Schools

CareerWise has partnered with sticker and label manufacturer StickerGiant and SparkFun, an open-source e-retailer focused on embedded electronics, to create three apprenticeship opportunities for St. Vrain Valley and Boulder Valley school district students. 

The bill will now go to the House Appropriations Committee, where sponsors hope to move it quickly through the Legislature and to the governor’s desk so that state education officials can prepare a waiver request for the federal government.

The key to preparing students for a competitive global environment is to start in preschool, where the foundations of reading, math and critical thinking skills are taught, Haddad said. Such early foundations lead to success on standardized and AP exams, increasing graduation rates and pathways to careers, he said.

Altona Middle will be among more than 400 schools nationwide that will be recognized this year as schools to watch and one of more than 100 schools that will be recognized by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, according to a news release. 

Sponsors of legislation to scale back the number of tests Colorado students take this spring hope this approach represents a middle ground that satisfies the desire to take stock of how COVID disruptions affected student learning while still giving school districts some relief from logistical challenges. 

Colorado has an estimated 120,000 K-12 school staff and child care workers, and as of Sunday, 93,175 of them have received their first shot. Eligible workers include not just classroom teachers, but bus drivers, food service workers, classroom aides, and others.

Some say collecting data from the CMAS test is particularly critical after a year of tears, disengagement and online learning

The work of SROs was questioned by members of city council in February in the wake of fears officers may be targeting minority students for tickets and arrests. Both Denver Public Schools and the Boulder Valley School District have opted to remove SROs from their campuses over complaints that minority students were unfairly singled out by in-school police.

Don Haddad, superintendent of the St. Vrain Valley School District, said the current system creates bad incentives. A district with more lenient graduation requirements might come out ahead of one that requires rigorous coursework and invests in modern career and technical education.

The school board last week unanimously approved new names for the Career Development Center, Olde Columbine High School and St. Vrain Online Global Academy. The board also approved branding for the campus housing the programs as the Global Acceleration Campus to support promoting the programs, said Area Assistant Superintendent Dina Perfetti-Deany.