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Education

  • Incidents prompt board member to enroll daughters in private school

    Graffiti targeting school board member John Newkirk near his youngest daughter's elementary school prompted the family to enroll their girls in a private school for the 2014-15 school year.

    “After much thought and discussion, our family made the decision to move our daughters to an alternate school environment for the 2014-15 year,” Newkirk said. 

    Newkirk declined to name the school his daughters are attending but said it is a “faith-based” school in Littleton.

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  • Board approves Witt's pay plan for teachers on 3-2 vote

    The Jeffco school board approved a new teacher compensation plan at last Thursday’s meeting that ties pay raises to performance. 

    Under the new plan, “partially effective” teachers who are still in their first three years will receive a 1 percent raise. Teachers rated “effective” will receive a 2.43 percent raise. Teachers rated “highly effective” will receive a 4.25 percent raise.

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  • Friendly overtures, friction at school board retreat

    Jeffco’s famously divided school board made conciliatory noises at its annual retreat on Saturday, though some evidence surfaced of the friction that has prevailed since last November’s election. 

    “I promise there will be clear and concise communication,” said Superintendent Daniel McMinimee, who was hired on a 3-2 vote in June. “I’m looking forward to working together. I think this has been a great start.”

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  • Parents, students admire renovations at King-Murphy

    The fourth-grade classrooms at King-Murphy Elementary School have that fresh-paint, new-carpet smell.

    “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told the students to look at the carpet,” said fourth-grade teacher Samantha Gorenstein, knowing the carpets won’t be clean for long as students settle into the daily — and sometimes messy — routine of the new school year.

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  • Change in the air at Wilmot

    Matt Cormier believes that a new principal should change only one thing during his first year.

    So Cormier, who is now at the helm of Wilmot Elementary School, is changing three things.

    At the top of his list is bolstering communication among faculty, parents and the community, including getting acquainted with students and parents, re-instituting birthday cards for students from the principal, and trying to organize such events as a Wilmot night at a Rockies game.

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  • Numbers game: Program makes math fun for kids

    Debra Hansen is on a mission to make math fun for kids.

    The international software company CFO-turned-creative math whiz has brought her passion for math to libraries around Jeffco this summer, making a stop at the Evergreen Library on Aug. 5.

    Using songs and games, she helped groups of 5- to 8-year-olds and 8- to 12-year-olds spend an hour being inquisitive and working out problems, but the kids didn’t really know they were working on math because they were having so much fun.

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  • LESSON PLANS: Rocky Mountain Academy hires executive director

    With an eye toward a leader who is both a principal and more visible in the community, Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen has hired Roberta Harrell as its new executive director.

    Harrell has worked in both public and charter schools, so she understands the challenges RMAE faces, according to Alan Scheik, vice president of the charter school's board. Harrell was hired on a unanimous board vote after a search that netted 27 candidates.

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  • New superintendent determined to find common ground

    Hired by a divided school board and suddenly at the helm of a district riven by political strife, Jeffco Schools Superintendent Dan McMinimee says he's determined to build bridges and develop relationships.

    The Douglas County administrator took over the Jeffco school district July 1, and his first order of business was getting to know district staff — and letting them get to know him.

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  • District boosts funding for curriculum, student achievement

    Thanks to increased state funding, Jeffco Public Schools will spend more on curriculum, student achievement and ever-changing technology trends during the 2014-15 school year.

    The school board approved next year’s budget at last month’s final meeting before summer break on a 3-2 vote. The more than $1 billion spending plan is up from last year’s $952 million budget.

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  • School board approves 2014-15 budget

    The Jeffco school board voted 3-2 last Thursday to approve the district’s 2014-15 budget — a $1 billion spending plan that increases teachers’ salaries and funding for charter schools.

    Teachers, who have not had a pay increase in four years, will benefit from the $4.8 million earmarked for salary increases, which will equate to an average 2.5 percent raise per teacher.

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