Superintendent's Blog
Welcome to the Superintendent's Blog! This weekly blog was started in July 2007 as a way to communicate important events and happenings to our BVSD community. You can now subscribe to this blog via an RSS Feed by clicking the orange RSS logo on the left side of this page. If you have any questions or would like to suggest a topic for a future entry, please email me at superintendent@bvsd.org. I look forward to hearing from you!
Chris King, Superintendent of BVSD |
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9/26/2008
We can help students become successful by providing them with strong and effective instruction in the classroom, but we also need to pay attention to what our students need OUTSIDE of the classroom. What they do after school is important, too.
On Thursday, Oct. 2, the City of Boulder and BVSD along with many other community partners will hold our second annual celebration of “Lights On Afterschool.” Filled with fun activities and exceptional student performances, Lights On Afterschool will take place from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on the Pearl Street Mall in front of the courthouse.
Consider the following facts:
- Participation in afterschool programs is positively associated with better school attendance, improved grades, and reduced dropout rates.
- Every dollar invested in afterschool programs will save tax payers approximately $3.
- Thirty-three percent of Colorado’s K-12 youth are responsible for taking care of themselves during the after school hours while only 11 percent of Colorado’s K-12 youth participate in afterschool programs.
- Arts programs can increase academic achievement, help decrease youth involvement in delinquent behavior, and improve youth attitudes about themselves and the future.
- Young people who participate in high quality afterschool programs experience a wide range of positive youth development outcomes, including decision making, a desire to help others, and leadership skills
(Harvard Family Research Project, 2003)
These are just a few of the many reasons to join us for the celebration of “Lights On Afterschool” on Oct. 2. 9/8/2008Some of you have heard about THRIVE, the new parent handbook we are mailing to parents this fall.
I’m excited to see this idea becoming a reality this month. It began almost a year ago with the formation of a parent communications steering committee made up of representatives from BVSD, PEN (our Parent Engagement Network), Boulder County Healthy Youth Alliance, and other concerned community members. The mission of this committee was to initiate communications that help parents support their children’s safety, health and well-being. The first product this group delivered was the monthly Parent Corps News to which we have now subscribed since August 2007 on behalf of all of our parents in BVSD. We send this out to the schools each month and they forward it to their parents.
The second (and biggest) product developed by this committee is a new handbook which is at the printer this week. We are producing two versions, one in English (titled “Thrive”) and the other in Spanish (titled ““Porque Amo a Mi Hijo"), both of which will be mailed out to parents in the first week of October. This handbook has truly been a collaborative effort between district staff and numerous local agencies and individuals, all directed by Fran Raudenbush of Ryan Communications, the consultant we hired to manage this project.
As they say, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
8/25/2008
In our quest to better serve diverse communities of BVSD, we are always seeking ways to cross language barriers. BVSD has long provided written translations and verbal interpretations of district messages to various audiences, especially parents of our students who are identified as English Language Learners. When our new website launched a few months ago, the question naturally arose about how we could provide this important online information to people in different languages. Our district website alone has more than 2000 pages, and when you add in the pages of our 55 schools' websites, the number becomes quite overwhelming for any human translator to manage, especially since it isn't just one language in which we would need to provide translations. We have more than 70 different languages that are spoken by students and parents in our community. BVSD Webmaster Eric Howell researched the possibilities and came up with a state-of-the-art (and FREE) web translation tool provided by Google. To try it out, please go to http://bvsd.org/translation/Pages/default.aspx. This link will appear on the front page of our website later this week. Seven of the eight most frequently spoken languages in BVSD are among Google's offerings:
Spanish (Español)
German (Deutsch)
Russian (Русский)
Japanese (日本語)
French (Français)
Italian (Italiano)
Chinese (中国)
We hope Google will add Vietnamese soon, since many of our Hmong community reportedly understand Vietnamese.
Please visit this new web translation tool soon and let us know what you think. I think it is pretty amazing. Once you have clicked into it, you can travel throughout the entire BVSD website AND into the various school sites in whichever language you have selected.
It IS machine produced, so it is not as perfect as having an intelligent human being's translation of that page's text, but it IS efficient and we hope it will serve to provide BVSD information to an ever-expanding number of people, regardless of what language they speak.
8/19/2008
As we do every year, my cabinet members and I are out visiting all of the schools this week. We are seeing some great additions and renovations that were accomplished over the summer. I’m proud to report that all BVSD schools have opened on time, which was no small feat for a few of them this year, since we have several buildings undergoing large construction projects.
Many of our principals are performing heroically to keep their schools operating as normally as possible while the contractors complete the work. Bud Jenkins at Boulder High is working out of a box in the auditorium until construction on the school offices gets finished. Ginger Ramsey of Broomfield High and Adam Fels of Louisville Middle are managing the two biggest and most complicated bond construction projects going on right now. Hundreds of their students and staff are currently housed in portable buildings. Ginger and Adam are handling all the logistical problems that come with that and they are doing it with great style.
I salute all BVSD administrators and staff for how hard you are working to ensure the school year gets off to a good start for your students. Many thanks to you for everything you do. 8/6/2008Welcome back!
It has been a busy summer here in BVSD and we look forward to our students’ return next week. August 15 is the first day back for 6th and 9th graders. On August 18, the rest of our secondary students return and August 19 is the first day of school for elementary students. Principals and their assistants returned last week and teachers will be in their schools beginning Monday, August 11.
Among the many projects our 12-month staff members have been working on this summer, facility improvements have probably been the most visible to our community members. It is hard NOT to notice the heavy equipment, yellow tape and flying dust surrounding our schools which are currently in the midst of their construction projects. I would like to again thank voters who approved the bond in November 2006. All 55 BVSD schools will ultimately benefit from your generosity during this six-year undertaking.
Another big project has been implementation of the reorganization plan that I wrote about in March. Deputy Superintendent Ellen Miller-Brown has worked tirelessly with BVSD Human Resources to fill these key positions in our new Student Success division, which is now fully staffed and ready to roll toward improving learning for ALL students.
Check back here for news about other initiatives in the works. We have an exciting year ahead!
Chris King 5/23/2008
This is the most exciting week of the year here at BVSD -- our seniors are graduating!
- The class of 2008 includes 2,112 graduating seniors who are going exciting places and doing great things!
- This class includes 45 National Merit Scholar finalists.
- They have been accepted into 491 colleges and universities throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, England, Switzerland, and D.C.
- Most will attend college. Some students plan to travel, join the military or enter the workforce.
Our hope is that each and every one of them, whatever they choose to do now, has acquired the knowledge, skills and personal characteristics to help make this world a safer, more thoughtful and more inclusive place in which to live. That is our vision of the New Century Graduate and it is what we are all working toward every day.
We are very proud of our graduating class of 2008.
Congratulations and best of luck to all of you!
Click here for details about BVSD graduation including a schedule of ceremonies. 5/13/2008
If you have visited the Ed Center recently, you already know it looks quite different than it did a month or two ago.
For the past several months, a team here at the Ed Center has worked together to spruce up this somewhat ramshackle building in an effort to make it a more pleasant place to come to work each day. This initiative was launched by Deputy Superintendent Ellen Miller-Brown, who called it the “Culturally Proficient and Aesthetically Pleasing Education Center” project. Fine Arts Coordinator Jill Gartland quickly took the lead and has devoted numerous hours to bringing the vision to reality. Ema Lyman, BCSIS/High Peaks community liaison, created multicultural wall hangings for the front foyer. Sandy Eicher and Debbie Winterbourne have also been instrumental in getting everything together in time for today’s reception. Several other people worked on this committee, too. They know who they are and I thank them for all of their hard work.
The walls have been painted and clutter removed, but the main attraction that is slowing traffic to a crawl in the halls is the “Pride in Diversity” exhibit. Each school designed a shadow box to address this theme. The results are truly amazing. Additional artwork is also on display from Boulder High, Crestview, Monarch K-8 and Whittier.
A reception is being held 4:00-5:30 p.m. today, May 13, for people to view the shadow boxes and other student art.
Please join us.
P.S. If you were unable to make it to Tuesday's reception, don't worry. The exhibit will be up for several months, so please visit the Ed Center at your convenience and enjoy the show. 4/21/2008
On April 18 I notified all BVSD staff about another phase of the reorganization we are implementing here at the district. This is a continuation of the instructional reorganization announced last month by Deputy Superintendent Ellen Miller-Brown. The current changes are mostly at my cabinet level in response to the departure of our Chief Operating Officer Robert Hammond, who has been appointed as Colorado’s new Deputy Education Commissioner.
As I noted in my Friday communication to staff, our main goal in making these changes is to better serve all students in the district by moving resources closer to student learning.
Here at Boulder Valley School District, it truly is all about the kids. 4/7/2008
April’s Alcohol Awareness Month focuses on underage drinking, a problem that calls for cooperative efforts. BVSD has replaced outdated prevention techniques such as scare tactics with best practices that teach skill-building and address the causes of underage drinking.
Here are a few ways that parents/caregivers can partner with the schools to help prevent underage drinking:
- Set limits.
- Discuss expectations and laws.
- Teach decision-making and communication skills.
- Learn about the factors that increase the risk of teen alcohol use.
- Be positive role models.Reach out to others when help is needed.
3/30/2008
Third through 12th grade BVSD students will take the district’s School Climate Survey in the first two weeks after spring break. The purpose of this survey is to understand student perceptions about each school’s climate as a safe, orderly and supportive environment where learning can take place.
Survey items cover a range of content including safety, bullying behavior, school rules, opportunities to learn about different cultures, and the availability of adults at school to help a student. Some schools add their own items to the survey to address a school-specific program.
Responses to survey questions give us a picture of how well schools and the district are meeting student needs. Because the same survey has been given for several years, we are able to study trends and patterns in responses to help determine what programs and processes are working and which ones need improvement.
Please let me know what your student says about his or her experience taking this survey. | Edit in Browser | /_layouts/images/icxddoc.gif | /superintendent/blog/_layouts/formserver.aspx?XsnLocation={ItemUrl}&OpenIn=Browser | 0x0 | 0x1 | FileType | xsn | 255 | | Edit in Browser | /_layouts/images/icxddoc.gif | /superintendent/blog/_layouts/formserver.aspx?XmlLocation={ItemUrl}&OpenIn=Browser | 0x0 | 0x1 | ProgId | InfoPath.Document | 255 | | Edit in Browser | /_layouts/images/icxddoc.gif | /superintendent/blog/_layouts/formserver.aspx?XmlLocation={ItemUrl}&OpenIn=Browser | 0x0 | 0x1 | ProgId | InfoPath.Document.2 | 255 | | Edit in Browser | /_layouts/images/icxddoc.gif | /superintendent/blog/_layouts/formserver.aspx?XmlLocation={ItemUrl}&OpenIn=Browser | 0x0 | 0x1 | ProgId | InfoPath.Document.3 | 255 | | Edit in Browser | /_layouts/images/icxddoc.gif | /superintendent/blog/_layouts/formserver.aspx?XmlLocation={ItemUrl}&OpenIn=Browser | 0x0 | 0x1 | ProgId | InfoPath.Document.4 | 255 | | View in Web Browser | /_layouts/images/ichtmxls.gif | /superintendent/blog/_layouts/xlviewer.aspx?listguid={ListId}&itemid={ItemId}&DefaultItemOpen=1 | 0x0 | 0x1 | FileType | xlsx | 255 | | View in Web Browser | /_layouts/images/ichtmxls.gif | /superintendent/blog/_layouts/xlviewer.aspx?listguid={ListId}&itemid={ItemId}&DefaultItemOpen=1 | 0x0 | 0x1 | FileType | xlsb | 255 | | Snapshot in Excel | /_layouts/images/ewr134.gif | /superintendent/blog/_layouts/xlviewer.aspx?listguid={ListId}&itemid={ItemId}&Snapshot=1 | 0x0 | 0x1 | FileType | xlsx | 256 | | Snapshot in Excel | /_layouts/images/ewr134.gif | /superintendent/blog/_layouts/xlviewer.aspx?listguid={ListId}&itemid={ItemId}&Snapshot=1 | 0x0 | 0x1 | FileType | xlsb | 256 |
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