All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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St. Vrain Valley School District Superintendent Don Haddad opened the bond update and school safety town hall meeting held at Silver Creek High School (the fourth such meeting this month in the district) by emphasizing that for SVVSD, and for himself, student safety was an area of concern long before the recent shootings. Haddad pointed to the “summer of violence” that occurred in Denver in 1993 as the initial cause for the heightened worry over school safety. At that time he was working at a h...
Doing Democracy Day has been a St. Vrain Valley School District annual event for the past nine years. It’s a day when school board members, teachers, city council and students gather at the Longmont Civic Center to discuss and present issues within the community. This year, for the first time, select students from St. Vrain Middle Schools were invited to join with high school students to share their opinions and thoughts. The event was started so students could be involved with topics that a...
Local robotics Team 1619, based in Longmont, earned a significant honor this month at the Hub City Regional Competition in Lubbock, Texas - the Regional Chairman’s Award. Along with their alliance teams, the team also took first place out of 41 teams at the same event. Since the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) team was formed in 2004, and dubbed Up-A-Creek Robotics, membership and facilities have dramatically improved. Its beginnings were humble, with the first meeting in a t...
Charges have been filed against two juveniles following a Feb. 16 “Safe 2 Tell” report at Niwot High School. Last month, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report, but the school has been unable to report the incident to district patrons due to the investigation. Now that charges have been filed, the two students were arrested on Friday, March 16. Since they are both 16, names have not been released. “Safe 2 Tell” is an anonymous method for students to report suspicious behavior or knowledge of threats made by other students o...
Arrest warrants issued for two 16-year-old students today Niwot, Colo. - On February 16, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office received a “Safe 2 Tell” report that a 16-year-old juvenile male student at Niwot High School, located at 8989 Niwot Road in unincorporated Boulder County, made statements and posted a video on social media which were generally related to the recent school shooting in Florida. These online comments caused other Niwot students alarm and resulted in several Safe2Tell reports being made. The school district and law enfor...
For recognition of her efforts in technology education and outreach, the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) has selected Niwot senior Michelle Tran to receive the 2018 Award for Aspirations in Computing. Every year, NCWIT recognizes high school women “for their demonstrated interest and achievements in computing, proven leadership ability, academic performance, and plans for post‑secondary education.” Tran was one of just 41 students selected out of 3,600 appli...
It is with great sadness that we report the heartbreaking news that Ed Navarro, longtime sports photographer for the Courier, passed away Dec. 31 after a battle with pulmonary fibrosis. Though his death will be felt deeply by his wife Trudy, a retired teacher, and his two children, Ed “Lucky” Navarro and Emily Marcellus, his friends and the many lives he touched will also experience a great loss. I knew Ed as a lawyer in Longmont for many years before he took up photography. I recall seeing him...
It is with great sadness that we report the heartbreaking news that Ed Navarro, longtime sports photographer for the Courier, passed away Dec. 31 after a battle with pulmonary fibrosis. Though his death will be felt deeply by his wife Trudy, a retired teacher, and his two children, Ed “Lucky” Navarro and Emily Marcellus, his friends and the many lives he touched will also experience a great loss. I knew Ed as a lawyer in Longmont for many years before he took up photography. I recall seeing him taking photographs along the fence at a Niwot Hig...
Another statewide award has been given to administrators at Niwot High School, this time honoring assistant principal Andrea Smith. Smith earned the award from the Colorado Association of School Executives as Assistant Principal of the Year in the state, following NHS principal Eric Rauschkolb’s award earlier this year. “The recognitions we’ve received are really a reflection of the good work going on all over the place at NHS,” Rauschkolb said. “The teachers are amazing, the students for the m...
Niwot High School will soon have a new roof, but not the kind made of shingles. Thanks to a power purchase agreement, the St. Vrain Valley School District will be installing solar panels at NHS, Erie Middle School and Red Hawk Elementary over the winter. Dara Ward, energy and sustainability manager for the district, said that this will become a great opportunity for the students as well as the facilities and constituents. “Going into this project for the district, it was really important to n...
Niwot High School Principal Eric Rauschkolb was selected as the Colorado Association of School Executives principal of the year for 2017 and just returned from a trip to Washington D.C. for a national conference. The principals of the year for all 50 states met for the event, sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. “It was a combination of professional development, networking and advocating for public education on Capitol Hill,” Rauschkolb said. Rauschkolb had an...
Friday’s celebratory announcements at Niwot High School included the newsflash that students had earned an average ACT test score of 24 in the previous school year, a threshold that has not been hit since the year 2012. NHS principal Eric Rauschkolb said scores have hovered above 23 since that year, but this year saw the score tip up to 24. While students received their individual scores prior to the beginning of school this year, the composite score had not been publicized. Niwot High School’s average score gives it the distinction of bei...
Niwot gymnastics head coach Marisa Purcell believes she has all of the pieces in place for another serious run at this year’s Class 4A state title. With three proven all-around performers and a crop of talented newcomers, the Cougars should once again be in the mix come state competition in November. But as the coach of a very diverse group of perfectionist athletes, Purcell knows the road back to state championship glory depends on more than just individual talent and hard work. Leading the c...
Niwot High School is part of an effort to help reduce the carbon footprint of students and staff within the St. Vrain Valley School District. Two charging stations for electric vehicles were installed over the summer. “We’re pretty excited to take more green initiatives,” Niwot High School Principal Eric Rauschkolb said. “We’ve already seen it used this summer and we anticipate it being used more by the community as well.” The charging stations are limited to students and staff during the day, but are open for public use outside of school hour...
How to Support your Child and Niwot High School The 2017-2018 school year is only days away and the excitement for new opportunities and friendships is buzzing across Niwot and St. Vrain Valley School District. Now is an ideal time for students and parents to get a fresh start and consider the impact they want to have in the coming year. Below are recommendations for Niwot High School families to make the most of the academic year and ways to partner with the principal, administration, teachers and Niwot High School Education Foundation to supp...
In her three years as a varsity athlete, lacrosse goalie Morgan Pittser had at least one thing most other Niwot athletes didn’t -- a commute. Though girls lacrosse is the fastest growing high school sport in Colorado, there are still no teams in the St. Vrain Valley School District, so Pittser, who’s played lacrosse since grade school, had to join the team at Centaurus High in Lafayette. Late last month, Pittser capped her remarkable career with the Warriors with a CHSAA All-State Honorable Men...
The county’s preliminary plan for improving bike and pedestrian safety near Niwot Elementary School (NES) was met with opposition by area residents at a meeting held June 8 at the Left Hand Grange Hall. Two project phases were outlined by members of the transportation department staff, with Phase I slated for completion this summer. The construction phases are part of the St. Vrain Valley School District’s (SVVSD) goals for reducing car traffic while maximizing safety, according to co-presenter Cammie Piller Edson, a coordinator for the cou...
The fourth-annual St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) High Schools Reunion will take place on Friday, June 9 from 6-9 p.m. The Reunion will be held during the first Downtown Summer Concert of the season on Fourth Avenue between Main and Kimbark. Boulder-based band The Goonies will play all the hits from the 80’s. The night’s festivities will get underway with a Niwot High School student Jackson Cloud who will showcase his talents on the guitar and vocals, along with the rest of his Jackson Cloud Band. Alumni from all graduating years at...
A need for sturdier event, detour and road closed signs in Niwot led to a spring project for welding students at St. Vrain Valley School District’s Career Development Center (CDC). “This is a win-win for everyone,” said Niwot Community Association President Dick Piland.”We get better road signs and the high school students were able to put their skills to use on a community project.” Last winter, NCA board members investigated purchasing five stands for road signs, but were concerned about high...
Students from all over the world are preparing right now to leave their countries to come and study in America for the upcoming school year. These students are leaders in their schools. They exhibit great academic skills as well as a heart for volunteer work. These are the students who will impact their countries when they return home with the experiences they have had while living here in America. The students are placed with volunteer host families throughout the US. Host families are...
Each spring since 1988, the Colorado Council for Economics Education (CCEE) presents the Koebel Enterprising Teacher of the Year Award to an educator who demonstrates excellence in the teaching of economics and personal financial literacy. This year the council has selected Niwot High School economics teacher Ken Benson to receive this prestigious award. Benson currently teaches four sections of economics at NHS, two for the IB (International Baccalaureate) program and two AP (Advanced Placement) courses. Benson also sponsors the school’s Econ...
“We know you’re guilty.” Fourth grader Eden Zenz and her classmates accuse Kim Lancaster, director of St. Vrain’s APEX Homeschool Enrichment Program, the moment she walks into their Literature Detectives class in the sanctuary of Vinelife Church in Gunbarrel. The students are using clues prepared by their teacher to solve a whodunit as part of their unit on the novel Chasing Vermeer. Their list of suspects includes Lancaster and several other APEX staff. This scene is much like a typical...
The Niwot girls track and field team continued to dominate the local competition, picking up wins at the St. Vrain Re-1J District meet on March 23 and at the Broomfield Shootout on March 25. The boys also fared well at the District meet, finishing second out of nine teams, and placed 23rd at the Broomfield meet, in a 33-team field that included several Class 5A schools. It was another impressive week for junior Mary Gillett and her senior teammate Alexis Carroll. At the St. Vrain meet, held...
Daisha Agho, who has coached Berthoud volleyball for the past eight years, has been named the new Niwot High volleyball coach. Under Agho, Berthoud finished with a record of 21-6 last season, advancing to the state Class 4A tournament. There the Spartans beat Windsor before being eliminated by eventual state champion Lewis-Palmer. Berthoud finished 16-11 in 2015 following a 20-7 mark in 2014, and has made it to state in three of the last four years. Agho, who lives in Firestone with her husband...
Two important education items on the Nov. 8 ballot were the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) bond issue for capital improvements and the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) mill levy override for operational expenses. Both were approved by voters. The SVVSD $260 million bond measure, which passed 61.88 percent to 38.12 percent by district voters in Boulder County, will address critical student and school needs. It includes various renovations throughout the district, additions to existing schools and building of new schools. A...
Two important education items on the Nov. 8 ballot were the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) bond issue for capital improvements and the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) mill levy override for operational expenses. Both were approved by voters. The SVVSD $260 million bond measure, which passed 61.88 percent to 38.12 percent by district voters in Boulder County, will address critical student and school needs. It includes various renovations throughout the district, additions to existing schools and building of new schools. A...
On Nov. 4, Niwot High School head football coach Dylan Hollingsworth, 43, was arrested for assaulting a student during a weight lifting class the prior week. According to a media release from the Boulder County Sheriff’s office, Hollingsworth turned himself in to the Boulder County jail last Friday morning, and was booked on charges of second degree assault, a class four felony, and third degree assault, a class one misdemeanor. He was subsequently released on bond, and faces a hearing in B...
Boulder County Sheriff's Office On October 29, at around 1:40 a.m., a lone individual broke through a set of glass doors at Niwot High School, and caused damage inside the school to two interior windows, and a vending machine. The individual then exited the school and broke into three cars parked overnight in the parking lot, by smashing driver side windows on each car. All three cars appeared to have been rummaged through. A fourth vehicle showed signs of an attempt at entry by the suspect, but he was unsuccessful at getting inside. St. Vrain...
It’s a sad fact that Colorado is hamstrung by complicated provisions of the state constitution that prevent the state legislature from adequately funding public education, but fixing that problem is not on the ballot. As a result, local school districts are forced to turn to voters time and again to ask for bond issue approvals and mill levy overrides to keep pace with the demands of increasing populations and escalating costs. The St. Vrain Valley School District has proposed a bond issue (3A on the ballot) which would generate $260 million f...
Niwot Community Association (NCA) board members agreed to continue the group’s policy of serving only as an information conduit for the Niwot/Gunbarrel community when St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) officials asked for the group’s endorsement of the district’s proposed mill levy increase on the November ballot. Although several board members expressed individual support for the measure and praised the school district’s student academic achievement and fiscal responsibility, the NCA board agreed that the NCA’s primary function...
In the Niwot gymnastics team’s second to last meet in the regular season, it was able to beat out Thompson Valley for another win. Head Coach Marisa Purcell said the meet was great overall, even though the scores were lower, partially because neither team competed on vault. “Even though the score was lower, we had a lot of improvements on floor from working on jumps,” Purcell said. “Overall it looked better - that was really an improvement. Thompson valley tends to be a quick and quieter meet because it’s such a small gym.” Purcell said the gi...
On Oct. 5th, the Niwot Historical Society and President Kathy Koehler kicked off the 2016-17 Niwot: Now & Then lecture series with an examination of baseball and its impact on the town. From its earliest days, when Evart “Toots” Conilogue got together with his brothers and friends to form the Niwot Farmers; to the modern era, when Coach Bob Bote led the Niwot High Cougars to five state championships in eight years, the national pastime has been an integral part of Niwot’s civic identity. In Ba...
On the Nov. 8 ballot, the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) will have a bond measure to address critical school and student needs, including renovations and additions to existing schools and building new schools. Superintendent Don Haddad said the process of putting the bond measure together included a community task force of about 50 people from various geographic areas of the district. It decided on the district’s construction needs, which stemmed from growth, needed repairs and safety issues. “What we have right now in St. Vrain is...
Niwot Elementary School (NES) has a lot to celebrate this year as it heads into its 50th anniversary. Principal Nancy Pitz, who is beginning her fourth year at NES and 21st year in education, said the traditions of NES have stayed alive throughout the years and she’s looking forward to celebrating the school. “There’s so much tradition with this community,” Pitz stated. “We’ve worked hard to keep those traditions, and at the same time growing and continuing to improve.” Pitz credits the c...
As the summer comes to a close, kids, parents and teachers alike look forward to the new school year ahead. This year, students returning to Niwot High School (NHS) can expect new technology in the classroom, as well as updates throughout the school. Eric Rauschkolb, who is going into his third year as the principal of NHS, said the most exciting thing he’s looking forward to this year is the rollout of new iPads for all students. The teachers have been preparing for the new technology since last year by receiving their own Mac laptops and i...
BASEBALL For Niwot Youth Sports’ (NYS) Director of Recreational Baseball Tim Rudden, the 2016 season was “just a lot of fun.” “We had great support from the parents and sponsors, and we got lucky with the weather,” Rudden said. The NYS baseball program, which has been continuously active since the late 1960s, wrapped up its 2016 season mid-July. The program, which fields both competitive and recreational teams, is composed of the T-Ball/Coach Pitch league for players ages four to eight, an...
Twin Lakes Action Group (TLAG) has more on its plate than concerns about housing density on what has been Boulder County Parks and Open Space vacant land. With the county in talks to annex the land to the City of Boulder, TLAG is concerned that annexing county open space to the city will be the gateway to annexing other Gunbarrel neighborhoods, without those county residents’ consent. These were the sentiments expressed by Jeff Cohen and Rolf Munson, both TLAG board members. Cohen, an attorney in Gunbarrel, said the issue is, “The way the [City...
The end of the school year comes with many transitions and in the case of Flagstaff Academy, Longmont’s public charter school, the students, staff, parents and alumni will be saying goodbye to two beloved and longstanding teachers, Timothy Baldwin and Lisa Wilkins, who are retiring from teaching. Wilkins, one of the original middle school teachers since Flagstaff Academy added grades six through eight in 2007, has been contributing her extensive background in English and American history into t...
The end of the school year is always full of emotion as graduating students say farewell and transition to the next phase of their lives. These final days are especially poignant for the three Niwot High School (NHS) teachers who will retire at the end of the school year. Tom Kajiwara: Physical Education In 2000, Tom Kajiwara was a stay-at-home dad when former NHS principal Dennis Daly invited him to join the football coaching staff. During that year a food science position opened up unexpectedl...
Members of the Niwot Community Association (NCA) are hoping that this year’s Niwot Cleanup Day doesn’t resemble last year’s event. “I think we are all hoping for much better weather this year,” NCA President Dick Piland said at the NCA’s May 4 meeting. “Last year we all got pretty wet.” Early weather forecasts call for sunny weather on May 14 in contrast to the wet and snowy weekends in the recent past. “Maybe we’ll get a good day this year,” event chair Heidi Storz said. Niwot Cleanup Day will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 14...
The First Annual International Festival was an event where Twin Peaks Charter Academy celebrated the cultural differences and diversity in their school and community. The festival encouraged TPCA students to be aware of the larger world around them and to embrace the different cultures at TPCA. The Festival was held at Twin Peaks Charter Academy on February 26, 2016, with over 550 guests in attendance. They were given the opportunity to visit fifteen different booths represented by families...
Twin Peaks Charter Academy announced the addition of an elementary and secondary principal to the administrative team. Amber Coniff joins the staff as K-5 Principal. She has a history of working at Charter Schools and first-hand knowledge of the Core Knowledge Curriculum. David Yu, current interim 6-12 Principal, has accepted the full time position as Principal moving forward. He brings a wealth of knowledge on Classical education and has already made a positive impact on secondary students,...
