Brighton Standard Blade

Brighton Summerfest a highlight to a sunny weekend.
Brighton’s Carmichael Park was filled with community information, music, food and games June 6 as Summerfest returned to kick off the city’s summer.

Brighton Summerfest a highlight to a sunny weekend Brighton’s Carmichael Park was filled with community information, music, food and games June 6 as Summerfest returned to kick off the city’s summer.

Readers had plenty to say about the future of the 27J pool. More than 70 swimmers, parents and former athletes weighed in publicly. Some asked why the district couldn't partner with Adams 12 or rent from a rec center. Others said a renovated pool, brought up to ADA and USA Swimming standards, could pay part of its own way by renting lane time and bringing swimming back as a PE option.

Several pointed to Eaton, where the district renovated a small existing pool rather than building new, as a model.

What did the Brighton Blade story miss? What should the next story dig into?

For many Brighton swimmers, an aging pool is their only home Drive past Brighton High School and you won’t see the pool behind the walls, home to the Bullfrogs swim club, which welcomes swimmers year-round despite aging facilities and uncertain future.

Open enrollment for 27J Schools opens Dec. 1. By then, the district says its online boundary lookup tool will reflect the new attendance maps that take effect in fall 2027.

If your family's school assignment may be shifting — including more than 600 Prairie View High students who'll be reassigned by 2030 — here's the full breakdown of what changes and what's still unresolved:

27J's new boundaries: relief for some schools, cuts for PV School boundaries in district 27J will shift by fall 2027, accommodating new schools and easing overcrowding, but also reducing Prairie View High’s enrollment significantly. Families await updated tools.

A weekend read for Brighton families: 27J leaders are weighing the future of the 54-year-old swimming pool behind Brighton High School. A district official said replacing it could cost up to $30 million. The swim community says fixing it is the right call.

The full story — what it costs to maintain, who actually uses it, and what comes next:
https://www.thebrightonblade.com/news/for-many-brighton-swimmers-an-aging-pool-is-their-only-home/article_7d91b601-573c-4c17-9fe1-0338b432d66e.html

Save this to read after bedtime.

For many Brighton swimmers, an aging pool is their only home Drive past Brighton High School and you won’t see the pool behind the walls, home to the Bullfrogs swim club, which welcomes swimmers year-round despite aging facilities and uncertain future.

Inside the 27J pool: cracked walls, peeling diving-well covers, locker-room stalls with no doors, showers that won't shut off once they're on. The building is 54 years old, and it shows.

The people who swim there describe a facility that's worn but working. A maintenance worker comes by twice a day to check the chemicals and the temperature. Practice rarely gets interrupted.

The district says it will keep investing in repairs to keep the pool safe and usable. Boilers go in this summer.

The Brighton Blade story:
https://www.thebrightonblade.com/news/for-many-brighton-swimmers-an-aging-pool-is-their-only-home/article_7d91b601-573c-4c17-9fe1-0338b432d66e.html

Reminder for 27J families: the district's online boundary lookup tool has NOT yet been updated to reflect the new attendance maps approved this month. The updated tool won't go live until later this year, before open enrollment opens Dec. 1.

In the meantime, here's what Education Editor Suzie Glassman reported about which schools see the biggest shifts when the changes take effect in fall 2027:

27J's new boundaries: relief for some schools, cuts for PV School boundaries in district 27J will shift by fall 2027, accommodating new schools and easing overcrowding, but also reducing Prairie View High’s enrollment significantly. Families await updated tools.

27J's adopted high school boundaries will shrink Brighton's Prairie View by 35% by 2029-30 — more than the community's preferred map would have.

The 239 residents who graded the options in January backed a different map, one the district's own team called the "best balance." The adopted version lands 411 students below that projection, and the district hasn't fully explained why.

The full breakdown, plus an update on the aging 27J pool, is in this week's Class Notes. Subscribe free:

Class Notes | Colorado Education News | Class Notes Colorado education news you can trust. Class Notes covers school boards, classrooms, and policy across the Front Range — straight to your inbox.

27J's new attendance boundaries take effect in fall 2027 — and Prairie View High School in Brighton will lose more than 600 students by 2030 under the maps the school board approved this month.

Middle schools get some relief: Stuart MS in Commerce City drops from 810 students to a projected 520, and Quist MS in Thornton falls from 855 to 513 as the district adds Talon Ridge Middle School.

But at the high school level, Prairie View ends up smaller than even the maps the community preferred at January listening sessions. Read the full breakdown of who's affected and what's still unresolved — including athletics, AP and CTE programming, and grandfathering for current students.

Reporting by Brighton Blade Education Editor Suzie Glassman:

27J's new boundaries: relief for some schools, cuts for PV School boundaries in district 27J will shift by fall 2027, accommodating new schools and easing overcrowding, but also reducing Prairie View High’s enrollment significantly. Families await updated tools.

Colorado junior heads to Native American All-Star Showcase. Ryker Robinett of Kiowa High School will attend the fifth annual Native American All-Star Baseball Showcase on June 27-28. Athletes will take part in a pro‑style workout on Saturday, June 27, followed by a showcase game on Sunday, June 28.

Colorado player invited to Native American All-Star Showcase Every year for the past four years, 50 of the nation’s best Native American high school baseball players descend on Atlanta for a showcase at Truist Park, the home stadium of the Atlanta Braves. This year, one of them is from our Colorado backyard.

Most drivers pass it without realizing it's there. Behind a low brick wall off the Brighton High School parking lot, a 54-year-old pool quietly serves the high school swim teams, the Brighton Bullfrogs club, Boy Scouts working on merit badges, and a handful of 27J employees who swim before work.

Now 27J leaders are weighing what to do with it. A district official told the board in April that replacing the building could cost up to $30 million — and that the swim team was the only group using it. The swim community pushed back fast.

Inside the building: cracked walls, peeling diving-well covers, doorless shower stalls. Also: scholarship swimmers, state finalists, kids who say this is the only team that ever felt like home.

Read the story:

For many Brighton swimmers, an aging pool is their only home Drive past Brighton High School and you won’t see the pool behind the walls, home to the Bullfrogs swim club, which welcomes swimmers year-round despite aging facilities and uncertain future.