Faced with a desire to provide an outstanding arts education for students, several prominent community members, Board of Education advocates, and a notable actor (Raymond Burr) began a campaign in the late 1980’s to create an arts program magnet for Denver Public Schools.  Including a final push and support from then Governor Roy Romer and Kay Schomp (DPS Board member), Denver School of the Arts opened in 1991 at Cole Middle School and Manual High School as a 6-12 school program. Under the leadership and direction of Dr. Michael Bautista, the academic and artistic opportunities were well documented and further supported the demand to expand the program to a stand-alone new facility and establish DSA as a permanent school-of-record.

Moving forward to 1996, RW Partners’ principal, Allen Balczarek, was asked to provide planning, assistance, and a co-administrative role to Dr. Bautista for the renovation of the Byers Junior High School facility for Denver School of the Arts. At that time, the Byers site was not designated as a Denver’s landmark, however one of Allen’s initial roles was to apply for landmark status on behalf of the District with local advocates and thus provide the certainty that the history and nature of the Byer’s/Evans site would be preserved. In addition to gaining that status in 1996, Allen was tasked with project management for the renovation of the Byer’s site re-opening and formation of an arts magnet school. During the 1996-1997 school year, Allen provided oversight and assistance to Dr. Bautista for a successful renovation and relocation of DSA with 650 students in 1997.

With Mr. Balczarek as part of a co-administrative team, Denver School of the Arts flourished as a school-of-record in 1997 as a 6-12 magnet school. The District recognized the success and began discussion of an expansion and a new site in 1999. At that time, Mr. Balczarek was tasked to lead a supportive team to acquire the Lamont School of Music from Denver University for a school re-location and expansion of the former Denver University site with Semple Brown Design and Klipp Architects. Renovation included a theatre, a recital hall, and a black box theatre. In addition, there was a major addition that included a library and classrooms to accommodate 1,100 students.

In 2003, Denver School of the Arts moved to its second new home at 7111 E. Montview Boulevard with multiple state-of-the art artistic spaces and new classroom facilities. During the 8-year transition to a school-of-record and occupancy of the 202,000 square foot facility, Mr. Balczarek played a pivotal role as planner, program manager, co-principal, and general obligation bond manager that helped make Denver School of the Arts a top performing school choice.