Students led an effort to change the name because it was associated with former Denver Mayor Benjamin Stapleton, who was a member of the KKK.

DENVER — Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST): Stapleton middle and high schools have changed their name and will now be called, DSST: Montview, according to a release Thursday from DSST Public Schools.

The school is in Denver's Stapleton neighborhood, which is named after Benjamin Stapleton, a mayor in the 1920s who was a member of the Klu Klux Klan (KKK.)

When the school was founded in 2004, the name was Denver School of Science and Technology. It was not until DSST opened a second campus, in Green Valley Ranch, that the founding campus became known as DSST: Stapleton.

The decision to change the name emerged as many students came to believe that the Stapleton name no longer represented the rich and diverse community served by the school, the release said.

The students completed an exercise to evaluate a name change and select a new one as a way to promote the students’ civic voice and critical thinking.

Montview was chosen because it is a street that stretches throughout much of northeast Denver and into Aurora. DSST: Montview is a symbolic name that represents the very real connection that this founding school has to the broader city, the release said.