[2] Other private schools opened shortly thereafter to accommodate Denver's rapidly growing population during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush.

Margaret Tupper True was president of the Denver School Board from 1906 to 1908, one of the first women to serve in such a role in a major city.

[6][7] In 2018, Denver Public Schools joined other regional districts in banning its students from attending school-sanctioned trips to the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge citing the history of the area's plutonium contamination and previous designation as a Superfund site.

[10] The deal that the union ultimately reached with the district kept some bonuses in place but also increased base salaries by 7 to 11 percent and created a new pay scale that puts more emphasis on teacher training and experience.

[11][12] In 2020, all members of the board voted to remove police officers from schools in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

[16] However, the district provided all students regardless of family income a complete breakfast and lunch at no charge as of the 2024-2025 school year.

[17] Under the leadership of Superintendent Tom Boasberg and guided by the tenets of the Denver Plan, DPS had the second-highest academic growth in the nation.

The reason for this has been white flight over the past few decades and extremely strong Hispanic school-age growth due to relatively high birth rates.