All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 151 - 200 of 274
On Wednesday, Dec. 16 the St. Vrain Valley School District Board of Education held a special meeting to discuss the return to school in 2021 and on Friday, Dec. 18, sent out an email to all parents, including a roadmap to in-person learning. Don Haddad, the superintendent of SVVSD, along with the counsel of many others, has created a plan to get students back in-person and ready to learn. In short, the plan is to have elementary students to be fully in-person starting Wednesday, Jan. 6, but...
It almost seems that since COVID shook the nation in March, it has been an easy scapegoat for many shortcomings. Even if it's not the complete reason for some sort of decline, it does appear to be a contributing factor in many cases, and 2020 school enrollment is no different. Last Wednesday, the St. Vrain Valley School District board of education started the meeting with the enrollment report. Scott Toillion, the district's planning director, emphasized that all districts across the state have...
In a special meeting of the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) Board of Education held last week, Superintendent Don Haddad indicated that due to rising rates of COVID-19, the district would return to fully remote learning. The change will take place when classes resume after Thanksgiving break. Haddad said the district's decision about whether in-person classes could resume in the new year would be announced in the first week of winter break. Niwot High School principal Eric Rauschkolb...
On Nov. 4, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) moved Boulder to level Orange, "Safer at Home - High Risk." Since the announcement, various organizations, including school districts, have been scrambling to react. Boulder Valley School District announced that all students will be remote as of Nov. 17, as has the University of Colorado Boulder. However, while St. Vrain Valley School District Superintendent Don Haddad said that switching to remote learning is a...
After spending two years as head coach of Niwot’s junior varsity baseball team and two years as NHS varsity pitching coach, Colin York’s Niwot reign came to a close in October as he accepted the head baseball coaching position at Frederick High School. “I am incredibly excited for him,” said Niwot head coach Adam Strah. “I think he's going to do a great job. I think he's ready.” York’s ability to be a rock for Niwot was one of his best attributes according to Strah. A constant and calm presence isn’t a bad trait to have in this chaotic year. ...
With the return of in-person learning on Oct. 5, Niwot schools and the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) are working to manage the impact of COVID-19 on their school communities. It has not proven to be an easy or simple task. This month, SVVSD implemented a COVID-19 tracker to keep the public informed about new and existing cases that have been documented during the current school year. The tracker segregates cases between students and staff, and between cases that are currently active...
This past month, a noteworthy change came to Niwot High School's football field. The St.Vrain Valley School District installed new lights to allow for later practice times and, ultimately, after-dark home football games. Niwot High School is one of three in the district that received new light installations, the other two being Longmont's Skyline and Silver Creek High Schools. According to Athletic Director Joe Brown, the three high schools were the only ones in the district that didn't have...
Things will look different when St. Vrain Valley School District students step into the classroom next week for the first time since March. Everyone will be wearing masks, there will be arrows on the hallway floors, desks too far apart to steal a glance at someone else's answers. And there will be plenty of new rules and protocols to follow. The first day of school is a mix of excitement and anxiety in normal times. That's ramped up during the pandemic, leading experts at the Colorado...
St. Vrain Valley School District students will soon be seeing each other, their teachers and staff again in person. Though being face-to-face will not be quite the same with everyone required to wear masks. On Monday night, the district held a virtual public meeting to announce that it is moving to a hybrid system where students will have in-person classes two days a week and two days will remain as synchronous, remote learning. Having only half the students at school on any given day will allow...
A growing number of local families are deeply frustrated with full-time remote learning in the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD), and now they've banded together in an effort to get students back into the classroom. Earlier this month, five parents from Erie launched the St. Vrain Educational Advocates in hopes of bringing attention to their struggles and working with school and public health officials to combat the "unseen negative consequences" of keeping students isolated at home. "We...
Once a week I help my brother by supervising his eight and 10-year old boys during remote school. Once a week I am reminded how incredibly hard it is. I get almost no work done, but it is satisfying to help, and it can be quite amusing, like when the third grade teacher admonished a student for messing with his virtual Zoom background. "Cool background, but not right now. I love raccoons as much as the next person." I can't imagine what it's like to engage 25 squirming online boxes. My...
As much of St. Vrain Valley School District starts an unprecedented academic year by tuning into video calls, Twin Peaks Charter Academy is one of two schools in the district opting to take a different route. The tuition-free charter school is starting with multiple forms of in-person learning, seeking to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 while also trying to keep students on track. A post on the Twin Peaks website on Aug. 19 explains how the school will modulate between in-person and online learning. Elementary students started the year with...
Fifth-year Niwot head coach Kelly Christensen is grateful that the 2020 high school cross country season is proceeding, even if in a modified form, but he was also quick to acknowledge that, like everything else that it hasn't cancelled or postponed this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the sport more difficult for everyone involved. "It's everything, whether it's the schedule, trying to plan Covid practices, debating whether or not we're going to cut rosters, or finding races. I would say...
Tens of thousands of students returned to school in St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) last week for what will undoubtedly be an unprecedented academic year. First graders through high school seniors started school on Aug. 18, with kindergarteners following suit on Aug. 20. Instead of first day high-fives and fist bumps, students greeted their classmates and teachers through a computer screen. SVVSD has a handful of learning modes for this year. The majority of students are following the...
Students at Niwot High School returned to school on Tuesday, Aug. 18, albeit through virtual means. And while the academic situation remains uncertain, with potential to add in-person classes at some point, many activities are operating with even less clarity. Both the St. Vrain Valley School District and the Boulder Valley School District are starting the academic year with 100 percent virtual instruction. Some sports such as tennis and golf are allowed, but with extra precautions. Many...
As both Boulder Valley School District and St. Vrain Valley School District announced after a summer of sparse communication that they would begin the school year online, teachers and families alike are scrambling to adjust for what's to come. The update comes as COVID-19 cases continue to fluctuate in the county; as of the Aug. 4 announcement, cases had been steadily rising for almost a month. But as of this article's publication, there has been a decline for multiple consecutive days....
Editor's note: On Aug. 4, as this issue was about to go to press, St. Vrain Valley Schools announced that the 2020-21 school year will begin with "a 100 percent online-learning model for all students" at least through the end of September. When the bell rings and students settle into their desks in a couple of weeks, teachers will find themselves face-to-face with a lot of unknowns. The invisible threat of the coronavirus puts them in a tenuous position of trying to keep themselves, their...
The littlest children in the Left Hand Valley will get to have a relatively normal school experience this fall. Childcare was deemed as an essential service in March and some preschool facilities, especially those providing care to children of essential workers, never closed in the coronavirus pandemic. Others have started reopening under smaller classroom restrictions during the "safer-at-home" period. For schools that provide both K-12 education and also preschool, it has taken some time to...
St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) is leaning heavily on science and medical experts as it finalizes back-to-school plans during the coronavirus pandemic. Health guidance and community input led the district to scale back in-person learning that was presented as a draft in June. The district’s initial plan had elementary school students, sixth graders and ninth graders going back full time, but guidance from Boulder County Public Health and other sources influenced the district’s decision to have all grades start the year with a hyb...
The annual Sunrise Stampede 10K run-walk has served as the unofficial kick-off to the new school year in St. Vrain Valley for more than three decades, and brings together hundreds of runners, volunteers, and vendors for some exercise, camaraderie, and family-friendly competition in the waning days of summer. It also has raised more than $250,000 for special needs students in the district, so when the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to cancel the 2020 edition, organizers quickly shifted to a format...
Since 2005, the nonprofit Crayons to Calculators (C2C) program has had a simple mission: to provide local students with the supplies they need to start the school year successfully. Created by a partnership between the Education Foundation for St. Vrain Valley and Boulder Valley's Impact on Education, each summer C2C musters a small army of community volunteers to fill more than 11,000 backpacks with donated pencils, notebooks, and other school essentials, which are then distributed to families...
In the fall of 2019, St. Vrain Valley School District formally announced its participation in awarding the Seal of Biliteracy. This award recognizes students who achieve multi-lingual proficiency by the time they graduate high school. Niwot High School, which boasts the International Baccalaureate Program, has encouraged language acquisition for years now; and with the IB program, this also extends to an encouragement of having a strong world view. Thanks to this mission and the district's...
Despite the Colorado High School Athletic Association’s move to allow school districts to make their own decision regarding extracurriculars as of June 1, the St. Vrain Valley School District will hold off until July to comply with Boulder County health guidelines. SVVSD director of athletics Chase McBride will still remain flexible considering the volatility of the situation. “Things change every day and it’s almost impossible to make a plan because as soon as we start working on it, the very...
When historians write the history of the coronavirus pandemic, they might want to add this description of online learning from Niwot Elementary School teacher Dale Peterson, who does Google Hangouts with his first graders. "It's like if you go to a pet shop and let all the pets out of the cages and you spend the rest of the time trying to put them back in the cages," Peterson said. "I have 23 little boxes. One might have his feet in the air or his bottom in front of the camera, another is...
The socially distant version of the annual Tribute to Teachers awards may have lacked the glamour of a gala, but that didn't make it any less special to Megan Schlagel, recipient of Niwot High's 2020 Teacher of the Year award and a finalist for St. Vrain Valley Teacher of the Year. "I was really honored by the recognition," Schlagel said of hearing the news of her award. "I'm not usually a crier, but I was crying. I've been teaching 11 years, and it's definitely the highlight, I would say, just...
To be sure, the local seniors in the class of 2020 are missing some notable high school rites of passage, but assuming Colorado's social distancing measures continue to ease through summer, a commencement ceremony won't be one of them. In an April 20th letter to district families announcing the cancellation of in-person classes, St. Vrain Valley Schools Superintendent Don Haddad wrote: "For our graduating seniors and their families, we know how especially disheartening these past few weeks have...
Lori and Russ Lindemann moved to the Gunbarrel Estates neighborhood in 1994 with their two children and niece in tow. For the past two and a half decades, they have called Boulder County home and have done a huge part in making it a terrific place to live for its variety of residents. The Lindemanns are no strangers to hard work and have spent much of their free time volunteering throughout the community. Lori has volunteered with the St. Vrain Valley School District, the VA in Denver, the DA's...
With virtually all area economic activity at a halt due to coronavirus restrictions, Jim and Mary Good of Good Find Antique Store in Niwot (666 2nd Ave.) said they are now having second thoughts about selling a cursed monkey's paw to a group of local high school students, who told the pair they needed the mummified relic for "research purposes." "They said they wanted to examine the ugly thing as part of some video project or something or other," Mary Good said about the shriveled, disembodied...
A bonus week of Spring Break sounds like a dream come true for students, but, at Niwot High School, reaction to the St. Vrain Valley School District's decision to cancel classes in the wake of COVID-19 has been decidedly mixed. With milestone events and the spring athletic season now in jeopardy, the drastic disruption of the spring semester has caused almost as much anxiety as the virus that prompted it. "I think there are a lot of people filled with fear, because nobody really knows what's...
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has taken over the news, especially recently in Boulder County after a substitute teacher at Centaurus High School reported a suspected exposure. Upon learning that other passengers of his cruise ship tested positive, the teacher has chosen to undergo a self-quarantine and monitor for symptoms. Similarly, two University of Colorado Boulder employees have undergone testing for the virus. One of those tests has already come back negative, but the other test is still...
In an era of instantaneous digital communication and screens everywhere, the art of traditional storytelling is still alive and thriving in the Left Hand Valley. In March, eight new volunteers will join the Longmont chapter of Spellbinder Storytellers to bring this art to local children. Spellbinders was founded in Denver in the late 1980s by Germaine Dietsch and is now a thriving nonprofit, connecting elders directly with children through storytelling. "Children need older adults in their...
On Feb. 26, Scotland made global history by passing the Period Products (Free Provision) Scotland Bill, officially making tampons and sanitary pads freely available to women in public places. There was no parliamentary opposition to this historic act, making it a "milestone moment for normalising menstruation in Scotland and sending out that real signal to people in this country about how seriously parliament takes gender equality," according to its creator, Monica Lennon. In the United States,...
As a college graduate, Congressman Joe Neguse founded an organization called New Era Colorado, which strove to amplify voter engagement. In 2013, this group was able to convince the state legislator to pass a law to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote. Arguably thanks to this law, 60% of young Colorado voters participated in elections compared to only 30% nationwide. Moreover, thanks to recent changes to legislation, not only are 16 and 17-year-olds able to register, but if a stude...
As graduation quickly approaches -136 days to be exact-life after high school seems not just scary, but scarily expensive, as paying for any higher education looms over graduating seniors and their parents. Colleges may offer up some money, but a full-ride is unlikely. For many families, the hunt for scholarships is on. There are thousands of scholarships large and small up for grabs across the country, and narrowing the field can be a trick for many students. Applying for scholarships tailored...
Every year starting in August, school districts across the state start analyzing enrollment numbers and other demographic data from their students. They track things such as building activity, socioeconomic trends, and more. This wealth of data then allows the planning department create projections in the spring. These projections, which largely focus around how many students are anticipated to be in various school feeder systems, will affect decisions such as open enrollment quotas. Paula...
Public speaking comes naturally to Cougars football announcer Joe Bartko, who seemed destined for a life behind the microphone even from a young age. Now he is using those talents to give back to the communities that meant so much to him as a student at Niwot High School. “I have a hobby that I get paid for,” the former Cougar percussionist said before a recent home game at Everly Montgomery field. Bartko is also the public address announcer for the Colorado State University marching band. “I...
It's been a whirlwind fall for second-year drum major Cole Toothaker and the Cougar marching band, but a scary moment over the summer almost had the talented musician and natural leader watching it all from the sidelines. "I was on a rafting trip in Idaho, and I did a backflip on the beach-I have a gymnastics background and do flips a lot," he recalled. "But I landed on an incline, and put my hands down to break my fall, and ended up breaking both of my wrists, which was a little inconvenient."...
By Violet Oliver, 8th grade Flagstaff student Special to the Courier Flagstaff Academy received some well-deserved recognition on Sept. 11 at the St. Vrain Valley School District board meeting for its recent Colorado Trailblazer award. The Longmont-based charter school received the Schools to Watch Colorado Trailblazer award in late spring of 2019. Schools can apply for this award through the Middle Grades Forum website, and if the application is approved, teams of administrators personally...
Last year, Mwebaza Foundation set the goal of outfitting Niwot Elementary’s sister school, Mwebaza Infant Primary School in Kyengera, Uganda, with two shipping container classrooms to help with overcrowding. When students reach age 10, they usually drop out of school, because there isn’t a physical place to go anymore. The Mwebaza Infant Primary School tries to hold on to these students for as long as possible, even construction card-board partitions to increase individual classrooms, but thi...
Full-day kindergarten programs have been available in the local school districts for more than a decade, but often came with a steep monthly tuition fee. Starting this school year, those programs will be free to families in all Colorado public schools, thanks to a bill signed into law last May by governor Jared Polis that funds kindergarten at the same per-pupil rate as the other grades. For principals at Heatherwood and Niwot Elementary Schools, the move to make full-day schooling available to...
In an effort to help area families save some money, Niwot High is teaming up with Gunbarrel Family Medicine to provide free sports physicals to students participating in athletics in the upcoming 2019-20 school year. “Sports are expensive, from buying equipment, to fees, and everything else that goes with it,” new Cougars athletic director Joe Brown said. “So any opportunity we have to reach out to our community and find scholarship ways to help lower barriers for kids to participate, we want...
Niwot High principal Eric Rauschkolb wasn’t expecting to need a second replacement for Chase McBride, but putative hire Kevin Clark got an offer he couldn’t refuse. Earlier this month, the former Loveland High administrator announced that he will be assuming the role of full-time district athletic director for the Thompson Valley Schools, a move that allows him to stay in the town he and his family have called home for more than a decade. That left Rauschkolb with an empty spot on the 201... Full story
Debbie Lammers is this month’s Left Hand Laurel recipient because of her dedication to St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) and schools throughout Colorado. Lammers spent her formative years in Las Vegas where her father was a hotel executive. She was in seventh grade when her father passed away. Her family relocated to Northern California a year later. She attended California State University - Chico and then worked as a legal assistant and a paralegal for many years. She and Chris, her h... Full story
The skies over the Innovation Center were buzzing on Saturday, June 1 as dozens of remote controlled planes and drones took to the air during the first annual AeroFest, an open flight and competitive racing event hosted by students in the St. Vrain Valley School District’s aeronautics program. “As far as I know, this is the largest youth program that we’ve ever put together,” said Richard McCaskill of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, a co-sponsor of the event. “It was all put together... Full story
Barb Van Winkle, Teacher Barb Van Winkle has worked for St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) for 31 years. She started at Niwot Elementary 24 years ago, where she taught fifth grade for a few years and then taught gifted and talented students for another 21 years. She said the students and parents in Niwot are wonderful. NES Principal Nancy Pitz said, “Barb has impacted thousands of lives throughout her teaching career. I will always remember her love for all students, her passion for the G... Full story
It was a night of full of laughter, full bellies, and good cheer. The Rotary Club club of Niwot, along with over 200 guests, celebrated the ninth annual Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate Extravaganza at the Longmont Museum on Saturday, May 18. Ron Grunzweig, this year’s President of Niwot Rotary, has been coming to the group’s marquee event for nine years, and said, “It’s the most successful event that has been done. I want to thank Lucky’s Market for supporting us for the past several years for...
It might be part of the human condition--we can be surrounded by magnificence and bounty in nature, but can’t always recognize or appreciate its value. Sometimes it takes a visitor or outsider to help us appreciate and protect that which we take for granted, because it has always been part of our surroundings. And on behalf of frogs and toads in the Andes, four St. Vrain Valley students have taken on that role of educating outsider, creating an environmental comic book to help remote Peruvian v...
Beginning in the fall of 2020, Colorado high school students will have more options for athletics, after the Colorado High School Activities Association sanctioned three new sports for the first time since 1998. At their annual meeting on April 24, CHSAA’s Legislative Council voted to approve boys volleyball, girls wrestling, and unified bowling, the first new sports since boys and girls lacrosse and girls field hockey were added 20 years ago. Niwot athletic director Chase McBride, who is a...
The Niwot Community Association did one of the things it does best at its April 17 annual meeting for members – connect NCA members with the broader Niwot area community. The group invited the principals of Niwot Elementary School, Sunset Middle School and Niwot High School to speak to meeting attendees about the academic and social achievements, strengths, school focus and infrastructure changes at each of the schools. The presentations grew from concerns from some NCA board members about e...
Boys volleyball is one of the fastest growing high school sports in America, and this spring it could be among the first new team sports to be sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) since 1999. On April 24, members of CHSAA’s Legislative Council will vote on whether to add boys volleyball, girls wrestling, and unified bowling to the list of “official” Colorado high school sports, which has been static since field hockey was sanctioned 20 years ago. So far, boys vol... Full story
