It is my honor to welcome all new and returning students and families to the 2023-2024 school year for the Telluride School District. I feel so fortunate and proud to be your Superintendent. Staff arrived this week and are working hard on a variety of preparation and professional development activities. We are excited to meet students on Tuesday, August 22, for our first official day of the school year. We believe that our district is a living example that the sum can be greater than the parts, and that together we can do amazing things. Below is a photo of our staff at our opening gathering this morning.

I know that you have received information from your schools already. This message is intended to give you some general information about the start of the school year without overwhelming you, and I apologize for any duplication of information.

New Staff: Please join me in welcoming and congratulating the following new staff as they enter into our district.

· Eileen Cahalane is our new Grade 1 Dual Immersion English-side Teacher at TES

· Jessica Miller is our new School Librarian at TES

· Christie Miller is our new Grade 3 Traditional Teacher at TIS

· Luis Poblete Salazar is our new Grade 3 Dual Immersion Spanish-side Teacher at TIS

· Lily Engebretson is our new Grade 5 Traditional Teacher at TIS

· Nancy Swick is our new Grade 6 Science Teacher at TIS

· Katie Geissler is our new Special Education Teacher at TIS

· Matt Kroll is our new Art Teacher for Grades 4-8, TIS and TMS

· Sheila Blakney is our new Literacy Interventionist at TMHS

· Laura Mariboli Contreras is our new Spanish/English Language Development Teacher at TMHS

· Jack Taylor is our new Special Education Teacher at THS

· Sheila Lawson is our new LPN joining our district nursing staff

· Madeline Hirschfeld has joined our IT Department over the summer

End-of-Year Award winners from 2022-2023: I would like to recognize our award winners from last school year. Please congratulate them when you see them.

· Friend of Education – Darla Erickson

· Friend of Education – Josh Butson & San Juan Outdoor Adventures

· Newcomer of the Year – Yeny Sanchez Corza

· Classified Employee of the Year – Derek Thomas

· PK-6 Professional Employee of the Year – Jen Taylor

· 7-12 Professional Employee of the Year – Marion Proud

Professional Development: Over the past weeks, our staff have participated in several different professional development trainings, including: CPR, Dual Immersion Orientation, AVID 101, DIBELS and Lectura, Bridges Math Intervention, READ Act, and New Teacher Orientation. We have several more trainings happening during our in-service week.

Reunification Exercise: Our staff will be participating in a Reunification Exercise (without students) on Friday, August 18 with the support of San Miguel County Emergency Manager, law enforcement, and other emergency responders. This three-hour exercise will better prepare us in the event we ever need to perform a reunification following an incident at one of our schools. For more information on reunification go to: https://iloveuguys.org/standard-reunification-method/

Mission and Ends Statements and Focus Areas: I am sharing this information so you are aware of our priorities for this coming year; they remain the same as last year:

· Our Mission Statement: Through quality education our students will achieve personal success.

· Our Global Ends Statement: The Telluride School District will support all students in striving for their highest potential through quality academics while addressing individual needs within a safe and healthy community.

· Our Focus Areas:

· Quality Academics

o Vertical and horizontal alignment of curriculum

o HR practices that result in retaining and recruiting excellent staff

· Addressing Individual Needs

o A Multi-Tiered System of Supports

o A robust Dual Immersion program

· Safe and Healthy Community

o Consistent student and staff culture across buildings which supports achieving ends

Fair and equitable behavioral expectations and responses

August 16: Back to School Health Fair (flyer below)

August 16: Rico School Alignment Public Meeting 6-7 pm, Telluride Elementary School

August 21: TES Open House: Meet the Teacher, School Supply Drop off 1:30-3:30 pm

August 21:TIS Open House, Meet the Teacher, School Supply Drop 2:00-3:00 pm

August 21:TEF Ice Cream Social at TES & TIS playgrounds 1:30-3:30 pm

August 21: 9th & All New HS Student Orientation at TMHS 9:30-10-:30 am

August 21: 7th grade & All New MS Student Orienation at TMHS 11am-12 pm

August 21: Fall Sports Team Photos - TMHS Gym 3:30 pm

August 22: First day of school

August 23: TMS Parent/Athlete Meeting for all sports in the 23-24 school year at 5:45 in the Palm

August 24: THS Parent/Athlete Meeting for all sports in the 23-24 school year at 5:45 in the Palm

August 29: BOE Work Session 3:30 pm

August 20: BOE Monthly Meeting 5:15 pm

August 30: Coffee with Principals 8:30 am, Wilkinson Library

August 31: Half day of School

August 31: Kids of Rico Meeting

September 1: No School

September 4: No School

September 5:TMHS Miner Community & Family Meeting 3:30 pm

September 6: TES Miner Community & Family Meeting 3:30 pm

September 6: TIS Back to School Night

September 7: TIS Miner Community & Family Meeting 3:30 pm

September 7: TES Open House

September 8-10: A Play in 48

September 13 & 14: Auditions for TMHS Theater Production of CLUE

September 14: Picture Day (all schools)

September 14:TMHS Back to school night

September 18: BOE Work Session 3:30 pm

September 19: BOE Monthly Meeting 5:15 pm

September 22: THS Homecoming weekend

September 23: TEF Fall Festival

September 25: District Accountability 5:15 pm

Please refer to weekly emails from TES, TIS & TMHS for times, places and most current communication. For Telluride Athletics calendar of events click HERE

Three Telluride School Board Director positions will be voted on in the

November 7, 2023, coordinated election.

Each director position carries a 4-year term each.

Nomination petitions will be available from the Telluride School District Office

725 West Colorado Avenue, Telluride, CO

beginning August 9, 2023 between 9:00AM-4:00PM.

Please contact Kim Spaulding at 970-369-1214 or via email at kspaulding@telluride.k12.co.us to schedule a time to pick up and return a packet.

Number of signatures required on nomination petition is 25.

To be qualified, a candidate must have been a registered elector of the school district for at least 12 consecutive months before the election. A person is ineligible to run for school director if he or she has been convicted of committing a sexual offense against a child. Because school director elections are nonpartisan, candidates may not run as a member of a political party.

Nomination Petition Deadline is Thursday, August 31, 2023, at 12:00PM.

Completed nomination petitions must be delivered to:

Telluride School District Office 725 West Colorado Avenue, Telluride, CO no later than

12:00 PM on Thursday, August 31, 2023.

As a reminder if you are a volunteer, chaperone, mentor, or in the school/ classroom with Telluride School District students, please click link below for a security check. Thank you for your support.

Background Check

The monthly District Accountability Committee meetings provide an opportunity for the community to engage in discussion and provide input related to the district's Unified Improvement Plan, spending priorities, use of federal funds, family engagement, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and evaluation.

Each school's monthly Miner Family & Community Meeting (rebranded from School Accountability Meeting), provides family and community members the opportunity to engage in discussion and provide input on topics of importance to the individual school. This is a great way to get involved in your child's school.

The schedule for these meetings is shown below:

TMS Parent/Athlete Meeting for all sports in the 23-24 school year, August 23 5:45pm in the Palm

THS Parent/Athlete Meeting for all sports in the 23-24 school year, August 24 5:45pm in the Palm

Fall Sports Team Photos – August 21st, 3:30pm TMHS Gym

Next year’s fall theater production is Clue!!!

Auditions for students grades 7-12 are on September 12 and 13 and more information will be available outside Ms. Watkins room #224.

Performance dates are November 10-12. Contact Ms. Watkins with any questions.

Friday Sept. 8, 5 PM- Sunday Sept. 10, 5PM

A Play in 48 is an adventurous project where students will gather in the Palm on Friday night and create a play to be performed on Sunday evening. It’s outrageous, fun, scary, exciting and a blast!

• Students in grades 7-12 are welcome! We need actors, writers, musicians and theatre technicians.

• Space is limited. Secure your spot for the weekend by turning in your permission slip and payment ASAP!

• Fee: $100-Scholarships available. Sign-up and permission slips are outside MS. Watkins room 224.

Our Middle School was awarded with Huge Honors in May from the Colorado Department of Education.

We are so proud and honored to receive awards for:

District Accredited with Distinction

Governor's Distinguished Improvement Award

and the

John Irwin Award

We could not be more proud of our Teachers, Staff, and Students for the hard work and dedication!

Wednesday, August 16th

4-6:30 pm

Miramonte Building

School Health Registration

Childhood Vaccines

Free School Supplies

Community and Financial Resources

Starting this 2023-2024 school year, Telluride School District is excited to announce the participation in the Healthy School Meals for All program for Breakfast and Lunch. All students enrolled at Telluride School District may participate in the Breakfast and Lunch at no cost!

Studies have shown that students who are not hungry perform better in school. By providing Breakfast and Lunch to all students at no cost, we are hoping to create a better learning environment for our students.

As in previous years, it's important for households to still provide their household income information when requested via an application. While meals will be provided at no cost to all students in participating schools, it's important for Telluride School District to continue gathering this information in order to receive full access to state and federal funding. Additional funds will go directly to schools to help cover the cost of meals, support after-school activities and other nutritional programs for students. Plus, households who qualify may receive discounted school fees, class materials, bus passes, utilities support and more.

Applications for free and reduced-price school meals, instructions and an informational letter to households are available at each Telluride School Office and online at https://www.tellurideschool.org/for_families/free_reduced_school_meals.

Rico Annexation Public Meeting: The Kids of Rico Planning Committee is working with the Telluride School District R-1 and Dolores County School District RE-2J to transition the Rico area into the Telluride School District. The Telluride Board of Education supports the proposal so that the school children living in Rico going forward can attend Telluride schools. Rico children already attend Telluride schools, but they must choice into the district each year and are not guaranteed a spot in a school.

There will be a question on the November 2023 ballot for voters in both school districts to approve the realignment plan. As part of the plan, Rico property owners will continue to fund the 2022 bond passed for the Dove Creek elementary school, and they will pay property taxes into the Telluride School District. This proposal does not make any changes to the county, just the two school districts. The Kids of Rico committee will host public meetings to provide information about its final realignment plan. The sessions will focus on the benefits to the schoolchildren and families in Rico, the realignment plan and financial impacts to taxpayers—as well as answering questions from community members.

Please consider joining one of the meetings:

• The Telluride School District meeting will take place on Wednesday, August 16, from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Telluride Elementary School, 447 W Columbia Ave.
• The Town of Rico Public Meeting information is shown below:
  

2023 IS TEF’S 30th ANNIVERSARY! Help us celebrate by making this our most successful year yet!

Telluride Education Foundation is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization that raises money to invest in the enrichment of K-12 education in the Telluride School District. We have awarded over $1,100,000 since our inception in 1993 and currently support approximately 1000 Teachers, ParaEducators, Staff, and Students in the Telluride School District:

Experiential Grants:

Supplemental funding to provideenrichment and experiential learning in and out of the classrooms (field trips, STEAM programs, theater programs, extracurricular clubs, etc)

Spreading Joy Fund:

$200 for each Teacher to fund a FUN-focused activity meant to encourage joy and bonding outside the classrooms (pizza parties, tie-dye activities, curling lessons, lunches, art projects, end-of-year celebrations, etc)

Magnet Grants:

Support cost-of-living expenses for Teachers & ParaEducators (master’s degrees, pre-K childcare, commuting, home buying, additional certifications/alternative licenses)

Student Events:

Ice Cream Social - August 21 (PDF attached)

Post-Homecoming Party

Teen Activities

Movie Nights

Donuts with Your Grown Ups - April 25

Teacher Appreciation:

Conference Day Lunches

Holiday Gift Cards

Massages

End-of-Year Gift Cards

FREE Community Events:

Coffee with Principals - August 30 (PDF attached)

Film & Speaker Series (social-emotional education)

FUNDraisers:

Fall Festival - Sept 23

Christmas Celebration - Nov 30 - Dec 10

Telluride’s Got Talent - Jan 18

Me & My VIP Dance - March 14

Spring Social - May

Volunteers:

TEF relies solely on volunteers to successfully complete its mission. We are also looking for board members. Please sign up to help with FUNDraisers!

QR Code for Volunteer Sign-Up below

The Telluride School District would like to thank the following for their generous contributions:

Telluride Education Foundation end of year celebration.

Thank you to Mountain Film for providing tickets for staff to attend the Mountain Film Festival.

Thank you to all the local donors that provided $650,000 in scholarships.

Monday, August 28, 2023

SCHOOL BOARD WORK SESSION

3:30 pm

Location: Bridal Veil & Zoom at

https://telluridek12.zoom.us/j/86585124120?pwd=TGd6c3A3WFMvRTI2blBnUStwdVI5Zz09

Meeting ID: 865 8512 4120/Passcode: 468668

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

SCHOOL BOARD MONTHLY MEETING

5:15 pm

Location: Bridal Veil & Zoom at

https://telluridek12.zoom.us/j/86585124120?pwd=TGd6c3A3WFMvRTI2blBnUStwdVI5Zz09

Meeting ID: 865 8512 4120/Passcode: 468668

Agenda and packets will be posted here (at least 72 hours prior to meeting)

Come join the Superintendent and one or more board members for coffee talk this year. Dates and times will be announced