Beginning my third year as BVSD superintendent, I am excited about the course our learning community is taking in 2009-2010 as we continue to work toward the school board’s five-year goals at both the district and school levels originally set in 2007. These goals are in academic achievement, equity, and school climate. We are seeing measurable gains in all three areas as we challenge ourselves to meet the educational hopes and dreams of each of our more than 28,000 students. Our progress is reported in the BVSD Annual Report available on this website.
It is well known in our community and in Colorado that the Boulder Valley School District is already among the very highest achieving of Colorado’s 178 school districts. What may not be as well known is the shared determination of our students, parents, teachers, administrators and community leaders to make BVSD the educational answer for each student in our district regardless of circumstance or background. Each child brings a unique and worthwhile contribution to our learning community. As superintendent, I am determined to see each child’s full potential realized.
This year, BVSD is rolling out a new guaranteed, viable curriculum. Approved by the school board in June 2009, these changes are at both the kindergarten through fifth grade level and the middle and high school levels. Each level’s new curriculum covers health, language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies curricula. This fall, the school board will study and take action on the fine arts curricula. These curricular changes are the result of months of hard work on the part of many teachers, community members, administrators and administrative staff. The school board and I thank everyone involved for their engagement.
Our five-year goals reflect BVSD’s determination to move a very high achieving district to greater excellence and equity in academic achievement. BVSD currently does an outstanding job meeting the learning expectations of approximately 20,000 of our students. Our challenge is to continue to meet those students’ academic expectations while intervening earlier to tackle the challenges faced by slightly less than 8,000 BVSD students. Beginning in the 2008-2009 school year, BVSD committed itself to the “Response to Intervention” approach under the leadership of BVSD Chief Academic Officer Ellen Miller-Brown.
Response to Intervention or “RtI” is an educational model promoting early identification for students who are struggling academically or behaviorally. RtI involves intervention tiers of increasingly intense levels of instruction for students based on student need. Most students will thrive with the general education instruction. For those who don't, interventions are targeted, based on the student need, and will be implemented in the student’s classroom. As the students’ needs dictate, more tiers of interventions are available for students. The overarching purpose of RtI is to improve educational outcomes for every student.
Student survey results from 2008-2009 showed strong improvement in our students’ sense of their school’s social climate. It is no surprise that school climate is a critical factor in a child’s readiness to learn. Does each student feel genuinely welcomed and accepted every day? Is every child well nourished, adequately rested and ready to learn? Do their classrooms, gyms, labs and fields support the delivery of the curriculum?
A critical component to a school’s climate and a student’s learning experience is school food. After years of community collaboration and study, BVSD launched the School Food Project (SFP) in partnership with our nonprofit, business, and philanthropic communities in November 2008. With rising food costs, strained tax bases, a struggling economy and ongoing academic achievement needs, how can any large Colorado public school district think of reforming its entire school food operation within the next few years?
I am convinced that the answer is found in our thriving community partnership. Without committing any additional school district dollars beyond those already in the budget, SFP has launched an impressive fundraising effort to raise the additional dollars necessary to achieve these bold reforms. Under the direction of BVSD Nutrition Services Director Ann Cooper, our district is firmly on the road to providing school food that is as fresh, close to the source, scratch cooked and as delicious as possible. For more information about SFP, click on the SFP red tomato icon on the front page of this website (www.bvsd.org).
BVSD is now completing the first phase and entering the second phase of bond project construction under Bond Project Director Don Orr. This district wide capital improvement project is a result of the strong support of district voters who approved a $296.8 million dollar capital facilities bond program in 2006. How these bond funds are budgeted and spent throughout the district is overseen by the school board through the volunteer Citizens Bond Oversight Committee. This transparency allows residents to track projects through to completion. Bond project updates can be viewed on the BVSD website.
For even the most casual of observers, Colorado’s funding of K-12 public education is growing increasingly strained. The state legislature, the governor, key business leaders, teachers, administrators, school board members and citizen activists are examining the short and long term consequences this poses to the academic achievement, social equity, workforce readiness and economic vitality of our state. They are diligently looking for solutions.
This year, I intend that BVSD launch this same discussion on the local level. We are a great school district because of our students, their teachers, high parental involvement, the strongest overall community support in Colorado, and the positive support of our taxpayers. However, that excellence is threatened by economic forces beyond our immediate control. With that awareness, I believe that though BVSD must support and participate in statewide efforts, we must also examine and discuss possible local funding options. Please watch local media this fall for the schedule of what the school board and I hope is a series of focused, candid, and forward-looking community discussions of public education support in our district.
In summary, as I have noted each year, BVSD students are especially fortunate to live and grow in communities dedicated to their children’s fullest possible academic and social achievement. Thank you and the school board for the privilege of leading this effort.