THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!
National School Board Association Directors
We want to say THANK YOU!
Restorative Practices
Estes Park School District is a Restorative Practices District. Restorative Practices include approaches such as connection circles, adult and peer-led mediation and conferencing to build a stronger community within our schools and respond to student misbehavior when it does occur by getting to the root cause of the problem.
The goal of a restorative culture is to teach social-emotional and conflict-resolution skills in a way that encourages acceptance of responsibility for misbehavior, increases self-discipline and fosters appreciation for the rights of others.
Using this model in our school community allows for all students, teachers, administrators, parents and community members to get to know each other through active and respectful listening and ultimately creating a foundation of trust and empathy. When people are engaging in a restorative manner, it affects overall campus climate in a healthy way, making harm less likely to occur in the first place.
For more information, please contact our Restorative Practices Coordinator, Mary Barron.
Hannah Heckerson & Rudy the Therapy Dog
A student was quoted this week saying "He is the shape of a friend."
For more information on Rudy and our Mental Health Clinician who brought him to us, read the story here or contact our Mental Health Clinician, Hannah Heckerson (sorry, Rudy doesn't have his own email address....yet.)
Explorer Post 911
Police Training
Motor Vehicle Accident Response
Fire Response Training
BAM (Business and Marketing) Class
Students in the class run their own corporation consisting of key players such as a CEO, CFO, Human Resources, Marketing Department, etc. and they are held accountable by a board of directors. Last year their popup businesses were a huge success. This year, they unveil their new project: BAM Coffee Lounge! Over the summer they completely remodeled what used to be the woodshop into the first student lounge at Estes Park High School. The lounge will be equipped with a work area, plenty of seating, a projector and movie screen, a ping pong table and so much more. Students sell stock at the beginning of the year and then at the end of the year they liquidate their business. For more information or to check in on stock trading, please reach out to our Innovator: Bob Regan
Trout in the Classroom
For more information, please reach out to our Innovator: Catie Rugaber
Aquatic Robotics
This new project provides innovation and a chance to work with community partners to strengthen engagement. For more information, please reach out to our Innovator: Ravi Davis
Observation Bee Hive
We were excited to share the buzz on our educational observation hive in the Elementary School makerspace/library. We were able to complete this project thanks to funding for the hive from a Whole Kids grant in association with The Bee Cause Project, as well as a generous grant from our local Safeway Foundation to help build and implement the complimenting "pollinator garden” outside. The Bee Team, made up of a group of Elementary School teachers, trained with beekeepers from the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster to learn how to take care of our hive and these amazing little pollinators. They prepped the pollinator garden area outside of the library in in the cold weather of early spring, and now we have flowers and plants to give them the proper landscape for success.
For more information, please reach out to our Innovator: Erinn Wharton
Vex Robotics
With help from a matching equipment grant from the St. Vrain Innovation Center and a partnership for training with their talented staff, the second year of the club grew tremendously with 63 kids participating in grades 3-8. Two of the Elementary School teams went to Nationals in Iowa, and even went to Worlds in Kentucky.
This year, the Middle School has taken the learning one step further and has created an electives robotics class for students in addition to the club offering. We are excited to see where these opportunities take our kids this year!
For more information, please reach out to our Innovators: Shawna Carosello or Nick Gooch.
Robotics Club!
Colorado Teams at Worlds!
Robo Elk and RoboCats!
Estes Park STEAM Class
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math) is a hands on learning class for our middle and high school students. It develops critical thinking skills through team building exercises. Students learn about what the real world is like and how to prepare for it by exploring their interests in the areas of STEAM. The class covers a variety of topics such as 3-D printing, coding, website building, and the students even created a real live interactive app that takes you on a scavenger hunt through downtown Estes Park (Pikas in the Park). The class designs, creates and runs its own website at www.estesparksteam.com.
Exercise Learning Center
The Estes Park Middle School offers physical education classes to students every day of the year and in addition has something very special to offer when students need extra “brain breaks”. The Exercise Learning Center (ELC) houses 15 stations that include cycling, dancing, rowing, and boxing. Some teachers bring their entire class in at times, and other times they will send in a couple of students who have finished with their work early or simply need a break. In addition, fifteen students from each grade utilize the center twice each day. The Estes Park Medical Center tracked the health of this focus group of students with the hypothesis that their health will improve throughout the year due to combining ELC use with their normal physical activity.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Estes Park School District
Email: info@estesschools.org
Website: www.estesschools.org
Location: Estes Park, CO, USA
Phone: 970-586-2361
Facebook: facebook.com/EstesParkSchoolDistrict
Twitter: @EstesSchools