Board Member Appointment - Olivia Bartlett

Board Director, Nancy Best, moved out of state. This left a vacancy on the Board of Education. In August, the Board of Education announced the process and timeline for accepting letters of interest to fill the vacancy in District D through the next election term, November 2023. At the regular meeting tonight, September 26, the Board will officially appoint Olivia Bartlett to fill this position. Thank you to Olivia for her investment already in our schools as a parent and for the future investment as a guardian of the vision of BV Schools!

Student Centered Accountability Program (S-CAP)

BV Schools values transparency and using multiple measures to ensure our system continuously improves for student success. Because of this commitment, the District is a member of S-CAP, a group of 18 other rural districts who expand accountability using a body of evidence. It also includes annual site visits during which reviewers observe classrooms, analyze our documents and student data, and conduct focus group interviews with families, staff, and students. Using all of this data, the reviewers leave ratings for our school district and analysis that is then used for district improvement purposes. Our next review is October 12 and 13. We will need family volunteers to participate in the focus groups. If interested, please contact Lisa Yates at lyates@bvschools.org. Principals will send our invitations in coming days as well. To view the S-CAP Accountability site for BV Schools that includes student results, ratings/information from previous reviews, and the District Priority Actions see go to our S-CAP website at: https://scapbvschools.com/ Join us on October 10 at 5:00 pm for the Monthly Family Meeting to learn more.

Math Program Evaluation

Each year, the district reviews at least one program area. This year, mathematics will be evaluated. As part of this evaluation, the committee studies feedback from families, staff, and students. We appreciate families responding to this math program evaluation survey so we can continue to improve our teaching and learning of mathematics. Please complete a separate survey for each of your students. It takes about 3-5 minutes. https://forms.gle/8evYqkxhJ74KAtfM7

Properties:

BV Schools has been implementing a master plan to proactively attend to future needs with fiscal responsibility of taxpayer assets. Our priority need is to alleviate crowding in the elementary school and consolidate our preschools to one location with additional space.

The District was awarded a grant of $330,000 from the Buell Foundation to begin design of a new preschool. Additional information will be presented in the near future. The District intends to fund the preschool and elementary needs through grants and reserved funding and the sale of land. The District is currently under contract to sell the Archway property (vacant lots across from the District offices) which will position the District to move forward with preschool and elementary facility needs.

CCHS, our alternative high school, has been re-located to a newly purchased building on the middle and high school campus. This new location will provide efficiencies in operations and expand program/class opportunities for our CCHS students.

The District Office and adjoining and vacated gymnasium has been sold and the district has entered a "lease to purchase" agreement with Watershed. Katy Welter and Rick Bieterman, buyers of the property, are local community members who desire to see the history of our beautiful community preserved as we also grow. While the District was not positioned to restore the gymnasium, we were faced with the urgent need to attend to the needs of the building or spend money to demolish the building. With this rare and amazing partnership, the district has the opportunity to invest in the restoration of the gym with the intent for use for our preschool and elementary as well as for our community.

Four Day School Week

Last fall, the District sent a survey in preparing the recently adopted calendars for 2022-23 and 2023-24. Included in the survey were exploration and future-looking questions about interest in a four day school week. After study, the Board of Education has released a statement about the four day week in BV Schools.

BV PEAKS and DAC

There are two community-focused committees aimed at connecting our school district to the community.

DAC - District Accountability Committee is a legislated committee that focuses on priority actions of the district to ensure student success, evaluating the allocation of resources (budget), and other charges assigned by the Board of Education. It is a study and working committee. Membership is by appointment by the Board of Education annually. If you would like more information, please contact the District Office at 719-395-7099 and we will connect with with DAC Chair, Judy Hamontre.

BV PEAKS - PEAKS = Partners Engaged Around Kids' Success. Like the DAC, the focus is on community involvement in the success of our students. This committee is much larger than the DAC and serves to provide a network of key communicators in our community to extend information, strengths, areas of need in the district. If you would like to join the BV PEAKS, please contact Lisa Yates at lyates@bvschools.org. Our first meeting of the year is Wednesday, 9/28.

Swatting

You may have heard on the state and national news of a current trend called “swatting” in school districts. This means a person calls and announces an intruder or active shooter in a school falsely. It draws law enforcement tactical response and of course, safety measures in the school. One occurred in Alamosa while our JV football team was in Monte Vista this week. The team was held in the locker room as precaution because it is a neighboring school district to Alamosa. District leaders met with our local law enforcement team to discuss our response should this occur in our schools. Lockdowns are very disruptive when you execute the drill fully. Because of the strong partnership with our local emergency response teams, the district has plans should “swatting” occur in our district. Those falsely reporting will be charged with criminal activity.

Social Media, Website and App

Another way we are trying to spread BV SCHOOLS Proud! is through social media and our live feed on our app/website. See below to download the app! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. @bvschoolsthepeak