Earlier this week, we gathered parent leaders of BVSD’s PTOs and PTAs for a Parent Partnership Summit. Nearly half of our 56 schools had a representative join the summit which was generously sponsored by Premier Members Credit Union.

We were fortunate to be joined by three BVSD leaders, including Dr. Rob Anderson, Superintendent; Dr. Lora de la Cruz, Deputy Superintendent and Dr. Sam Messier, Assistant Superintendent for Strategic Partnerships and Academic Supports.

All together for all students

Dr. Anderson shared some district updates with the group before sharing the three pillars of the BVSD strategic plan:

• Ignite: all students benefit from challenging and relevant educational opportunities
• Equip: reduce disparities in achievement
• Soar: ever student graduates empowered with the skills necessary for post-graduate success

As the newest member of the BVSD leadership team, Dr. de la Cruz introduced herself and shared her perspectives about the successes of the district and challenges that lie ahead. 

Our attendees asked relevant and informed questions about bringing volunteers back into schools, staffing and substitute constraints, funding for paraeducators in elementary schools, and declining enrollment across the district.

Building strategic partnerships

Next up was Dr. Messier, discussing her new role building systems to better support partnerships that are aligned to BVSD’s strategic goals. Attendees spent time in small groups discussing how their school group connects to the pillars of the strategic plan. From all of the conversations, three key themes emerged regarding ways parent groups can support BVSD’s progress towards its goals:

1. Supplementing school staff
2. Intentionally engaging families
3. Supporting educators

Working together

These school groups are each working hard to support their school, educators, and students. From providing funding for paraeducators to creating opportunities for all families to have a voice to hosting community events, we are grateful for their dedication to Boulder Valley School District. 

Attendees left the session with a deeper understanding of the School District’s strategic direction, the role of Impact on Education and the ways that other parent groups are supporting their schools. We hope they also left energized and encouraged and with some new connections.

Student After Care (SAC) Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors serve a diverse group of students daily at 32 sites throughout Boulder Valley School District (BVSD). From grade levels to academic ability levels to emotional and behavioral health levels, SAC staff must manage each student’s needs and create a safe environment outside of school hours for students and staff.

To help SAC staff manage student needs and their own, we’ve partnered with the City of Boulder’s Housing and Human Services Department to invest $25,000 so two employees from each site can obtain 6 hours of professional development in Calming Kids Mindfulness and Yoga.

What is Calming Kids?

The Calming Kids training will introduce balancing the physical body, calming the energetic body and becoming mindful of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Easy exercises to loosen the body, breathing practices, and relaxation techniques will be presented for staff to instruct students, as well as, how these tools can support the adult teacher.

Yoga and mindfulness education for the classroom setting provides strategies to support social-emotional wellness and brain integration. Participants will learn a curriculum for elementary age students enabling them to teach and model techniques for students, to assist with academic performance and cultivate a greater capacity for a compassionate community.

Benefits of mental health training

These training sessions will teach SAC supervisory staff how to regulate their own emotions amidst challenging situations and how to teach strategies for students to self-regulate within these same challenging situations.

What happens before and after school impacts the learning and experiences during the school day and at home.

Providing professional development in this area of mindfulness and social-emotional health also signals to SAC staff how much they are valued and appreciated. Our goal is to empower SAC staff with tools they need to succeed and build confidence in their abilities to do their job of taking care of our students outside of the school day.

Future investments

We are committed to meeting the social-emotional needs of BVSD students and educators and continue to seek out ways we can support this integral part of education in Boulder Valley’s schools.

When the pandemic first shut down BVSD schools back in March of 2020, we knew school closures would present a significant hardship for students, especially for those who rely on schools for more than just their education. We responded swiftly, providing an array of immediate support for students and families. However, we also knew the disruption to student learning would be disproportionate and could have a profound impact on the long-term success of students, especially those who are economically disadvantaged. 

As we all now know, the pandemic was not a short-lived interference in our lives; we are now in the third year of interrupted learning for students in our community. Now that we’re a few months into the 2021-22 school year and students are mostly back in person, our focus shifted from providing emergency relief to addressing the potential gaps in student learning.

Making up ground

We are committed to ensuring all students can learn and that those who’ve fallen behind can make up ground this year. We are also committed to helping students learn coping skills and build the resilience challenged by long periods of social isolation. 

In partnership with BVSD, we are funding a variety of school and student needs across the District. Because the needs vary widely, so do our investments. One of the tools we are using to fund these situations facing students and schools this year is our Academic Opportunity Fund. Both educators and school administrators can apply for funding to support students, classes, or schools.

A successful first round of funding 

The first funding round for the 2021-22 Academic Opportunity Fund closed in early October with over 30 applications submitted that were then reviewed by a team of community volunteers. We are proud to announce that we are able to meet the needs of 24 applicants: four applicants were connected to other district resources to meet their needs and 20 applicants received funding directly from Impact on Education.

Funding requests came from across the district, from mountain schools like Gold Hill to Broomfield schools, with over $30,000 awarded just in this first round. Requests ranged from technology licenses to classroom curriculum and supplies to health needs to musical instruments. Student populations being served by this funding span K-12 grade levels with students in ILC classrooms, AP classrooms, and elective classrooms all being impacted by these fulfilled requests.

The Academic Opportunity Fund is currently open for its second round of funding with a third round planned this fall as well. We anticipate we’ll continue to meet the varied needs of schools, relying on dedicated community volunteers to read and evaluate the grant requests we receive. 

While the Academic Opportunity Fund addresses immediate student needs beyond what BVSD is able to provide, our other program dollars continue to support large-scale district initiatives.

District-wide investments

In addition to the funding we disperse with our Academic Opportunity Fund, several large-scale district-wide issues have come to light as well this academic year. We are working with our partners at BVSD to address some of these needs, including mental health, transportation, supplemental instructional time, early childhood education, and career readiness. 

Throughout the pandemic, we learned that one of Impact on Education’s greatest strengths is   our ability to adapt to the changing and evolving needs of students. While we feel confident that our investments this academic year are vital to the success of all students, we are also prepared to pivot and change as the landscape shifts. 

Over the summer, we supported K-12 students in the Boulder Valley School District who needed to catch up on unfinished learning. Our investments supported elementary and middle school students whose skill levels in core classes had fallen below grade level as well as high school students who needed credit recovery.

Elementary and middle school students

We invested $75,000 in summer learning by extending the school day and offering free after school care to support students who would otherwise be unable to attend:

• 1264 students attended a half-day of summer learning four days per week for six weeks
• 161 BVSD students enrolled in free after school care across four sites
• Students received meals, snacks and supply materials for activities for each day of care

High school students

We funded free credit recovery that reached every BVSD high school. A total of 1272 students enrolled in BVSD Online over the summer:

• 48 middle school students and 1224 high school students took online courses
• 560 high school students enrolled in BVSD Online only for credit recovery
• 52 high school students enrolled only for full semester credit recovery
• Students taking math, science, and world language courses saw the highest success rates

Looking ahead

We are committed to ensuring the disruptions to learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic don’t result in long-term learning gaps for our students. Impact on Education remains focused on supplemental learning opportunities and initiatives that contribute to student success. We will continue to invest throughout this 21-22 school year and beyond in targeted ways that support the students who are making up ground and ensuring that we provide additional instruction to those who need it most. 

We are excited to announce a new funding source, the Academic Opportunity Fund, to support students and educators in the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) during the 2021-22 school year.

Building on previous successes

During the 2020-21 school year we piloted the Student Academic Support Fund to meet individual student needs on a case by case basis. This pilot catalyzed our movement to support BVSD throughout the pandemic and provided over $25,000 to fund 20 separate grant requests. To expand this successful program to encompass educators looking to innovate within their classrooms and fulfill student needs, we consolidated the Student Academic Support Fund with our longstanding Classroom Innovation Grant funding program. 

Consolidating the Student Academic Support Fund and Classroom Innovation Grants into a single funding source for the 2021-22 school year allows us to meet both student and educator needs on a case-by-case basis.

“As the pandemic continues to disrupt education, we continue to assess the needs of our students and educators. The Academic Opportunity Fund allows Impact on Education to address immediate needs for academic support that supplement district initiatives.”

Allison Billings – Executive Director, Impact on Education

While other program dollars continue to support large-scale district initiatives including assisting with supplemental instruction across grade levels in math and reading, we know we know students sometimes face immediate needs for academic support beyond what BVSD is able to provide.

Needs we anticipate funding

The Academic Opportunity Fund is highly flexible and may support targeted tutoring, software licenses, transportation expenses, class fees, educator curriculum, materials for classroom use or other needs that stretch beyond what BVSD is able to provide.

“From my own classroom teaching experience, I’ve seen how even the most effective district initiative cannot possibly impact every single student. I value how this Fund singles out and meets unique individual and small groups of students’ academic needs.”

Jen Biegen – Program Coordinator, Impact on Education

The application form asks applicants to make sure their need is aligned with the most appropriate resource, whether it be Impact on Education or another BVSD or community organization.

How to request funding

The first application round is open now and will close on October 3. We anticipate opening subsequent rounds this fall and encourage those looking for funding to keep an eye on our website.

I first became involved with Impact on Education in 2012 when my Uncle Blake asked my family if we would be interested in sorting school supplies into backpacks for Crayons to Calculators. During my high school career I stayed involved with Crayons to Calculators and pursued a variety of other volunteer opportunities and extracurricular activities that led me to the University of Denver where I have been studying Psychology and Sociology for the past several years. 

My next opportunity to become involved with Impact on Education was as a third year college student, sitting in my parents basement at the start of a global pandemic. I learned about their volunteer events and fundraising committee and after attending initial meetings I had no doubt that I wanted to be more involved with the organization.

The importance of the right team

When I applied for an Impact on Education internship, I expected to have similar experiences as my peers: they learned a lot at their respective internships but they were not valued as team members or colleagues. After starting my communications internship in January 2020, I quickly realized this would not be the case.

My input was not just tolerated but requested and valued. This was one of my biggest takeaways from the internship: how effective and productive an organization and team can be under the right leadership and supportive, constructive environment. 

I’m incredibly grateful for these experiences which, above all, taught me that my drive and goal in life is to utilize and reallocate resources towards populations, communities, and individuals who most need them.

Kate Snedeker

While my expectations about the internship were accurate, it was significantly more challenging than I had expected. The team and I quickly learned which areas I excelled and which areas I struggled more, such as social media and communications. The team was responsive and receptive, so I began working more with our Development Director, Darcy.

What I learned working at Impact on Education

I switched my focus to the Impact Awards where I got to truly stretch my wings. I was responsible for coordinating the partnerships with the local businesses who graciously partnered with Impact on Education in order to thank our education community. This particular experience taught me how well I do in the community, engaging with this type of outreach.

We decided to extend my spring internship through the summer so I could help with the annual gala, Together We Climb. As my work transitioned to the gala I had an opportunity to stretch my community outreach wings again in an effort to prepare for our silent auction. This gave me the chance to be creative in considering the items our community may like to bid on in the auction while working with other companies and businesses to procure them. True to Darcy’s sage advice, it really never did hurt to ask. 

Aside from the community outreach, I was able to work with our Communications Director, Catherine to get better and more familiar with the programs involved with communications and social media. I feel so much more confident in both working with the programs Cat taught me and wading through work challenges that may not come so easily to me.

What’s next for me

I’m incredibly grateful for these experiences which, above all, taught me that my drive and goal in life is to utilize and reallocate resources towards populations, communities, and individuals who most need them. I am looking forward to graduating from the University of Denver this November and turning towards a career as a social worker. 

This year’s Summer Shuffle program looked unlike any other year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the goal remained the same: preparing local preschoolers from low-income families for Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) classrooms. We’re so grateful we were able to have students learn in person by limiting our class sizes and following the BVSD health and safety protocols.

How the Summer Shuffle program works

Three Boulder Housing Partner (BHP) sites were selected to host a summer class, and each was staffed by a bilingual lead instructor and a bilingual paraeducator who delivered literacy, numeracy, and executive functioning instruction to BHP pre-schoolers and incoming kindergarten students. 

For five weeks, the classes met for two hours each Monday through Thursday, serving 31 children total from three to six years of age. In addition to the curriculum, kids were able to play outside and receive a take-home snack each day. New to the program this year, students were provided with their own copy of a new book each week based on the weekly curriculum theme as well as arts and crafts materials and supplies the families could keep for future use. 

What we learned this year

• Class attendance averaged 60% across the three sites with parents and caregivers attributing absences to inconsistent work schedules or transportation issues  
• 70% of the children made at least one point of growth on the BVSD TS-Gold Kindergarten Readiness Assessment*
• 82% of the students in the program could write their names on their own at the conclusion of the program
• 80% of the participants will continuing preschool enrollment or enrolling their child in preschool or kindergarten for the first time during the school year 2021-2022

What’s next for kindergarten readiness

We are working on plans for an expanded summer program in 2022 that will broaden our reach to more pre-K kids and to more communities. If you would like to help prepare our youngest learners for school, please reach out to Darcy to learn more or make a gift.

*The BVSD TS-Gold Kindergarten Readiness Assessment measures literacy/letter recognition, numeracy/number recognition and counting, and executive functioning skills necessary to engage productively and positively in a kindergarten class.

Our local K-12 students returned to classrooms last week, and preschoolers start on Monday, August 30. Everyone can feel the excitement, the anticipation, and the pure joy of being back at school.

On Friday, August 20th, hundreds of Boulder Valley community members came together (in person and virtually) to help Impact on Education ensure that all of these students have a great school year. We’re incredibly grateful for the sponsors and donors who joined and supported us.

Together, we raised nearly $250,000 to strengthen Boulder Valley’s public schools.

Impact on Education has big plans ahead, including a major investment to provide supplemental instruction for students to make up for unfinished learning from prior years and initiatives to ensure more students are prepared for college and careers.

At the gala we were touched to hear stories about students whose lives were positively and directly impacted by our work. And our keynote speaker, Erik Weihenmayer, took our theme, Together We Climb, to new heights. As a former educator and world-renowned athlete and adventurer, he spoke about the importance of teams in classrooms and in life, and he inspired us all with his incredible story. Every student will encounter barriers throughout their life much like the challenges Erik faces living and adventuring without sight. Erik reinforced the importance of our work as alchemists to eliminate the barriers standing in the way of student success.

We take this message to heart and are starting the school year off committed to helping all students find their paths to success. We wish every student and educator a wonderful school year!

Students and educators are excited to return to classrooms this week, and we’re proud to help ensure every student is equipped for success.

Students across our community have come to rely on Crayons to Calculators to provide a positive start to their school year, and 2021 was no exception.

This year was one of the most critical for the Crayons to Calculators program as more families found themselves needing assistance due to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For health and safety reasons, we ran a modified program again this year, collecting monetary donations to purchase backpacks and supply kits, instead of having items donated and assembled by volunteers. Our partners at BVSD and SVVSD handled the logistics and ensured that each of more than 100 schools received backpacks and supplies for every student in their building facing financial hardship. 

We exceeded our Community Challenge goal of raising $25,000 and together with our Title Sponsor Western Disposal we collectively raised $250,000 to purchase and distribute school supplies to the students who need them most. We’re so proud of this and your dedication to our community.

Thank you for helping us provide school supplies to over 11,000 students in two school districts. We couldn’t have done it without you!

To move through life both professionally and personally, you have to be a good people person.

Yancey Spruill, CEO DigitalOcean

What I Know Now: Yancey Spruill, CEO DigitalOcean

Student Advisory Board Member Noah had the opportunity to speak with Yancey Spruill, CEO of DigitalOcean, just before he graduated from high school. Yancey shared insights from his education and his professional journey from engineer to Wall Street to working in technology. Tune into our latest episode of What I Know Now to hear these highlights and more from Yancey’s interview: 

• using statistics for assessing risk in his day to day life
• the importance of always learning and growing
• the benefits flexibility brings to work and learning environments
• his perspective on issues of race and class

About Yancey Spruill
As Chief Executive Officer, Yancey drives the overall strategy for DigitalOcean leading the company through its next phase of profitable growth. He brings a wealth of technical, financial, and leadership experience and spent the last 15 years in senior executive roles at technology companies including SendGrid and DigitalGlobe. Yancey started his career working as a manufacturing engineer at Corning Incorporated and The Clorox Company. He also has extensive investment banking experience focused on mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, and Thomas Weisel Partners. More about Yancey >>

About the Student Advisory Board
Our Student Advisory Board (SAB) is a collaborative leadership experience for Boulder Valley School District high school students. The SAB brings together 13 students enrolled in Boulder Valley’s high schools to share their perspectives in order to advise Impact on Education’s initiatives and guide our investments. More about the SAB >>

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