The 28,000-student Poudre School District, based in Fort Collins, will be closed Friday because of the heat, and a growing list of Denver schools were announcing closures or early-release times because of the weather.
The temperature hit 90 degrees in Fort Collins Thursday, according to the National Weather Service, with 92 predicted on Friday. Denver’s 5 p.m. temperature was 92, with 9News predicting 97 for Friday.
The first DPS school to announce a Friday closure was the brand-new Downtown Denver Expeditionary School, located temporarily in an older DPS building at 4250 Shoshone St. The list mounted as the hot Thursday afternoon wore on, including the academies located in the historic West High School building. (See the full DPS list of closure and early release times here.)
Heat has been building in older school buildings all week. EdNews made a first-day-of-school visit Monday to southwest Denver’s Gust Elementary. In one room a little girl had her head on the desk while her classmates worked. Her teacher said first-day excitement and the heat required a little nap.