When Madi Smith starts her sophomore year at Cañon City High School in the fall, her school days will resemble many of those during her freshman year, with classes beginning with the power button of a Chromebook rather than the ding of a bell. Madi, 15, clocked many of her school hours during the pandemic-riddled […]
Colorado Department of Education
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
A rural Colorado high school’s aerospace class is paving the runway for a new generation of pilots
Mya Diaz Soto’s phone buzzed Saturday morning with a text message from her frantic mother, who demanded to know why her 17-year-old daughter was cruising 134 mph. Mya’s mother, who was visiting family with her father hundreds of miles away in Texas that morning, uses a smartphone app to track her daughter’s location, shows how […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Universal free lunch will help Colorado districts keep feeding kids. But could it also rob some schools of state funding?
When Paula Buser heard that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would fund universal free lunch for schools throughout the country next year, she hit a crossroads of emotions, falling somewhere between contented and concerned. Food insecurity has plagued families in Fremont County during the pandemic, said Buser, who directs support services for Cañon City School […]
Posted inEducation, News
Kids aren’t getting school lunches as they learn from home. A plan will get money for missed meals to Colorado families.
Only half of Colorado students eligible for pandemic-related food assistance actually got money set aside for them last school year. Now the same program has been extended and Colorado’s education and human services departments are working double-time to reach more kids who missed meals because the coronavirus upset school schedules. The U.S. Department of Agriculture […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Colorado wants to help kids move past coronavirus learning challenges. But funding is a big hurdle.
Many Colorado students will end the school year academically behind, set back by pandemic-related disruptions. Lawmakers are hoping to help them regain ground with state-supported intensive tutoring. A bipartisan bill, House Bill 1234, proposes creating a program that would grant funds to districts to develop “high-impact” tutoring programs to help catch students up on their […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Colorado students will take modified CMAS exams this spring following federal approval
Colorado students in grades three through 11 will take state standardized assessments this spring, with students testing in either English language arts or math depending on their grade level, following the U.S. Department of Education’s partial approval of a state plan for assessments. Under the approved part of the plan, students in third, fifth and […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Coronavirus set back Colorado schools already battling to improve student performance
The pandemic froze some Colorado schools in a bad place, in state regulators’ eyes. Peakview School in southern Colorado was doing the hard work to emerge from the state performance watch list when the pandemic pinned it in time: Students were shut out of taking the tests that could prove their progress and get the […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado charter schools stand out during a hard year for public education
A year ago, few of us understood exactly how much our world was about to change. Lockdowns, face coverings, business closures and mandatory remote learning were issues that people in other countries were contending with, not those of us here in the United States. Obviously, that is no longer true. It was a year of […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Coronavirus is straining Colorado kids’ mental health. The state hopes free counseling sessions will help.
East Grand School District’s 1,305 students have been forced to cope with an immeasurable amount of stress this year, first in the form of a pandemic, followed by a wildfire racing through their community, burning more than 100,000 acres within hours. Amid the ashes left by the East Troublesome Fire last fall, there remains a […]
Posted inEducation, News
Colorado’s rules on reading curriculum apply to Aurora, but that was news to district officials
Some Aurora schools will have to switch to a new reading curriculum to comply with a state law requiring science-backed reading materials — even though district leaders initially denied that they would have to change. About one-third of the district’s elementary and K-8 schools use a program that has been soundly rejected by state reviewers. […]