child advocate available to assist students throughout the day. The school clinic is staffed with at least two registered nurses daily.
Question: Do you provide transportation?
Answer: We currently do not provide transportation for our students. However, this school year we are buying an RTD bus pass for any student in the school who needs one, in order to get to and from school. For those students who are in 5th grade or below, we will pay half the amount of a bus pass for their parent/guardian to ride the bus with them to supervise.
We have students coming to our school from all across the Denver-metro area, and many of our students live near each other. Once enrolled in Kunsberg School, you will have the opportunity to join our "Ride-Share List" with other parents looking to carpool.
Question: Do you provide before/after school care?
Answer: We currently do not have a before/after school program for students. We do have several students who attend local after school programs that pick up students at the end of the day. Currently, we have students in the following after school programs:
- Real Kids Daycare 303-292-3584
- Red Shield/Salvation Army 303-295-2109
- Armstrong Daycare 303-377-7141
Question: Do you have any extracurricular activities?
Answer: We currently do not have any extracurricular activities available for students. We do have a list of things to do in the community, if parents are interested in activities outside of school.
Question: How much does it cost to send my child to Kunsberg School?
Answer: We are blessed with generous donors who make it possible for students to attend Kunsberg School for free. We are funded through the Colorado Department of Education as a Facility School. All of our other benefits, such as our Interactive White Boards, student computers, playground, etc., are funded through friends of Kunsberg School.
Question: Do you have a dress code?
Answer: At Kunsberg School we wear uniforms Monday-Thursday, allowing the students to wear "street clothes" on Friday. We wear uniforms at to help promote school unity. Uniforms help students focus on learning instead of how they look. As visitors come to our school, we show them the pride we have in ourselves by following the uniform code and dressing appropriately.
Question: What is your curriculum?
Answer: Our curriculum is based on Colorado Department of Education State Content Standards. We adopted a new reading curriculum last year called Houghton Mifflin Reading.
Question: Who do I contact when I've decided to do more?
Answer:
