Tag Archives: Arvada

Earlier this week Ed News Colorado reported that five Jefferson County residents have stepped forward to fill the school board vacancy left by departing Scott Benefield: Here are the candidates: * Harvey Burns of Westminster retired from the district is 2004 after 30 years as an English teacher and librarian. He works as a substitute teacher. He was an officer of the Jefferson County Education Association and served on the board of the Colorado Education Association in the middle 1990s. * Edward Duran of Arvada is vice president of an information technology company. * Tomas Griego of Westminster is a retired middle school teacher and middle and high school administrator. After retirement he worked as a hearing officer in the Westminster schools. Most of his career was as assistant principal of Hodgkins Middle School in the Westminster district. * Robin Johnson of Arvada is the mother of three children in the Jeffco schools and has been a school volunteer and active in the Jeffco PTA. She works as an administrative assistant in an accounting firm. * Cody McNutt of Arvada is a graduate of the International Baccalaureate program at Lakewood High School, currently is a senior at the University of […]

Denise at Colorado Charters highlights two new, freshly-submitted charter school applications in Jefferson County. Both have interesting and somewhat unique focuses. First, the proposed Arvada K-8 school Global Outreach Academy, which would cater to Slavic immigrant students. Second, the Lotus School for Excellence, which would be a math, science, and technology school eventually serving students from K-12. Both proposed Jeffco charter schools are based on established models. And the fact that both come from California shouldn’t be a deterrent. An operation similar to the Lotus School has been set up in Aurora, and of the two especially seems to have an excellent track record. Here’s hoping the Jeffco school board will give chief consideration to the needs and demands of the parents they are supposed to represent, and not let their judgment be clouded by issues of control and political power. It’s good to see Colorado’s charter school sector continue to grow, and with it the commitment to excellence and meeting the diverse needs of students and families.

According to the Rocky Mountain News, some educators in the Denver area – at least at one elementary school – are starting to adjust the school day to help boys: A not-so-quiet revolution is taking place in reading and writing instruction inside some classrooms at Hackberry Hill Elementary School in Arvada. Students are encouraged to get up and move, stretch and talk about their work every 20 minutes or so. Brain breaks, Principal Warren Blair calls them. In some cases, boys are also allowed to write about things that might have previously been frowned upon — bodily functions come to mind, or anything with a good gross-out factor. It’s part of the school’s attempts to address a global phenomenon, reinforced by recently released Colorado Student Assessment Program test results, showing boys consistently scoring lower than girls in reading and writing. Hey, I like this idea of a brain break. Sometimes you have to be creative to find ways to address the needs of different students. But I was left wondering what Hackberry Hill parents think of the idea. It would be interesting to see what moms and dads think. After all, they know their kids best. In writing about the […]

On its very first day of class, here’s a quick update on the Early College High School at Arvada, via an email one of my friends in the Education Policy Center received from school director Sarah Brock: …First of all, due to strong community request and concern regarding the upcoming changes to the high schools in the area, we are enrolling both 9th and 10th graders this year (very small classes of both, between 30-40 students per grade). Going forward we will only be enrolling 9th graders each year – around 80 students each year – and we expect to reach capacity in 2012, with approximately 320 students. Because we are enrolling 10th graders this year, our first graduating class will happen in Spring of 2011! Finally, I notice that you have our Open House and Information Sessions on the site – but all the dates are past. I would truly appreciate it if you would update the site to say that ECHS at Arvada will be accepting walk-in enrollments through August 22nd. Interested families can stop by the school and speak to Ms. Paula Kendall, our Office Manager, in the main office anytime between 8am – 4:30pm. They can […]