Innovation Center

A Genuinely Cool, Inspiring Place to Learn

The goal is to create a genuinely cool, inspiring place for students to learn — one that connects rigorous academics with wonder, real-world relevance, and character. Across Colorado, public enrollment has not fully returned to pre-pandemic patterns, and interest in homeschooling and other alternative arrangements remains elevated. Locally, Garfield Re-2 and neighboring mountain and Western Slope communities face enrollment pressure from declining school-age populations, housing costs, and family demand for options. Garfield County School of Innovation is designed as a district public charter that expands choice within the public system — offering a content-rich STE³M + Business (Science, Technology, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Education, Math) model, engineering from sixth grade, entrepreneurship, and career pathways tied to the region's tourism and technical economy — so families who want rigor and real-world learning do not have to leave public education to find it. By opening with grades 6–9 and growing deliberately, GCSI aims to add public capacity and opportunity, not to displace students from existing neighborhood schools.