Return to Headlines

WPS Breaks Ground on Ranum Reimagined

Ranum Reimagined Photo Gallery

Iver C. Ranum would be proud!

With his family in attendance, community members, students and educators broke ground on the Ranum Reimagined campus on Wednesday, January 25th. 

The Ranum Reimagined Campus, whose first building will be the remodeled Ranum Middle School, will provide rigorous, hands-on instruction with a focus on Career Technical Education (CTE) programming.

Front Range Community College, Red Rocks Community College and the Community College of Denver have all signed on as partners for the project. Planners envision a campus where students receive a traditional education at their home high school and travel to the Ranum campus to develop specialized skills that can lead to high-paying jobs after graduation or open doors for continued post-secondary learning.

Interior remediation work is already underway on the building which received initial funding from WPS Board of Education in the spring of 2022.

In December, the board took formal action to name the campus after longtime educator Iver C. Ranum. Ranum, who grew up in the region, began working in the district in 1935, and was named superintendent in 1950. He served in that role for 25 years.

"The word together gets to the heart of Ranum Reimagined, said Superintendent Pam Swanson. "This really is a community-based investment that will benefit all of us by helping our students to develop rewarding, high-paying careers." 

Ranum’s daughter Cheryl and  three grandchildren  nodded with approval as Cheryl grabbed a shovel to help move the dirt.