A COVID-19 testing network that is already testing about 40,000 teachers across Colorado school districts and higher education institutions has expanded to test some of Denver’s youngest learners and their families, who are among the most vulnerable. COVIDCheck Colorado, a network developed by Gary Community Investment Company and The Piton Foundation, is partnering with Clayton […]
Colorado education
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Coronavirus has masked Colorado students’ emotions. Teachers are trying new ways to connect.
During a typical school year — one that isn’t upended by a pandemic — Katieann Carochi greets her students with a handshake as they enter the classroom each morning. It’s more than a way for the fifth-grade teacher to say hello. “That for me is a big gauge as to how they’re doing that day,” […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Here’s how Colorado’s October student count will change to preserve school-district funding
How do you count the number of students in your school or district when they’re not physically in your classrooms? It’s a tricky question for Colorado school districts to answer, but it’s an important one: A district’s student count is the primary factor in determining how much state funding they receive. The Colorado Department of […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News, Politics and Government, Technology
Colorado pours $2M into internet access for families while partnering with providers like T-Mobile to expand broadband
Colorado will invest $2 million in federal coronavirus relief funds in school districts trying to make sure all of their students have a reliable internet connection while learning at home. Districts will be able to use the money to purchase hot-spots for families who live in areas where broadband service isn’t readily available or to […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, Environment, News
With Colorado schools resuming classes amid coronavirus, the outdoors provides a safe place to learn
Whenever Kimbal Musk visits an elementary school to talk to kids about their school garden, he usually winds up introducing at least one of them to a cherry tomato. “Never is there a time when at least one of the kids (doesn’t say), ‘What is that?’ And I have to say, ‘This is a cherry […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Colorado students are improving in literacy — possibly to the detriment of their math skills. That’s bad for the economy.
Colorado students have inched forward with progress in reading following a statewide focus on improving literacy, but their math skills aren’t moving in the same direction — or, really, in any direction. A report released by A+ Colorado this week highlights how stagnant math scores have been on the Colorado Measures of Academic Success assessments, […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Colorado students may shuffle school districts during coronavirus, leaving a financial mess in their wake
When Centennial School District R-1 resumes classes on Wednesday, the student population will have plummeted from where it was a year ago. The number of children enrolled in the San Luis Valley district was 122 as of Monday, down from 191 at the start of the last academic year. The 36% decrease is preliminary, Superintendent […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
These Colorado school districts are welcoming students back for in-person learning this fall. Here’s why they feel it’s safe.
School district leaders in Holyoke fully anticipate having to shut down schools for a few weeks this fall in response to the coronavirus, but that’s not stopping them from opening classrooms up and starting the school year with in-person learning. It’s an increasingly rare approach to the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year as many […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Wealthy Colorado parents are hiring teachers for private learning pods, leaving low-income students behind
Coronavirus shutdowns and delays have created so many unknowns for Colorado parents with school-age kids just weeks before most classes are slated to start that some are creating their own certainties by starting “pods” of like-minded families and hiring private teachers. The flight from ambiguity — over when school will actually start, whether it will […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, Health, News
Colorado issues guidance on when coronavirus should prompt a school closure as governor calls in-person learning “reasonably safe”
Schools with coronavirus outbreaks in five or more classrooms will close for at least 10 days under new guidance released Thursday by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. The guidance, focused on how school districts can effectively respond to a COVID-19 outbreak, also recommends a school close if 10 or more students, teachers […]