New Member Spotlight:

The Collaborative Welcomes Monte Vista!

Monte Vista School District is a part of the San Luis Valley BOCES, serving students from PreK through 12th grade. Their current student enrollment count is 1135. The staff consists of 78 teachers and 56 support staff.  

  • Hosted the 1st SLV robotics competition, expanding their STEM program
  • PE Academy-Spark Curriculum implementation PreK-12 because of Healthy Eaters Lifelong Movers partnership, resulting in a participation in the WISH grant for development of a comprehensive community health and wellness program
  • 1 to 1 technology program in grades 4-12
  • A founding member of the Student-Centered Accountability Project school improvement process
  • District-wide truancy mitigation program has cut all levels of chronic absenteeism by up to 64%.
New Member Spotlight:

The Collaborative Welcomes Buffalo!

Sending a big welcome to Buffalo School District! Buffalo School district offers Kindergarten through 12th grade in the Northeastern BOCES. The current enrollment count is 309 students.  The staff consists of 25 teachers and 27 support staff.

  • Raised over $59,000 to go towards the building of an all-weather track
  • 1 to 1 Chromebook initiative to be implemented in grades 3-12 in the 2017/2018 school year
  • Elementary school raised over $14,000 to go towards Race for Education program; 100% of what is raised is kept by the school
  • Supports the only student lead wellness team in the state, having won several state-wide awards
  • Working on the Student Centered Accountability Project alongside Buena Vista, Monte Vista, Kit Carson, and LaVeta

New Member Spotlight:

The Collaborative Welcomes Telluride!

Telluride School District is a part of the Uncompaghre BOCES.  Telluride offers PreK through 12th grade in their district. Their current student enrollment count is 945. They staff consists of 83 teachers and 39 support staff.  Telluride supports their staff with employee housing as well as down payment assistance. 

  • Ranked #9 High School in Colorado by US News in World Report 
  • Implementing a renewable energy initiative 
  • The High School was selected for the 4th AP District Honor Roll - a list of 477 districts across the US and Canada
  • Implement the AVID Program in Middle and High School levels that prepares students for college readiness and success 
Generation Schools Network (GSN) Online Store Ready to Provide Resources to Schools and Districts!

GSN is proud to announce the launching of our  online store, Shopify GSN! 

The store is now live and available for teachers, principals, community members and parents to purchase resources on College and Career Readiness and Social Emotional Learning. In addition, we have the option to provide virtual training, which can also be purchased through the store. For a  FREE sample , use the code  "GROWTH2017"  to download our Growth Mindset Unit. 
 
For more information, contact Katie Peyton.

Leveraging the Fifth Day for Learning in Rural Colorado

"Every day counts when it comes to the learning and the future of our students, and that's what Leveraging the Fifth Day grant and pilot is all about.
 
Four-day school weeks are becoming more common across the western United States, including in 88 of Colorado's 179 school districts. Some shorten the week to save money or to meet community needs or aide in teacher hiring and retention. But there's an opportunity in that fifth day. The Donnell-Kay Foundation visited many communities on a four day school week and decided investing in the 5th day might help grow authentic learning from the ground-up.
 
Monte Vista Kids Connection from Monte Vista School District, East Otero School District, and Campo School District RE-2 are three of the eight finalists in the Donnell-Kay Foundation's Leveraging the 5th Day grant and pilot.
 
The eight communities including our own three communities came to Denver and went through an eight hour design thinking workshop and are now back in their communities implementing empathy and user centered design strategies, such as student interviews, stakeholder meetings, and community asset mapping." 
- Antonio Pares, Donnell-Kay Foundation

For more detailed information, click here

Genesis Groups - Connecting our Efforts Across the State! 

The CREC launched the initial meetings of the Genesis Groups in February and have successfully connected diverse groups of leaders, educators, and partners across the state around to discover, share, leverage resources, and plan action around the following high priority areas:
 
-Teacher Recruitment and Retention
-Social Emotional Learning/Disengaged Students
-College and Career Readiness
-Teacher and Leader Efficacy
-STEM
-Student Centered Accountability

If you would like to join the conversation, please contact dleplatt@generationschools.org.
 
To learn more about Genesis Groups, click here.
Colorado Communities Chosen for the 2017 Assessment Program - Congratulations to Custer County! 

The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced that Custer County, along with two other Colorado communities have been chosen for the 2017 Community Assessment program. Each community will receive assistance with creating a community vision and economic development plan.
 
The assessment will start with a community tour and a community dinner on the first night, followed by a day of stakeholder meetings, culminating in a presentation of the assessment teams' observations and recommendations. Observation teams will consist of OEDIT and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) staff and experts. For more information, click here

Upcoming Grants:

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Innovation Fund
NoVo Foundation, in partnership with Education First and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, aims to seed teacher-led projects and district-wide projects that foster social-emotional skills in students in grades PK-12. Whether you have an idea for a new initiative or want to expand or continue an existing project, we want to hear from you. Click here for more information.
 
Generation Schools Network (GSN) is offering to support your district in writing and submitting this grant. If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Leslie Tjajadi.
 
Submission deadline: April 21, 2017


Creating Healthy Schools Grant Opportunity
The Colorado Health Foundation Board approved a ten-year commitment to healthy schools efforts across Col orado. This opportunity is designed to connect system and local level efforts to create a sustainable network that fosters health and wellness and provides a thriving environment for kids throughout Colorado. The Foundation has two available  funding opportunities: Local Planning & Assessment and Local Implementation.
 
Generation Schools Network (GSN) is offering to support your district in writing and submitting this grant to win Healthy Schools Funding. This provides the district with a supportive partne r to guide the work and the implementation. To learn more about this grant opportunity, click here .
 
Congratulations to one of our CREC members, Primero School District, for winning the Creating Healthy Schools grant! They have started to implement the grant work this Spring and have already conducted their first Wellness Council Meeting. To learn more about Primero's work, contact Ellen Sarkisian.
 
Submission deadline: June 15, 2017 

Upcoming Events:
 
July 25th 
Colorado Rural Summit - SAVE THE DATE! 

By popular request, the Rural Summit will be hosted during the CASE Pre-Conference convening on Tuesday, July 25 th , as well as an evening reception on July 24 th . The Rural Summit will be an ALL DAY event specifically for Rural Schools. We are looking forward to hosting a great event along with CASE, Colorado Rural Schools Alliance, Colorado BOCES, Colorado Rural Education Council, Colorado Center for Rural Education, and CASB. Stay tuned for registration details and more information!  Contact Denille if you have further questions. 

Colorado Rural Education Collaborative |  http://www.coruraledcollab.org /
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