Emily Griffith Technical College is a public

technical college An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

in downtown

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, United States. Founded by Emily Griffith in 1916 as ''Opportunity School'', it was renamed in her honor in 1933. The school is a part of

Denver Public Schools The Denver County School District No. 1, more commonly known as the Denver Public Schools (DPS), is the public school system in the City and County of Denver, Colorado, United States. History In 1859, Owen J. Goldrick established the Union Scho ...

, serving as the adult education arm of the district and is also a member of the

Colorado Community College System The Colorado Community College System is a public community college system in the U.S. state of Colorado. Created by legislation in 1967, it has 13 member institutions and serves more than 163,000 students annually. History The 1937 Junior Col ...

. The original building is designated a

Denver Landmark The City and County of Denver has a formal historic designation program that establishes Denver landmarks. These are designated by ordinances of Denver's city council. The first three sites so designated, on January 10, 1968, are the Emmanuel ...

under the name of Emily Griffith Opportunity School. It is now a hotel in the Hilton Tapestry collection.

History

Denver educator Emily Griffith (1868–1947) shared her dream of opening a school to serve people of all ages and interests with a ''

Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'' features writer in 1915. Following its publication, she persuaded the ''Post'' and local trolley cars to promote the idea. In May 1916, Griffith received the condemned Longfellow School at 13th and Welton Streets from the Denver Board of Education. Opportunity School opened on September 9, 1916. By 1954, the school served 10,000 students annually and had over 400,000 alumni. Public television in Denver, directed by Jim Case, signed on January 30, 1956, from a studio in an auto body shop at the school. Funding from Denver Public Schools gradually declined over the years, leading the school to begin charging Denver residents tuition in 1991. Courses also changed with the needs of the community, adding more

English as a second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

and health care courses and closing programs in shoe repair, audio/visual electronics, and precision machining in the mid-1990s.

Campus

The college operates across three campuses. The main campus, located at 1860 Lincoln Street in Denver, houses many of the school's Career Technical Education (CTE) programs, along with Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes for those seeking their GED, as well as the English Language Acquisition (ELA, also known as ESL) programs. A second campus at 1205 Osage Street houses the College of Trades and Industry, while a third campus at 2101 Arapahoe St. houses the Multimedia and Video Program.

Organization

In 1990 the Emily Griffith Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, was founded to provide financial support for Emily Griffith Technical College. The foundation is governed by a board of directors. Board members are business and industry leaders, educators, and community representatives.

Academics

Emily Griffith Technical College is organized into several areas of study: the Apprenticeships Training Division, the College of Health Sciences and Administration, the College of Trades, Industry, and Professional Studies, the College of Creative Arts and Design, the Adult Basic Education program, and the Language Learning Center. The Language Learning Center is the largest English Language Acquisition (ELA) program in Colorado and serves 3,000 students a year.

Notes/references

*Brink, Carolyn. ''Class Acts: Stories from the Emily Griffith Opportunity School'' *Faulkner, Debra. ''Touching Tomorrow: The Emily Griffith Story'' *Lohse, Joyce. ''Emily Griffith: Opportunity's Teacher''

External links

* {{authority control Colorado Community College System Universities and colleges in Denver Educational institutions established in 1916 1916 establishments in Colorado Denver landmarks