Celebrations, September Economic Forecast, Winter Closure Communications, Holiday Family Resources and Time of Thanks.
Celebrations: As we enter into November, we have already gone through the first quarter of the school year, having now gone over 45 days into the school year. As the Chief Executive Officer of our school district, I continuously look at a variety of items to evaluate how our students, schools, and district as a whole are doing. This ranges from and includes formative assessment data we take three times a year through NWEA, to the annual assessments through CMAS/PSAT & SAT, to participation in co-curricular activities such as athletics, FFA, FBLA, as well as our graduation rate and student attendance. The reality is we are charged with working to help educate our students to grow, eventually graduate, and become productive members of society. With that comes a multitude of ways to evaluate our success. Accordingly, we have a number of celebrations we are excited to share with our community this month.
First Quarter Attendance Data: We cannot be successful without students attending on a regular basis. An item we work to watch closely is our attendance data throughout the year. This has been a strength for the District going back to COVID and illustrates the importance our families and community places on education at Platte Valley School District. The District’s first quarter 94.6% attendance rate is on par with where have been since the end of the pandemic and continues to track above the state average of 90%. We continue to work and push this up to 95% across the District and look forward to working with our families to help us accomplish this.
Co-Curriculars: In addition to the attendance and grade data we stay abreast of, we also take great pride and appreciation in the work our students do in co-curricular activities. Congratulations to junior Mariolita Garcia-Jimenez for qualifying for the state cross-country meet. Mariolita placed 9th at regionals running a PR 21:18. It is the second year in a row Mariolita has qualified for the state cross country meet.
Weld Trust Grants totaling $339,000: Transitioning to a financial celebration we would like to share with our community. Because of our prior work with the Weld Trust to partner with the JULL Settlement Fund proposal submission, we have been selected to partner with the Weld Trust in the Impact Weld Grant program. Impact Weld will offer $1,000 per middle and high school youth, for each student participating. Each student can choose multiple activities/sports/programs throughout the year to fully use the $1,000 funding. Examples of services, activities, or experiences include sports programs (club sports, recreational league programs, or fees for school sports or intramural programs), academic tutoring, or in-school and after-school programs, trips, conferences, competitions and services. We have been funded to serve 33 students, for a total of $33,000, in the program which will be overseen by Mr. Appelhans who volunteered to be the point person for our district. The grant program is a reimbursement program for the District. This makes $339,000 in grants we will have access to, either directly or indirectly, over the course of the next three years. This includes: (a) our North Range Behaviorist, (b) resources for all of our families on parent guidance and education through the Cook Center and Parentguidance.org, and (c) the above grant to assist students through the Impact Weld program.
Winter Storm Closure Communications: We are approaching the time of year when winter weather can impact our ability to have school. Our goal is always to have school. We believe students are better off when they are in school with regular routines and in a safe environment. However, we also do not want to put our students and staff in an unsafe situation. The decision on whether to delay the start of school or cancel school is often one of the most difficult decisions we make and is not made lightly. To be sure you are getting notice of closures, please check your Alma parent portal or contact the schools to make sure we have accurate email and cell phone contact information to ensure you are able to receive these important communications. Read our complete Weather-Related School Closure Procedures here.
Holiday Family Resources & A Season of Thanks: With the holiday season coming upon us we want to remind families in our community of several resources. First, we recognize the current federal government shutdown may be negatively impacting families in our community. Households accessing the federal SNAP (food assistance) program may begin seeing delays in their benefit. There are 237 families in the 80644 zip code that access SNAP. We have additional families that live in our school district with an 80634 zip code, which also includes Greeley, so I cannot provide a precise number of families that reside within the district who will see a delay in the SNAP benefit. I share because there is the potential for this to impact students in our district. If you know of anyone that is in need of food assistance I have provided resources for your reference below.
Additionally, we want to remind families of the partnership with Cook Center and ParentGuidance.org., a non-profit organization that works to provide resources to families to help guide their children through all of the issues they will be confronted with as the grow up. These issues include dealing with social media, anxiety, body image, grief and loss, divorce, and much more. It is not uncommon for anxiety to increase during the holidays, both for adults and children. The resources are specific to parents and guardians and is being funded for two years through a grant with the Weld Trust. Please see the information below on how to access the resources available to our families.
Thankful: November and the holidays, in general, is an opportunity reflect on all that we have to be grateful for. In the grand scheme of things, we are incredibly fortunate to live, work, and go to school in the community that we do. We have an incredibly supportive community that has worked to support the students at Platte Valley School District. We have a high-quality staff that works to do all they can to educate, support, and guide children from preschool to 12th grade, 3 to 18 years of age. Our students have the prospect to learn and grow through the academic and co-curricular opportunities that are available to them and help them to be ready to leave the protected walls of Platte Valley School District.
These opportunities would not be available to our students, the individuals we will eventually rely on and need to lead our communities and country in the future, without the investments and sacrifices of our community. Our mill-levy override has allowed us to effectively compete with area school districts to recruit and retain a high-quality staff. The passage of our bonds dating back to 1999 has allowed us to provide high quality working and learning environments for our students and staff. These election initiatives provided us with the resources to continue to invest in our students and community while also being diligent about maintaining our District’s facilities and infrastructure. These same students will eventually be called upon to work, run, and lead our communities in the future. We are grateful for these investments, sacrifice, and the foresight from our community to invest in our future leaders.
Finally, I would like to recognize and share my thanks for the Platte Valley Board of Education. We are thankful for the leadership and time donated by the individuals who collectively make up the Board of Education: James Welch, Luke Gardner, Mary Roth, Robin Meireis and Kristine Bauer. Thank you, Platte Valley Community, for all that you do. We have much to be thankful for.
Yours in Education,
Jeremy Burmeister, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools
“I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down”. Abraham Lincoln.
