About Me

My name is Joshua Cole.

I'm a community newspaper reporter in the south-Denver-metro area, with Cherry Creek Schools (CCSD), Littleton Public Schools (LPS) and Denver Public Schools (the southwest area) in my two newspapers' coverage area.

I'm also a former teacher. I was a substitute teacher, and I taught middle school English before teaching took its toll on me. But I still love learning about education and talking with educators. Although I cover everything for the two newspapers -- sports, city council, other features -- my favorite thing that I get to write about is education-based.

One thing that my newspaper professors and teachers always tried to pound in our heads was to write at a level so that normal people can understand something. I take that approach with education. Most of my articles are about the students, the classrooms and the schools -- where the parents and kids are every day -- and not so much about the administrations or the boards of education. And thus, the Denver "Classroom Reporter."

On this blog, I'll post many of the articles I write or comment about things I see, hear or read.

My e-mail, and I'm on Twitter, @classroomreport.

I am hopeful that you may enjoy what you read and learn from it.

Our newspapers (they are NOT online):
The Denver Herald-Dispatch
The paper has been serving the southwest Denver community every Thursday since 1926 -- we're the only ones that give a damn about southwest Denver, our slogan used to say. The paper covers the city of Denver proper, from West Sixth Avenue to the southern border, and from West Santa Fe Drive to the western border. The traditional public high schools include John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and Denver West, with charter schools KIPP Collegiate High School and Southwest Early College, and private schools J.K. Mullen and Denver Lutheran. We also are home to the Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy K-8 and the first KIPP middle school (Sunshine Peak Academy) and first two West Denver Prep middle school campuses.
For info, call 303-936-7778

The Villager
Since 1982, Gerri and Bob Sweeney have been informing the south suburban area of news and events. The paper started off just for the cities of Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills Village but has since expanded to cover Arapahoe County and the cities of Centennial and Littleton. We cover all of the Cherry Creek School District, which is one of the best and largest districts in the state, as well as Littleton Schools, which are also well-respected in the metro area.
For info, call 303-773-8313