Sunset Middle School 2024 Teacher of the Year - Acadia Gurney

St. Vrain Valley schools, especially in the Niwot High School feeder system, were very well represented on Saturday, April 20, during the annual St. Vrain Valley Education Foundation awards and recognition event. It was a special night to honor public school teachers and recognize their dedication to their students and careers.

For Acadia Gurney, being one of the math teachers at Sunset Middle School barely scratches the surface of her dedication at Sunset. She was the volleyball coach this year, she teaches AAA (Achievement Acceleration Academy) after school allowing students to gain additional support with math in a smaller group setting, she has collaborated within SVVSD to pilot a new high school curriculum for the district, and is a member of the Secondary Mathematics Collaborative and the Science of Learning Collaborative.

Through her efforts at Sunset Middle School and within the district, Gurney not only earned the Teacher of the Year award for Sunset, but also won Teacher of the Year for the entire St. Vrain Valley School District for the 2023-2024 school year. "I am so incredibly honored," said Gurney. She said she dedicates herself to ensure that every student feels supported and can apply math in the real world whenever they step into her classroom. "I firmly believe that all students can do math and [I] try to make math content relatable to students."

Gurney has been teaching in SVVSD for four years, three of which have been at Sunset. This is her first time receiving a nomination and she expressed her profound gratitude for winning the honor and title this year for both Sunset and as SVVSD's Teacher of the Year.

"I love Sunset so much," Gurney said. "I love the support from administration, office staff, other teachers, and students. [Sunset is] a small school, which means we are a tight knit community." She said that teachers there have high expectations for their students but all do everything they, as a teaching community, can to support them. "The people keep me coming back."