Saved Schools

The Stead School

The Stead School, nominated by Anastasis Academy, is a high school in Commerce City, Colorado, that describes itself as a public charter school serving learners from a primarily urban/suburban/rural area.

Location Commerce City, Colorado

Governance Public Charter School

Grades High

Students 405

Locale Rural, Suburban, Urban

Director of Community Partnerships and Student Success Rachel Balkcom

Demographics

Percentage of students*

8%

English Learners

32%

Free/Reduced Lunch

26%

Students with Disabilities

African American or Black 4%

American Indian/Alaska Native 1%

Asian 4%

Hawaiian or Pacific Islander —

Hispanic or Latino 46%

White 41%

2+ Races —

Why The Stead School was nominated

The STEAD School is a Science, Technology, Environmental, Agricultural and systems Design charter high school focused on solving global food, health, energy, and environmental issues. STEAD engages students in real life, hands-on learning, utilizing a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Agricultural Pathways curriculum in plant, animal, food, and environmental sciences. STEAD uses a Project Based Learning (PBL) approach integrating CTE curriculum and aligning guiding questions into a PBL framework where students explore these questions and utilize their findings as the foundation for projects. In addition to the scientific pathways of study, lessons in math, art, music, foreign language, English language arts, and history align with projects and engage students in deeply focused studies, Socratic seminar and community presentations.

Student experience design

The mission of The STEAD School is to empower students to design and lead their own postsecondary and career pathways within the context of an exciting Science, Technology, Environmental, Agricultural, and system Design learning environment. STEAD’s vision is to create educational and career pathways for the next generation of passionate and visionary Colorado leaders across business, civic, science, health, energy, and natural resource industries, and across rural, urban, and suburban divides. These aspirations are anchored by three enduring Guiding Principles — Stewardship, Exploration, and Collaboration — and six Core Values: Citizenship, Respect, Head–Heart–Hand Learning, Risk-Taking, Sense of Purpose, and Deep Learning. The vision of the STEAD School provides pathways and an educational and career pipeline for the next generation of passionate and visionary Colorado leaders across business, civic, science, health, energy and natural resource industries and across rural, urban and suburban divides. Deeply connected to their respective communities, STEAD students are stewards of their environment and address increasingly complex food, health, environmental and energy challenges that face the state, the nation and the planet.

Core Practices

Core Practices Length of Use

Student Advisories
5+ years

Co-leadership
5+ years

Community And Workforce Partnerships
5+ years

Individual Learning Paths
5+ years

Project-based Learning
5+ years

All Practices

Advancement On Mastery

Blended Learning

Career Advising & Support

Career Exploration

Client Projects

College Advising & Support

Competency/mastery-based Education

Grading Policies Focus On Mastery

Higher Education Partnerships

All Courses Designed For Inclusion

Industry-recognized Credentials

Educators Have Industry Experience

Industry-aligned Learning Pathways

Internships

Individual Learner Profiles

Mental Health Services

Multi-age Classrooms

Industry Networking

Peer To Peer Support

Performance Based Assessment

Restorative Practices

School-based Enterprises

SEL Curriculum

Service Learning

Student-led Conferences

Student-led Goal Setting

Students Develop Projects

Career Prep

key reasons for innovating

Demonstrate what’s possible for other schools

Improve student mental health

Increase student agency

Date Updated: 4/1/2026

*Canopy profile data is self-reported or sourced from NCES data, then verified by school leaders.