Denver Public Schools is reaching out to an increasingly diverse student population through one of the most popular media for Spanish-speakers: radio.
The district says it is the first in the nation to produce a commercial Spanish-language radio show to engage parents.
About 40 percent of the district’s 79,000 students come from homes where English is not the primary language, and many of those students have parents who speak no English at all.
But they do turn on the radio regularly.
Spanish-language stations attract a high listenership in the Denver-Boulder area, and DPS is riding their popularity to convey information about the district.
“When you have parents who work at a restaurant, hotel or construction site, they tune into the radio and it’s on all the time,” said Alex Sanchez, director of DPS’s multicultural outreach office. Sanchez is the host of “Educa,” a one-hour program produced by DPS that features information about the district’s initiatives, events and issues.
The district buys time on three Denver Spanish-language radio stations — KXPK-FM 96.5, KJMN-FM 92.1 and KMXA-AM 1090 — to have “Educa” broadcast throughout the week. The annual cost is about $26,000.
In just a few months, the audience for “Educa” has more than doubled, to 54,200 unique listeners a month, according to Arbitron data from February supplied by the district. The three stations have a weekly reach of 382,500 people, according to Arbitron.
“The ratings tend to prove that we listen to radio and we are loyal to the brands and the stations,” Sanchez said. “We feel this is working. We are getting information to parents in a medium they are comfortable with.”
A show on discipline policy
On a recent morning, Sanchez and other district officials crowded into a small studio at Univision with members of the Padres y Jovenes Unidos community activist group for a show about the district’s discipline policy.
DPS two years ago revamped its student discipline policy. The new policy, meant to reduce the number of out-of-school suspensions, focuses on restorative justice and getting students to learn from their mistakes.
However, parents need to know that the policy has six levels and that consequences can increase if a student continues to disobey.
“Some of the lower-level offenses are minor and can be dealt with quickly,” said Patsy Roybal, who is with the DPS office of parent engagement and was a guest on the show. “It’s very important that parents become informed about the discipline policy so they can have the conversation with their child and come to the school prepared.”
Past broadcasts have discussed the role and responsibilities of the school board, and how people can navigate the district’s systems and language programs.
“This is really going to help DPS to close the information gap that we have,” Roybal said. “We are trying to use creative and innovative ways to help Spanish-speaking parents get the information they need so they can help their children.”
Denver is the nation’s 15th-largest Latino media market, with 852,016 Hispanics, according to 2009 estimates by the U.S. Census.
A third of Denver is Latino, and three out of five DPS students are Latino.
Typically high ratings
Spanish-language radio stations typically get high ratings in the Denver- Boulder market, with Radio Tri-Color KXPK-FM regularly coming in second in the overall ratings war — recently with a 5.8 share behind easy-listening KOSI-FM 101.1, according to Arbitron.
“We can’t underestimate the reach of radio, especially in the Latino community,” said Marco Nuñez, community organizer with the Padres y Jovenes Unidos advocacy group that was featured in the recent DPS show about discipline policies.
“A lot of our parents work in the mornings, and they use the radio all the time,” said Lalo Montoya, youth organizer.
Every Sunday morning, Yolanda Armenta tunes in “Educa” on KXPK while making breakfast for her children and grandchildren. She has learned about the rights and responsibilities of parents; where to attend meetings; and information about her daughter’s middle school, which is going through a turnaround process.
“It’s very informative because it is in Spanish, and we understand because it is in our native tongue,” she said through an interpreter. “We are able to be advocates for our children.”
The district also publishes a quarterly newsletter in Spanish and participates in events that attract Latinos to get the word out about the district’s programs, initiatives and reform efforts.
Increasing parental engagement is a key part of the district’s reform strategy, called The Denver Plan, said Superintendent Tom Boasberg. He says the Spanish-language outreach has already produced more participation by Spanish-speaking parents in school and district events, including parent-leadership institutes that are targeting high-poverty schools to strengthen engagement.
“We know how important the parent involvement is to the success of our schools and their students’ education,” Boasberg said. “We know we need to be able to reach out to these parents in their native language if we are going to establish that strong connection and succeed in truly engaging them in our schools.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
