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EDUCATION ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS AROUND COLORADO SPRINGS TAKE DIFFERENT APPROACH TOWARD FIGHTING LEARNING LOSS STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH TAKES PRIORITY FOR UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR AS DEMAND GROWS

Published by The Gazette July 31, 2022 30 E. Pikes Peak Ave. Colorado Springs, CO 80903

COLORADO SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICTS OFFER SCHOOL CHILD CARE FOR K–5 STUDENTS

President and Publisher CHRIS REEN

CHARTER SCHOOLS MAY OFFER A BETTER OPTION FOR SOME

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Monroe Elementary School assistant principal Katie Schoolmaster, right, looks on as students participate in small-group math instruction. Monroe was one of more than 35 district schools that participated in District 11’s Summer Bridge program. Photo by O’Dell Isaac, The Gazette

Summer learnin’ Education enrichment programs around Colorado Springs take different approach toward fighting learning loss

By O’Dell Isaac odell.isaac@gazette.com Two years after a pandemic that turned bedrooms into classrooms, many Colorado Springs-area students are finally beginning to show signs of recovery from the learning loss that has plagued them since early 2020.

But thousands of students are still struggling to catch up, and officials warn that it could take years to close the learning and achievement gaps that were

caused — or exacerbated —

by COVID -19.

“This situation was created over a two-year period,” said Clint Allison, Fountain-Fort Carson District 8’s executive director of student achievement. “We’re not going to fix it in one or two summers. It’s going to take time.”

Students were hit hard, indeed.

National Public Radio reported that even students who spent the least amount of time learning SEE SUMMER PROGRAMS • PAGE 4

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Michael Lebo anxiously watches from the floor as he hopes that his robotic vehicle will make the turn that he programmed it to do. At Janitell Junior High School in the Widefield School District #3, students are spending a few days out of their summer building and programming robots. Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette.

SUMMER • FROM PAGE 3

remotely during the 2020-21 school year — a month or less — missed the equivalent of seven to 10 weeks of math learning, according to Thomas Kane of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.

Previous summer enrichment programs have been mostly designed to mitigate the “summer slide” — the tendency for students to lose some of the academic gains they made over the course of the school year. The regression caused by the pandemic has made the slide worse, but officials said the solution is not to load kids up with a bunch of classes and homework

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over the summer.

“We don’t want to keep pouring instruction into a cup that’s already full,” Allison said.

With this in mind, several area school districts took a different approach toward summer courses, moving more toward enrichment than credit recovery.

District 11’s Summer Bridge program was created to meet a specific need as educators identified which kids continued to struggle post- COVID, and worked to convince families that additional instruction was necessary, officials said.

Enrollment was not mandatory, but the process led to some frank and sometimes uncomfortable

Sunday, July 31, 2022

conversations.

“We contacted families and told them we really needed their child in this program, and we told them why,” said Sherry Kalbach, D-11’s interim superintendent for instruction and curriculum.

“We needed them for the full four weeks in order for them to receive the greatest benefit.”

Because Summer Bridge was voluntary, its success was largely dependent on lessons being interesting and fun, particularly at the lower grades, said Katie Schoolmaster, assistant principal at Monroe Elementary School.

So instructors were careful to mix fun activities and physical movement with traditional

classroom learning.

“A lot of the program’s success depends on kids going home to their parents and saying, ‘I learned a lot, I had fun today, and I need to go back tomorrow’,” Schoolmaster said.

Widefield School District 3’s Summer Engagement Academy offered more than 70 classes on a wide variety of disciplines including play writing, floor installation, painting, cooking and rocketry. The program, launched last year, was designed to enhance academic and critical thinking skills as well as to get students excited about going to school.

SEE SUMMER • PAGE 6

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“What we’ve seen and heard … is that it has been a productive summer for kids, and they’ve gotten something out of the effort that they’ve put in.”

— Clint Allison, executive director of student achievement, Fountain-Fort Carson District 8 SUMMER • FROM PAGE 4

“It’s an opportunity for kids to reengage in a fun way,” said district spokeswoman Samantha Briggs.

Fountain-Fort Carson District 8’s Summer Learning Institute focused mostly on credit recovery or credit advancement, but the district launched two enrichmentbased partnership this summer, Allison said.

Camp Invention is a weeklong STEM immersion program run by the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame. The full-day program filled all available slots “within maybe 30 minutes,” Allison said.

A weeklong program at Florissant Fossil Beds in Teller County was also highly popular.

“What this tells us is that we need more opportunities for students to learn while exploring areas of passion,” Allison said.

At least two area districts offered their students a program that could allow new students to hit the ground running for the fall semester.

District 11 and Manitou Springs School District 14 are offering August programs called “Jump Start.” Although they share a name and a purpose, their availability and approaches are markedly different.

Manitou Springs’ program is for incoming 1st- through 5thgraders and is two weeks long, running from July 25 – Aug. 5.

The program uses a summer-camp vibe to reconnect students to the classroom, officials said.

D-11’s Jump Start initiative

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is designed to help new kindergartners, 6th-graders and 9th-graders an on-ramp to ease the sometimes difficult transition to an elevated level of instruction.

Typically, middle school and high school newcomers get a day to orient themselves before the school opens up to the rest of the student body. That’s not always enough time, Kalbach said.

“We know those transition points are hard for kids,” she said. “Moving from fifth grade to sixth, or from eighth to ninth, is a big transition, socially and academically. If we can get sixth graders to spend a week bonding with their teachers, learning how middle or high school works, we think we’ll see better social, emotional and academic transitions.”

District officials say the battle against learning loss is likely to be more of a marathon than a sprint.

But local educators said they are encouraged by what they saw over the summer.

“What we’ve seen and heard from our students and our instructional staff is that it has been a productive summer for kids, and they’ve gotten something out of the effort that they’ve put in,” Allison said.

“We’re pretty excited to see what the data looks like at the end of this,” Kalbach said. “You can’t re-teach a whole school year in four weeks, but we can see some growth, and I think we are going to see some pretty solid growth in literacy and math from the kids who participated in this program.”

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Supporting

mind & spirit:

Student mental health takes priority for upcoming school year as demand grows

By Annika Schmidt annika.schmidt@gazette.com

Amid concerns over youth mental health, students in the Pikes Peak region have access to resources in schools that aim to provide support both inside and outside the classroom.

Mental health resources in some El Paso County districts have expanded to meet growing demand for children and teens getting support at school.

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R WHAT’

Zimprich said. “Over the last several years we’ve seen a significant increase in waiting lists and the amount of time people wait to get mental health service.”

ACADEMY DISTRICT 20

implemented its Social Emotional Learning programs around 2015 after what spokesperson Allison Cortez called a “suicide cluster,” when around a dozen students took their lives during the school year, Cortez wrote in an email.

SEL programming for the largest district in El Paso County includes Riding the Waves to teach grades K-5 students healthy ways of coping with stress, how to ask for help and how to recognize when others may need support.

Grades 6-12 have Signs of Suicide to recognize and respond to serious depression or suicidality in themselves or others and Sources of Strength, a program that supports students across social networks with a focus on positive messaging.

RULER is also a system developed

by Yale for all grade levels that

teaches students how to recognize, understand, label, express and regulate emotions. Maureen Lang, District 20 executive director for learning services, was recognized in June for her work implementing the systemic approach to SEL. “The programs … started small, but they are all now very robust and throughout our district. We were very fortunate that when the pandemic hit, we already had solid supports in place,” Cortez said.

Cortez shared that the longestablished Parent Academies have shifted focus in the past five years to more social, emotional and mental health supports.

In recent years, virtual counseling services were made available to students in response to the pandemic and a summer counseling program was introduced in 2021.

DISTRICT 49 has mental health professionals on both a school and district level available to SEE MENTAL HEALTH • PAGE 10

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DIS

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During the past school year, elementary school students in District 8 needed most support with emotional regulation and middle schoolers with social interactions and anxiety. Zimprich also said there was a notable increase of high schoolers needing help with anxiety and feelings of depression.

Strategies have been introduced over the past few years to help students with emotional regulations and challenging life events. Signs of Suicide and Sources of Strength are two programs for prevention efforts in District 8 schools.

Zimprich cited wait times for mental health services as an area of improvement that they’re addressing by working with an external agency starting this school year. Staff and parents will be connected to comprehensive mental health services based on insurance and preferences.

“Our hope is that students, families and staff will be able to access care more quickly than we’ve seen in recent years,”

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The Centers for Disease Control calls mental health among youths a growing problem, with one in three students reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2019.

In FOUNTAIN-FORT CARSON DISTRICT 8 schools, there has been an uptick of students needing mental health services as a result of the pandemic, according to mental health director Lisa Zimprich.

The district’s “busy” staff of 50 mental health professionals including counselors, psychologists and social workers has grown in recent years, with more available to students in middle and secondary schools.

“We have added probably five or six mental health positions over the past few years just to be able to stay proactive with the services we provide,” Zimprich said. These professionals provide mental health support at every level and the district works with community partners including the Army to bring therapists into schools.

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The Gazette file

MENTAL HEALTH • FROM PAGE 9

address mental health needs for its approximately 25,000 students, according to Jason White, coordinator for community care in the district.

District 49’s Multi-Tiered Systems of Support is a catch-all, White said, allowing schools to address more than one concern for an individual student. White said that there can be correlations between poor mental health and other academic, behavioral or emotional struggles. If these correlations are made, White said multiple branches of support are available to help students.

Support from schools is driven by student data. White gave the example that if a student is struggling with mental health, professionals may watch test scores

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and respond accordingly. White said the district is working to make documentation more consistent and accessible across District 49 so that when students move between schools, existing records and care plans can be followed.

Capturing Kids Hearts is a character-based curriculum that provides a framework for student interaction in District 49 schools.

White said school staff are being proactive by instilling a sense of purpose within students about their academic efforts and encouraging connections between students and peers, educators and administrators.

“The most important thing we’re doing for student mental health is building and connecting relationships with students,” White said. “Without that, any

of our tactics would be subpar.

Relationships are first and foremost.”

White said his team has put a special focus on violence risk and suicide risk prevention, developing a process with their safety and security team to intervene, and connect students with the appropriate and qualified individuals.

“We also partner with community agencies and identify ways to cut through red tape to connect students or families with help,” White said, including referrals to therapy and other resources. “The directory is too numerous to list.”

White acknowledged the influence of the pandemic, sharing that the district’s youngest students SEE MENTAL HEALTH • PAGE 11

MENTAL HEALTH • FROM PAGE 10

need more support with social expectations and following directions in part due to limited socialization during pandemic-related closures.

However, White said social media is another significant influencer for student mental health in recent years. “There is a lot of value that students place on themselves from external evaluation,” he said.

HARRISON DISTRICT 2 has made several recent changes to boost its support for student mental health, most recently partnering with Beacon Options Mental Health to create the Family Assistance Program, a resource hotline.

Parents and caregivers who call 1-888-339-1025 can get help with their Harrison student’s emotional, behavioral health, social, educational and household needs from a trained specialist.

This upcoming school year, District 2 is also adding a new department to all schools that will oversee its SEL curriculum and

new Student Success Centers that were piloted during last school year.

Each school will also have a fulltime social worker in addition to psychologists and counselors.

The district partners with the Mindfulness and Positivity Project to help students and staff adopt mindfulness in the classroom and beyond. They have connections to local therapists to support both students and parents.

The district uses the Colorado Crisis Services Talk and Text Line to connect students with community resources including Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention, NAMI Colorado and Inside Out Youth Services.

WIDEFIELD DISTRICT 3 has also witnessed growing mental health demand despite having comprehensive programing for all grade levels and proactively addressing a pre-pandemic need for additional mental health staff.

“We’re seeing more of a need for mental health support,” said Lisa Humberd, District 3’s executive director of special education services.

Deliver newspapers for

District 3 schools have full-time social workers in nearly all their schools and full-time counselors based on the number of enrolled students in each school.

The district has Social Emotional Learning opportunities for students of all ages, including 18-21-year-olds in post-high school educational programs.

Student programs aim to provide a variety of mental health support including anger management, emotional identification, suicide prevention, as well as more targeted guidance with turning in assignments or friendship groups, Humberd said.

For getting students professional mental health support, each school in the district has their own referral process. Mental health teams have weekly meetings to identify trends, which helps direct trainings for education staff during the school year.

COLORADO SPRINGS DISTRICT 11

has community resources for a variety of mental health services

including crisis support, grief recovery, sobriety support and addiction recovery listed on its website.

On-site counselors deliver responsive services for individual or group counseling, crisis management and drop-out prevention, according to the website.

Inside Mitchell High School is a Peak Vista primary healthcare facility offering health services, including mental health services like on-site behavioral health providers and the opportunity to address psychological issues and life stressors.

The center serves students, staff and families of not only Mitchell High School, but also other district feeder schools and neighborhood residents.

The district is also in the process of hiring a new executive director to oversee the department that coordinates mental health resources for students, according to a spokesperson for the district.

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Caring about

care: Colorado Springs school districts offer school child care for K–5 students

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By O’Dell Isaac odell.isaac@gazette.com Several Colorado Springs-area school districts are making access to child care easier and more affordable for busy working parents.

Lack of affordable child care has been a chronic issue for parents in the El Paso County area for years, district officials said. In recent years, a number of school districts conducted needs assessments, surveying parents and stakeholders about ways to help students succeed and make parents’ lives easier. According to the survey results, a need for safe, affordable child care ranked high on the list of parents’ concerns.

In response to this feedback, most area districts now offer free or reduced-cost child care for students in grades K-5. While some of the programs require payment, they generally cost less per month than most local facilities charge per week. Traditional child care facilities in Colorado Springs typically range from $160–$225 per week, according to the childcare website Care.com.

“It’s a huge financial savings for families,” said Angela Outlaw, Harrison School District 2’s program coordinator. “And it gives working parents peace of mind — one less thing to worry about.”

“I think it takes one of the biggest stressors off of parents,” said YMCA executive director Melanie Zuniga, who oversees the nonprofit’s district partnerships.

“They don’t have to wonder ‘Where is my kid gonna go? Will they be safe and taken care of?’”

Colorado Springs District 11, Cheyenne Mountain District 12, Manitou Springs District 14, Harrison District 2 and FountainFort Carson District 8 have established care partnerships with YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region.

Widefield School District 3, which has offered before- and after-school care for nearly 20 years, works with Junior Academy Children’s Centers in Colorado Springs.

In addition to providing care during the school year, BASE49, District 49’s program, offers a summer camp at “limited SEE CHILD CARE • PAGE 13

Most programs remain open during teacher work days, parentlocations,” according to spokesman teacher conferences, and early David Nancarrow. release days. Programming space Parents who are currently is limited, so parents are advised between jobs can also use the not to wait until the last minute to program, officials said. enroll their students.

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A – E: Academy

Kindergartners dress in their May Day best as they walk outside to watch the other students at Mountain Song Community School dance around a maypole.

Photo by Christian Murdock, The Gazette.

Charter schools may offer a better option for some

By Alex Edwards alex.edwards@gazette.com There are over 160 charter schools in the state of Colorado, and El Paso County features more than 30.

And in recent years the number of students enrolled in charter schools has climbed. Why might a charter school offer a better experience for students than a traditional school?

A lot of that comes down to how a charter school is run and what curriculum it offers. In many cases, charter schools offer a more focused education than a traditional elementary, middle or high school.

Bill Kottenstette, the executive director of Colorado Department of Education’s schools of choice unit, says that charter schools often choose a different educational model which can make learning easier for students.

“Charter schools are used to expand a student’s breadth of educational options,” he said. “You might see some with a very back-to-basics, textbook-based model, while others may have a Montessori or alternative-type school.”

Other models offered can include expeditionary learning, which promotes hands-on learning.

Pikes Peak School of Expeditionary Learning in District 49 offers a nationally credentialed education experience where students learn through “personal, direct experience.”

Charter schools are also an option if a school needs to be tailored to students learning English as a second language. In Denver, the New America School is tailormade to offer education to recent immigrants.

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While the learning models offered at charter schools can vary greatly, Kottenstette says they are still bound to meet state educational standards.

“Oversight resides with the authorizer or district,” he said. “Whoever holds a contract with the school has legal supervisory authority over the school.”

According to the CDE’s website, a charter school is accountable to the families in the school, the local school district or Charter School Institute and the state. If a school does not meet these standards it is at risk of losing its charter.

Parental choice is another big reason for the popularity of charter schools, Kottenstette said.

Parental knowledge about what happens in a classroom has become a f lashpoint, and directly affected a political race in Virginia. In Colorado, a parental bill of rights was introduced for the 2020 legislative session but was killed in committee.

Knowledge and satisfaction with a school’s curriculum is a big reason for parents sending a student to a certain school, or not. Fortunately, Colorado makes it a little easier on parents who wish to transfer their child if the need arises.

Even if parents miss a deadline, Kottenstette said it’s still possible to choice in.

“Colorado has a very friendly school choice structure,” Kottenstette said. “Colorado law says if there are seats available at a school, then you have the ability to choice in.”

The full list of charter schools in El Paso County and the rest of the state can be seen in the sidebar.

Sunday, July 31, 2022

for Advanced and Creative Learning, Atlas Preparatory Elementary School, Atlas Preparatory Middle School, Atlas Preparatory High School, Banning Lewis Ranch Academy, CIVA Charter Academy, Community Prep Charter School, Eastlake High School of Colorado Springs.

G-N: Globe Charter

School, GOAL Academy, Grand Peak Academy, James Irwin Charter Elementary, Middle and High School, James Madison Charter Academy, Liberty Tree Academy, Monument Charter Academy, Monument Charter Academy Secondary School, Mountain View Academy, Mountain Song Community School, New Summit Charter Academy.

P-Z: Pikes Peak School

of Expeditionary Learning, Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy, Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy, Power Technical Early College, Rocky Mountain Classical Academy, Roosevelt Charter Academy, TCA College Pathways, The Classical Academy Charter, The Classical Academy Middle and High School, The Vanguard Elementary, Middle and High School.

Dates to remember TENTATIVE LAST DAY

EXTENDED BREAKS (FOR STUDENTS)

STUDENT HOLIDAYS

Aug. 15 for elementary, grades 6 and 9; Aug. 16 for rest of students

May 31

Nov. 21–25; Dec. 19–Jan. 4; March 27–31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20); Memorial Day (May 29)

Calhan RJ1 calhanschool.org 719-347-2766

Aug. 16 for grade 6; Aug. 17 for returning students in grades 7, 8, 10-12; Aug. 18 for K-grade 5; Aug. 30 for Pre-K

May 25

Nov. 18–28; Dec. 16–Jan. 3; March 17–27

School is not in session on Mondays, unless needed as makeup days.

Cheyenne Mountain 12 cmsd12.org 719-475-6100

Aug. 18 for K-grade 6 orientation; Aug. 18 for grades 7, 11 and 12 orientation; Aug. 19 for grades 8-10 orientation; Aug. 22 first day for preschool

May 25 for Pre-K–6; May 26 for grades 7–12

Nov. 21–25; Dec. 22–Jan. 6; March 27–31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Colorado Springs 11 d11.org, 719-520-2000

Aug. 16

May 23 for elemetary; May 26 for middle and high school

Nov. 21–25; Dec. 19–Jan. 4; March 27–31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Cripple Creek/Victor RE1 ccvschools.com 719-689-2685

Aug. 15

May 25

Nov. 21–24; Dec. 19–Jan. 3; March 27–30

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Edison 54-JT edison54jt.org 719-478-2125

Aug. 11; Aug. 23 for preschool

May 26; May 19 for preschool

Nov. 22–25; Dec. 20–Jan. 3; March 28–31

School is not in session on Mondays

Ellicott 22 ellicottschools.org 719-683-2700

Aug. 15 for K, grades 5, 6, 9; Aug. 16, rest of students; Aug. 22 for Pre-K

May 25

Nov. 21–25; Dec. 19–Jan. 2; March 20-24

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Fountain-Fort Carson 8 ffc8.org 719-382-1300

Aug. 8 for grades 3, 4, 6, 9; Aug. 9 for K, grades 2, 7, 10; Aug. 10 for grades 1, 5, 8, 11, 12; Aug. 11 for Pre-K and Online Academy

May 26

Oct. 13–14; Nov. 21–25; Dec. 22–Jan. 6; March 27–31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11); Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Hanover 28 hanoverhornets.org 719-683-2247

Aug. 9 for grades 1 – 12; Aug. 11 for K; Sept. 6 for preschool

May 19 for preschool; May 24 for K and sgrade 5; May 25 for grades 1-4 and 6-12

Oct. 11–14; Nov. 22–25; Dec. 27–Jan. 6; March 28–31

School is not in session on Mondays

Harrison 2 hsd2.org, 719-579-2000

Aug. 9

May 25

Oct. 10–14; Nov. 21–25; Dec. 16–Jan. 4; Feb. 20–24; March 27-31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Lewis-Palmer 38 lewispalmer.org 719-488-4700

Aug. 16

May 19

Nov. 21–25; Dec. 19–Jan. 3; March 27–31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Martin Luther King Jr. (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Manitou Springs 14 mssd14.org, 719-685-2024

Aug. 19; Aug. 22 for K

May 25

Nov. 21–25; Dec. 19–Jan. 4; March 27–31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Miami Yoder 60JT miamiyoder.com 719-478-2186

Aug. 9 for grades 6-12; Aug. 10 for K–grade 5; Aug. 30 for preschool

May 25

Nov. 22–25; Dec. 23–Jan. 6; March 28–31

School is not in session on most Mondays

Peyton 23JT peyton.k12.co.us 719-749-2330

Aug. 11

May 25

Nov. 21–24; Dec. 26–Jan. 5; March 27–30

Labor Day (Sept. 5)

School District 49 d49.org, 719-495-1100

Aug. 2; Aug. 1 for K, grades 6 and 9; Aug. 8 for preschool

May 26

Oct. 10–21; Nov. 21–25; Dec. 19–Jan. 3; March 20–31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Widefield 3 wsd3.org, 719-391-3000

Aug. 16; Aug. 17 for grades 7 and 8 including Grand Mountain School; Aug. 18 for K

May 25

Nov. 21–25; Dec. 22–Jan. 6; March 27–31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); October Day (Oct. 7); sssMartin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16); President’s Day (Feb. 20)

Woodland Park RE2 wpsdk12.org, 719-686-2000

Aug. 22

June 1

Oct. 17–21; Nov. 21–25; Dec. 22–Jan. 10; Feb. 20–24; March 27–31

Labor Day (Sept. 5); President’s Day (Feb. 20); Memorial Day (May 29)

DISTRICT

FIRST DAY

Academy 2 asd20.org, 719-234-1200

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The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs was one of the first universities to offer online degree options. Photo by Alex Edwards, The Gazette.

Online education:

Schools from primary to post secondary offer flexible education options after lessons learned from COVID-19

By Alex Edwards alex.edwards@gazette.com

“What we are seeing long term is a continued growth in families seeking full time online school enrollment,” he said. “We also see a greater interest in — and demand for — part-time online enrollment.”

Kottenstette said schools faced significant challenges in the early parts of the pandemic, but says those have evolved. Where CDE was originally concerned with keeping students safe and healthy, the statewide challenges they have now are “a lot of technical stuff.”

As interest in online enrollment grows, Kottenstette says the CDE

Online education options remain a popular choice for some Colorado Springs-area parents in the wake of the COVID -19 pandemic.

Student enrollment in online schooling peaked in 2021, according to the Colorado Department of Education’s Bill Kottenstette, who is the executive director of CDE’s schools of choice unit, which oversees online schools, charter schools and innovation schools.

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Sunday, July 31, 2022

is faced with finding the right balance between online time and live instruction.

“How do we leverage what we’ve learned most effectively in terms of good practice?” he said. “We are looking at what we could be doing more of, and avoiding going back to the way we’ve always approached education.”

This year, online enrollment numbers have declined but it still exceeds the number of online students enrolled in years leading up to the COVID -19 pandemic. But hybrid options, where a student

may spend some time online and some time in person are becoming more and more popular.

“We are seeing teachers using digital tools within their classrooms to change the way they use instruction time,” he said. “We call it a ‘flipped classroom,’ where the lesson may be digital … and classroom time is used for activity they may not have had time for.”

The hybrid model has been used to great effect at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

SEE ONLINE EDUCATION • PAGE 17

ONLINE EDUCATION • FROM PAGE 16

“We were one of the first schools to offer an online MBA program,” said Seth Porter, the dean of libraries at UCCS. “There is a lot of (tech) fluency in our faculty and IT department, so we have the grassroots foundation for a strong hybrid program.”

Online education at UCCS has been around for almost 30 years. Its MBA program was among the first to offer an online MBA accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Since then the online programs at UCCS have remained ranked among the top 100 — with some breaking into the top 50 — according to U.S. News and World Report and other ranking agencies.

Porter says support for online and hybrid learning has broad support among faculty and staff of UCCS, and contributes to what Porter sees as a student-first approach.

“This is about aligning what’s best across the board for our students’ education outcomes and

their personal and professional lives,” he said.

Concerns have persisted over the quality of education gained in an online setting. Studies do show that student performance is worse in an online setting, but the Brookings Institution found the most affected were mostly male and academically unprepared students.

Porter says a hybrid approach can help alleviate those negative aspects of online only instruction.

“Hybrid is more of an ideal mode of education,” he said. “It’s a great way to find and build community and still have flexibility for students and the university.”

While Porter’s experience and knowledge is focused in higher education, primary and secondary schools in El Paso County are making use of both online and hybrid schooling.

One example is District 49’s Pikes Peak Early College, located in eastern Colorado Springs. The school offers in-person instruction on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with online lessons delivered on other days.

Pikes Peak Early College is one of the only hybrid schools in the state, offering in-person classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while delivering course materials online for the other days. Photo by Alex Edwards, The Gazette.

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Geography no barrier as rural colleges in Colorado expand online offerings

By Jason Gonzales Chalkbeat Colorado

Through a new initiative, students in rural areas will be able to attend classes from colleges not near them.

The state is spending $8.6 million on a new initiative that will let Colorado’s seven rural community colleges share programs and services so students — no matter where they live — get a wider set of educational opportunities.

For example, a student at Lamar Community College in eastern Colorado could soon be able to take cybersecurity classes at Northwestern Community College’s Craig campus on the other side of the state. That student might also get tutoring from staff at Trinidad State College near the New Mexico border — about 140 miles away from Lamar.

The idea, thought up by the seven colleges, will help rural colleges better serve students and could bring in more money for those schools.

“It is expensive to run any college,” said Linda Lujan, Lamar Community College president. “But smaller colleges don’t have the economy of scale that larger colleges do.”

The initiative started as part of the state’s Rural College Consortium.

The collaborative was formed just before the pandemic by leaders from the community college system and Colorado’s seven rural community colleges. The consortium aims to address the toughest challenges facing their schools, including lack SEE RURAL COLLEGES • PAGE 19

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While the aim of the initiative is to help students, schools also should benefit through increased enrollment, offsetting a pandemicspurred decline.

RURAL COLLEGES • FROM PAGE 18

of programs, failing infrastructure, difficulties recruiting faculty, and challenges attracting students.

Keith Peterson, Colorado Northwestern Community College vice president of instruction, said the goal is to strengthen the collective of schools. It’s also meant to give rural communities more of a voice in state government.

The biggest challenge for small schools often is cost. Smaller schools might not be able to start programs teaching skills in in-demand jobs, which means students might miss out or have to move away for those opportunities. Rural schools also don’t always offer services such as tutoring and mental health counseling that help students finish school.

If successful, the initiative will expand the catalog of classes schools can provide and create better online infrastructure. The $8.6 million from the state will ensure students have access to the same technology available no matter where they are in the state and help improve internet connections so no student lags behind.

While the aim of the initiative is to help students, schools also should benefit through increased enrollment, offsetting a pandemicspurred decline. The full catalog will be offered to students by next fall.

“In this new environment, this new economy, this new postpandemic world, partnerships are the name of the game,” Lujan said.

“That’s going to be how we survive and thrive.”

Landon Pirius, Colorado Community College System academic affairs vice chancellor, said the last thing the state wants to see is colleges reduce services or even close due to declining enrollment.

Rural college administrators across the state frequently point to the difficulty of offering an education equal to that of bigger Front Range schools. They also emphasize how important their schools are to their rural communities, which depend heavily on the schools as job training or employment centers.

The goal of the initiative is also to train more workers and keep students in their home communities, Pirius said. That may

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make it more palatable for students to go to school while juggling home or work responsibilities.

“They can stay in their community and then when they’re done, they go to work,” Pirius said. “So it’s an effort to retain homegrown talent.”

The idea to share services became a priority during the pandemic because of the changes it made to how students learned. The initiative was one of the top funding priorities this year in the state legislature’s Joint Technology Committee.

Peterson said Rural College Consortium leaders plan to come up with more priorities after its first success. He feels confident the changes will benefit students and the communities they come from.

“This is really, to me, just the tip of the iceberg of what we can accomplish,” Peterson said.

Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.

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Colorado report outlines pandemic impacts on students heading to college

By Jason Gonzales Chalkbeat Colorado

The University of Colorado at Boulder. Getty Images

The rate at which Colorado students are going to college right out of high school has dipped, and those who do go are less prepared. And participation in programs offering college experience in high school has remained stagnant.

Those takeaways detailed in the state’s recent annual look at the state’s higher education progress offer a better view of trends influenced by the pandemic. The May report, reflecting the high school class of 2020, serves as an annual pulse check on state higher education.

This is the first year the report shows the impact of the pandemic

on students.

The report looks at issues that threaten the state’s progress toward the goal of getting more residents equipped with a college certificate or degree. Here are three takeaways from the recent report on postsecondary progress.

Student participation in early college opportunities remained static The good news: Students across the state consistently participated

SEE COLLEGE BOUND • PAGE 21

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COLLEGE BOUND • FROM PAGE 20

in college opportunities while in high school. But those numbers don’t show yet the impact of the pandemic.

Many students were already enrolled in college-level classes in 2020 before the start of the pandemic. The numbers reflect, however, the struggle to sustain progress made during the last decade in students participating in dual enrollment, career education and early college opportunities.

Overall, participation has slowed or even flatlined.

The college-level programs not only expose students to college, but also save them money by earning credits often without paying tuition.

About 72% of Colorado high school students enrolled in career education classes, 42% enrolled in college classes while in high school, and 3.8% graduated high school with a college certificate or degree.

Those rates barely budged from 2019 to 2020.

The report says the state will need to grow the number of students of color participating in those opportunities to create more equitable outcomes because Hispanic and Black students lag in participation.

Rate students enroll in college right out of high school dips

After the pandemic started, college leaders reported enrollment declines. Students said they lost learning time due to remote instruction, worried more about college costs, and reported feeling exhausted as reasons they were less likely to finish college.

The report reaffirms that the pandemic from its earliest stages upended college-going patterns.

The state’s rate of students going to college right out of high school in 2020 dropped to 50.5%, a five-point drop from 2019.

The decline affected every student group, according to the report. College-going among

rural students dropped to 46%. slightly less than that of the general population.

In all, 29,136 Colorado 2020 high school graduates did not complete a college credential program in high school or enroll in higher education.

Students are not as academically prepared

Students showing up unprepared for college-level work due to their disrupted pandemic education is a trend nationwide. Colorado is no exception.

The report shows a seven-point increase in the proportion of students needing remedial classes at four-year universities, from about 21% to 28%. At community colleges, however, the rate dropped to 35%, down from 41%.

Every demographic group needed to catch up in college to some extent, but Black and Hispanic students continued to be twice as likely to need extra coursework compared with their

peers, according to the report.

Altogether, about 30% of first-year college students were placed in developmental education classes.

About 27% of students need to shore up math skills, while about 12% need to beef up their English skills.

For years, the proportion of students needing extra education to get college ready has dropped. That’s in part thanks to statewide changes that ended remedial classes that don’t lead to credits and more support for students needing to catch up.

But the dips are a troubling sign for college completion because students who need developmental education classes are less likely to continue with their college education.

Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.

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Schools build affordable housing to retain teachers

By Janie Har The Associated Press DALY CITY, Calif. — San Francisco Bay Area high school teacher Lisa Raskin moved out of a cramped apartment she was sharing with a roommate and into her own place this month, paying a deeply discounted $1,500 a month for a one-bedroom with expansive views within walking distance to work.

It was once an impossible dream in an exorbitantly priced region hostile to new housing. But her employer, a 4,000-student school district south of San Francisco, was the rare success story in the struggle to provide affordable housing and in May, it opened 122 apartments for teachers and staff.

“I have a sense of community, which I think is more valuable than anything else,” the 41-year-old San Francisco native said. “More districts really need to consider this model. I

think it shows educators that they value them.”

The Jefferson Union High School District in San Mateo County’s Daly City is among just a handful of places in the country with educator housing.

But with a national teacher shortage and rapidly rising rents, the working-class district could serve as a harbinger as schools across the U.S. seek to attract and retain educators.

“This is absolutely a solution for other districts. As we’ve gone through the process, we’ve learned of so many other districts interested in doing what we’ve done,” said Andrew Lie, a school board trustee.

“It’s like a great gift coming from the district,” said math teacher Eleonor Obedoza of her family’s new three-bedroom apartment.

In West Virginia, the American Federation of Teachers recently helped open a building with apartments for teachers and retail shops that officials hope will revitalize the

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Teachers were traveling “hours and hours to get to school and back,” said Randi Weingarten, AFT union president. “So this became an idea to spark economic development and to create housing.”

Jeff Vincent, co-founder and director of the Center for Cities & Schools at the University of California, Berkeley, said such housing complexes are rare, but he expects more school districts to explore the concept given the benefits of teachers living in the communities where they work, so they can get to know students and families better.

But such projects face obstacles, including pushback from residents.

Vincent urges districts to be cautious.

“One of the biggest barriers is the need for people to think outside the box,” he said. “There are skeptics of whether schools should be doing this with their land.”

Roughly a quarter of the 500

employees at Jefferson Union were resigning or retiring every year and the district, where teacher salaries for the 2022-23 year start at $60,000, could not compete with wealthier schools that pay new teachers $76,000 or more.

So in 2017-2018, officials came up with a plan to address recruitment and retention, including a $75 million housing complex for teachers and staff financed in part by a $30 million bond measure approved by voters in 2018.

The district also has a more ambitious plan to lease school property for a 1,200-unit development that would mix retail with market-rate housing and generate revenue to beef up teacher salaries. But the Sierra Club’s local chapter and others have expressed objections. They want more units at below-market rents and taller buildings to preserve more open SEE HOUSING • PAGE 23

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HOUSING • FROM PAGE 22

space, including a decades-old garden scheduled for razing.

So far, the district is opposed to those changes, inflaming critics.

“It’s terrible the schools have to come up with schemes to build housing to pay teachers,” said Gladwyn d’Souza, a Sierra Club member who supports workforce housing but says there should be more homes for everyone.

Tenants at the district complex can stay up to five years, hopefully using the time to save up for a down payment on a house.

But those too are becoming more difficult to buy. A 2016 study

by Redfin found that only 20% of homes for sale across major U.S. metro areas were affordable on an average teacher’s salary of $62,800, down from 34% in 2012.

Boston high school teacher Shirley Jones-Luke, who bought her house two decades ago, said there’s no way she’d be able to afford one today in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of Dorchester.

“It’s important to students to know that their teachers live in the same communities as them, shop at the same stores,” said Jones-Luke, who is Black. “They realize the teachers aren’t out of touch because we live in the same ’hood.”

In California, the 2016 study found only 17% of homes were affordable on the average state teacher salary of roughly $74,000, down from 30% in 2012. The average teacher could afford 0.2% of homes in San Francisco and none in Silicon Valley, where the median sales price of a home was $1.5 million in June.

California lawmakers in 2016 made it easier for districts to build workforce housing on school property, but some efforts have stalled over financing and residential pushback. Five workforce housing complexes currently exist in Los Angeles, Santa Clara and San Mateo county school districts.

After two decades of trying, San Francisco Unified plans to break ground this summer on a 135-unit complex for educators.

Jefferson Union was the rare suc-

cess story, building the new complex on a parking lot of an old high school currently used for district offices.

The apartments range in monthly rent from $1,356 for a one-bedroom to $2,511 for a three-bedroom, which officials say is 58% of market rate.

There are multiple washers and dryers on every floor, a bike room and meeting rooms where teachers can socialize or collaborate on lessons.

Taylor and Darnel Garcia, both 27, despaired of ever moving out of a two-bedroom in-law unit that was too small for them and their children, ages 3 and 6. The administrative assistant and her husband, a mechanic for the school district, pondered whether they could afford to stay in the Bay Area.

“We were kind of floating in the unknown for a while,” she said after moving into their new three-bedroom apartment in May. “It’s so hard to say, ‘Hey, I have a good career, and I still can’t afford to live here.’”

About 80 employees are to move in by fall and another 30 are applying, including about a dozen new hires, said Tina Van Raaphorst,

associate superintendent of business services. The average annual salary of residents is $62,300, and includes janitors, cafeteria workers and bus drivers who earn far less than teachers.

Melissa Kallstrom, a mom to a district student, does not begrudge the employees their new homes. But she objects to plans to tear up the community garden she and others say provides rare green space.

Raskin understands change is difficult. She grew up in San Francisco’s Mission District, a working-class neighborhood now trendy with fashionable restaurants where she cannot afford to live by herself.

During the pandemic, she moved out of her mother’s house to share an apartment with a friend. But living quarters were tight. The chance to move into a place of her own was like hitting the jackpot, said Raskin, who teaches health and social science.

“This is mine,” she said.

Associated Press writer R.J. Rico contributed from Atlanta.

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