SSSD September Newsletter
Steamboat Springs School District September Newsletter
A Message from Dr. Celine Wicks, Superintendent
Dear Steamboat Springs School District Community:
We are over a month into the new school year, and we have much to celebrate already! This month’s newsletter highlights a tremendous amount of incredible news.
First and foremost, I must highlight the academic celebrations. Hopefully, you already read our press release regarding our academic state ranking. Steamboat Springs School District is only one of eleven school districts in Colorado to be recognized as ‘Accredited with Distinction.’ We are among the top 6% of Colorado school districts. This is a major accomplishment for our students and staff. Additionally, five Steamboat Springs High School students have been named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. Congratulations to Grey Barbier, Connor Frithsen, Bryson Lee, Alena Rossi, and Charlotte Teuscher! These scholars are among the highest-scoring entrants across the country.
Homecoming Week begins on Monday, September 25. Steamboat Springs High School will have a variety of events throughout the week. The entire community is invited to the Homecoming football game on Friday, September 29 vs. Eaton, 7:00 p.m. at Gardner Field. The culminating event for students will be the Homecoming Dance on Saturday, September 30. We look forward to a week full of celebration and enthusiasm!
Please take your time reading through this month’s newsletter. There is an abundance of great news!
I also want to take this opportunity to address the issues happening in and around our community regarding antisemitic incidents and hate crimes against marginalized groups. The Steamboat Springs School District strongly condemns all antisemitic behavior and expressions, and it is a priority of the District to educate our students against such actions. Steamboat Springs High School staff are trained in the use of restorative practices, which are techniques used to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities. In the high school Civics, Sociology, and American History courses, students are taught about hate crimes and hate groups. The District utilizes Facing History and Ourselves resources, whose mission challenges “teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.” Additionally, the District utilizes resources from the American Psychological Association to explore bigotry and work to stop it. On the middle school level, the Character Strong program is being implemented. This is a research-based program that offers Social/Emotional learning along with character development. At the elementary level, we have added additional counselors and social workers to each building. Student schedules have also been adjusted to incorporate age-appropriate social/emotional learning led by trained counselors.
The recent issues are not solely on the shoulders of schools and school employees to address. We must work together as a community to teach our youth right from wrong. I respectfully request our entire community to collaborate to ensure our youth grow up in a community where everyone respects others regardless of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, or disability. We will continue to honor and educate all individuals; however, we cannot do it alone. For anyone to say that Steamboat Springs School District is not supporting any group, or is not doing enough to educate children, that simply is a gross understatement. On behalf of the entire SSSD, I implore each of you to help make our community a more caring, loving, and inclusive environment where everyone feels safe and can live their lives as they choose.
Sincerely,
Dr. Celine Wicks, Superintendent
District News
Five SSHS Seniors Named as National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
Five Steamboat Springs High School seniors were named today as Semifinalists in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®). The students are Grey Barbier, Connor Frithsen, Bryson Lee, Alena Rossi, and Charlotte Teuscher. National Merit Scholarship winners of 2024 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join nearly 375,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
Steamboat Springs School District Launches New Websites for District and Schools
The Steamboat Springs School District (SSSD) announced today the launch of new district and school websites designed to streamline communication among the district, students, staff, parents, and the community.
The newly designed sites feature photos and drone footage of all SSSD schools and a simplified design that makes it easy to find important information about our schools. All SSSD websites will have a similar layout, providing a cohesive look and feel.
Additional new features include:
Bilingual content: The websites are fully bilingual, offering content in both English and Spanish. This ensures that all members of our diverse community can easily access information and resources.
Building-level announcements: Each site features a news and announcement page that will be populated with information specific to the school, so parents can find information quickly and easily.
Mobile-friendly: The new site is easy to navigate on mobile devices. The school district is also in the process of developing a mobile application to make accessing information from the website even easier.
SSSD Teachers Earn $58,000 from DonorsChoose and CDE
The Colorado Department of Education recently collaborated with DonorsChoose to allocate $11 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to support public school educators in addressing COVID-19 learning loss. PK-12 public school teachers in Colorado were invited to apply for up to $1,000 in project funding from CDE to purchase classroom resources.
Our teachers took advantage of the opportunity and garnered $58,728.75 to fund 67 school projects. The funds support projects related to STEM, life skills, literacy and language, health and wellness, music and the arts, and more. All of our schools had projects funded!
Congratulations to our teachers!
Threat Assessment Training Emphasizes Use Multidisciplinary Approach to Safety
The Steamboat Springs School District (SSSD), in coordination with the Colorado Safety Resource Center (CSRC) and the Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS), delivered a full Threat Assessment (TA) training on August 3 and 4 to 40 individuals who make up our multidisciplinary School Threat Assessment Teams. Representatives from all aspects of the multidisciplinary team attended, including law enforcement (Steamboat Springs Police Department and Routt County Sheriff’s Office including both School Resource Officers) along with school administration, mental health providers, and school counselors from district schools. Representatives from North Routt Community Charter School and Steamboat Montessori were also in attendance.
SSSD Recognized as "Accredited with Distinction" by the CDE
The Steamboat Springs School District (SSSD) is one of 11 school districts in the state to be recognized as Accredited With Distinction by the Colorado Department Colorado of Education. Accredited with Distinction is assigned to the highest performing districts. This means these school districts are meeting or exceeding expectations on most performance tasks. Only six percent of school districts in Colorado are recognized as such.
Notice of Election Cancellation for Board of Directors
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the Board of Education of Steamboat Springs School District RE-2, in the County of Routt, State of Colorado, that the only matter before the electors at the regular biennial school election on November 7, 2023 is the election of three persons to fill three offices of school director and, at the close of business on the sixty-third day before the election, there were not more candidates for school director than offices to be filled, including candidates filing affidavits of intent to be write-in candidates; therefore, the Board of Education, by resolution at a special meeting on September 6, 2023, authorized Deborah Ginesta, the School District’s Designated Election Officer, to cancel the election and declare the candidates elected, as of November 7, 2023, in accordance with Colorado Revised Statute § 1-5-208(1.5).
The following candidates are hereby declared elected by acclamation:
Kevin Callahan, for a four-year term from 2023-2027
Lara Craig, for a four-year term from 2023-2027
Leah Helme, for a four-year term from 2023-2027
Deborah Ginesta
Designated Election Officer
Steamboat Springs School District RE-2
In the News
Class Sizes Are Growing At Steamboat Springs High School
Prep Sports
Meet The New Esports Team At SSHS
SSHS Dance Team Grows To 30 Dancers
Steamboat golf looks to ace Regional Tournament
Steamboat Springs seniors Michael DiNapoli, Charlie Reisman and Brady Adams, along with junior Jack Fisher, have all been selected to represent the Sailors golf team in the 4A Boys Region 4 Regional Tournament at Bookcliff Country Club in Grand Junction on Wednesday. (Steamboat Pilot & Today)
Follow Steamboat Radio on Facebook and the Steamboat Pilot for more game photos, news, and updates!