We are Moving Forward – St. Vrain Valley Schools

While this year presented many challenges due to the global pandemic, our community continued to move forward. Through our collective resilience, innovation, compassion, and ingenuity, together we have strengthened our public education system, and will continue to advance excellence for each and every student as we plan to return to full in-person learning (five-days per week) next school year.

Over the past year, our students continued to achieve at the highest levels and engaged in exceptional opportunities to deepen their learning and magnify their impact on the world. Students reintroduced a protected species to the wild, engaged in artificial intelligence research and cybersecurity competitions, achieved global recognition in robotics and music, won numerous state athletic championships, reimagined socially-distanced performing arts, and so much more. Teachers adapted to new models of instruction, leveraged cutting-edge technology to engage students with disabilities, and built lasting relationships with students that will provide the foundation for their future success.

2020-2021 Achievements

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Mobile Innovation Lab Design Guild Challenge
Erie State Champions in Cheer and Pom
Designed and Implemented Badging System for Innovation Center Students in Design Thinking, Communication, and Team Building
Built a new school, Highlands Elementary School, in the Erie Community
Distributed millions of meals through lunch rooms and drive-up sites
Numerous Boettcher Scholars, Daniels Scholars, and National Merit Scholars
Altona Middle School – 2021 Colorado Trailblazer School to Watch
Most IBM P-TECH internships of any district in the U.S.
First class of P-TEACH apprentices
Skyline High School AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award
Campus rebrand for OCHS, SVOGA, CDC
Soaring Heights #greatFULL Luminary Event
We are #greatFULL campaign
Cybersecurity Competitions
VEX Robotics Online Academy
Robotics state, national, and world competitions
Increase in Graduation Rates and other student achievement data
Digital Innovation Award from RTM Business Group
121 Class of 2020 graduates and 92 Class of 2021 graduates earn Seal of Biliteracy
Opened new Mead Elementary School building
New Teacher Orientation goes virtual
All-Staff Walking Podcast Convocation Event
Recognized by Recycle Colorado for Zero Waste Efforts
Niwot Cougars Sweep 4A cross country
Mobile Lab Virtual Solar Tour
Distributed 3,000 books through the Mobile Lab
Starting new P-TECH program in cybersecurity at SCHS
Mead Boys’ Basketball State Championship
Purchasing Team Recognitions
Launch of New District Website
Expanded Project Launch for Summer 2021
Music Instrument Drive brings hundreds of new instruments to St. Vrain
Students from all schools collaborated on a virtual song for the 2020 Gala
Jill Lliteras was Colorado’s Elementary Principal of the Year
District transition to remote learning on inclement weather days, and over 90% of students participate in virtual instruction on first virtual snow day
Extensive renovations completed at schools across the district, including Longmont High School
St. Vrain students design the Hospital Room of the Future in partnership with UCHealth
Sunset Middle School accepted into the Amazon Future Engineer Program
Erie High Student wins College Board Scholarship
St. Vrain hosts district-wide Unified Sports Day of Champions
Mead High and Stapp Toyota Partner on Instrument Donations to Mead Elementary and Mead Middle
Neil Shupe is recognized as the 2021 Teacher of the Year
Students at the Innovation Center and in the Lyons feeder continue conservation work with the Northern Red-Bellied Dace
Innovation Center students go for world record in the Giant Paper Airplane challenge
St. Vrain will host an Educator Equity Institute in partnership with with A Queer Endeavor
Finance Team wins numerous awards including: GFOA Award, ASBO Award, RMGPA Purchasing Manager of the Year – Tim Wellmann, RMGPA Purchasing Team of the Year, and the UPPCC 2020 Agency Certification Award – Purchasing Department
St. Vrain leadership gave multiple presentations to Chamber of Commerce, Latino Chambers and continue to promote the district and public education
Approximately 100 parents joined the district’s monthly Parent Coronavirus Update and Advisory Committee
St. Vrain launched the Beyond Brick and Mortar Video Weekly Spotlights
Bond Ratings Increased
Hired multiple additional support staff to bolster areas such as special education
LHS students qualified for national speech and debate tournament
The Innovate to Elevate Partnership between Innovation Center and Special Education provided opportunities to engage special needs students through technology
Finalization of Main Street School Building Renovation
Longmont Silver Crown Winners Yearbook Award
St. Vrain is advancing three bills in the legislation around safe to tell, accreditation, and internet access
Established and Broadened our multicultural community committee
Expanded Opportunities in Aeronautics
Supported partnerships with HEF, AWW, and various chambers of commerce
Niwot High Mock Trial had strong showing at state
Fielded first girls wrestling team that made it to the state finals
Saturday SAT preps and AP prep programs
School spotlight series on Twitter
Strengthened partnership with our business and corporate community, ex: Colorado Business Roundtable
Students Participate in Longmont Chamber’s Leadership Longmont
Engaged students in expanding a diverse perspective in our curriculum
Virtual Art Show with over 1,000 student artworks featured
Hygiene Elementary hosted HawkAir Japan
Lyons had a three-time state wrestling champion
LHS Smart Teams continued to apply research directly related to the global pandemic
Longmont drumline ranked in top 15 in the nation, competes virtually at international event
Kelly Christensen at Niwot High named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association 2020 Cross Country Coach of the Year 4 the State of Colorado
Burlington Outdoor Classroom planted for first year
PIE calendar full of great sessions for our families in St. Vrain
Raptor Emma Stenner who recently competed in the 2021 HOSA – Future Health Professional State Conference and earned 1st place in her event: Emergency Preparedness EMT
Amanda Giuliani at Skyline High was a Boettcher Foundation 2021 Teacher Recognition Award winner
Skyline STEM Academy forms new partnerships with Western Colorado University for preferential admissions and priority selection for scholarship opportunities
24 students graduated from P-TEACH with an average of 12 college credits earned
7 NxtGEN P-TEACH Apprentices successfully completed their freshman year at CU Denver while working as part-time teacher apprentices in our schools
21 St. Vrain leaders began earning their Doctorate in Educational Leadership in our CU Denver/SVVSD Cohort this year
27 St. Vrain teachers began earning their Master’s in Educational Leadership in our CU Denver/SVVS Cohort this year
78 student teachers mentored by St. Vrain teachers
$2.7 Million RISE Grant to support Project Launch in collaboration with 5 other Colorado districts
Configured and distributed 8,100 devices so all elementary students have access to an iPad
Presented at the Osiris World Education Summit on “Building a System-Wide Foundation for Powerful and Sustainable Innovation”
Implemented “Super Guest Teacher” program and provided training and technology to in-school substitutes
Awarded 790 hotspots through the T-Mobile “Project 10M” program
Awarded a total of $1.45M through the Connecting Colorado Students grant to provide internet to qualifying families in the district
Implemented new tools to monitor and protect our network and our users
Implemented “Meet the Teacher,” a Virtual Conferencing platform to facilitate remote parent-teacher Conferences
Administered SAT to 12th grade students across St. Vrain in Fall 2020
Increase in student achievement on 11th grade National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
Increase in the number of AP Exams taken while increasing the percentage of students scoring 3 or higher across populations.
201% increase in the number of concurrent enrollment courses taken in 7 years.
7 out of 8 St. Vrain feeder high schools have at least one Boettcher Scholarship finalist in the Class of 2021 – 14 total finalists
90.3% graduation rate for students in traditional high schools
Elementary students collectively read for 5,056,279 minutes (or 84,271 hours) using myON digital books this year
Niwot HS Team State Champions in Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys Tennis, and Individual State champs in Boys Tennis, Boys XC, and Girls Swimming
Mead Boys Basketball State Champions
Erie High School Cheer and Dance State Champions
Lyons High School had a Three time wrestling state champion
3 students accepted to the Colorado HS All State Choir
9 students accepted to the Colorado HS All State Orchestra
2 students accepted to the Colorado HS All State Jazz Band
District received NAMM 2021 Best Communities in Music Education Award
All SVVSD students who participated in the CHSAA Solo & Ensemble Festival received high ratings
The SVVSD Art Show went fully virtual with 1,480 pieces of artwork
At ThesCon (57th Colorado Thespian Conference), Erie HS awarded 7 superior and excellent ratings, Frederick HS awarded 3 superior and excellent ratings, and Niwot HS awarded 20 superior and excellent ratings
Marianne Martinez (Nurse Consultant) received the Sure Shot Award from Colorado Immunization Coalition for her dedication and commitment to vaccinate children.
Lourdes Buck received the “Friend of the Profession Award” from Southwest Conference on Language Teaching.
We switched our 504 data systems to Infinite Campus vs. the outside platform Alpine.
Created a Title IX training module via Public School Works.
Our Gifted and Talented Office provided equity focused professional development (trained school staff in Depth and Complexity, engaged in “Seeing and Serving Underserved Gifted Students Book study”, received training from a Queer Endeavor).
The GT department created a new parent education series called “G-Tea”.
A comprehensive equity definition was created by our community partners and leadership team.
Brought a Diverse Speaker Series led by Dr. Rose Marie Allen to the Erie Feeder system.
Engaged in book studies with school equity teams at various schools throughout the district.
Student Services collaborated with various departments to support students and families ranging from lunch drop offs, holiday gifts, A Woman’s Work grants, housing support and basic needs donations.
Increased ASCA based professional development; 86 counselors have completed 136 courses.
Starting a new School Counselor Cohort to support MVE, TRMS and SHS.
Implemented district-wide progress monitoring programs for MTSS.
Created a Social Emotional Resources for Educators Website
Created a Self-care resources and Professional development course through the Office of Professional Development.
Provided Virtual training in Sources of Strength.
8 DLA students attend in partnership with CBOCES and will graduate with their HS Diplomas.
Hygiene Elementary was recognized as a John Irwin School of Excellence
Front Range and St. Vrain are the recipients of a grant totaling nearly $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to provide startup money for the SCHS P-TECH program
Students have successfully completed 22 Silver Creek Leadership Academy Capstone Projects positively impacting our community and beyond.
Silver Creek also finished construction on our new weight room and have begun the process of building our new SVVSD Aquatics Facility.
Sunset was awarded the Colorado Department of Education Highly Effective Schools Through Libraries exemplar
Mary Ellen Graziani, Assistant Principal at Sunset Middle, was a finalist through CASE for Colorado Assistant Principal of the Year.
Erie Elementary students participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. 5th grader Elliot Johnson represented them at the state competition
Erie Elementary is leader in art education. 3rd grade artists had a Zoom art lesson with Andrew Wyeth’s granddaughter, Victoria Wyeth.
Mead Middle won the district wide (for middle schools) Spirit Cup.
Longmont Estates Elementary started a Future Problem Solvers club and both of our teams made it to the State competition.
Burlington’s Geodesic Growing Dome’s construction was completed and, through thoughtful design thinking challenges, plants and fish are now thriving
Niche ranked NHS the #1 Magnet School in Colorado, #7 College Prep Public High School in Colorado, #11 Public High School in Colorado
Alumni Achievements: NHS (’04) alumna Emily Harrington for becoming the first woman to free-climb Yosemite’s El Capitan in under 24 hours! ’20 alumni Cruz Culpepper broke the 4-minute mile barrier
The MHS Energy Academy doubled enrollment for the 21-22 school year, and established Advisory Board partners
Mountain View Elementary maintained a partnership with City of Longmont Storytellers program
Grand View Elementary 4th grader, Kellsie Montgomery, was featured on 9News with Kyle Clark for collecting over 6,229 baby items for Wee Cycle
9 Grand View Students participated in National Novel Writing Month
All Grand View Students participated in a school wide Earth Day Design Challenge on what would make Grand View a better place
Mead Elementary added a Communication Board to playgrounds for our non-verbal students
Westview student, Brooklynn Rowinski, was recognized with three Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her photography
Westview Competitive math team had four finalists at the UNC Math Competition; the MathCounts Gold Level Team Competed in theAMC 8 Math Competition, MathCounts competitions, and Math Olympiad series
The outdoor classroom space at Northridge Elementary was completed and garden boxes planted for the first time.
Northridge Elementary received a grant from the American Society of Engineering Education to revitalize their after-school engineering education program
Jim Dornan at Longmont High School was awarded the CHSAA’s Sharon Wilch Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to Colorado speech and debate
Timberline Pk-8 started a Pathway to P-Tech program: partnering with Skyline High School/Falcon Tech to provide a pathway for middle school students to enter Falcon Tech
Timberline PK-8 7th Grade Mariachi Group selected to play for Padres Involucrados en la Educacion/Parents in Education Final Celebration
Spark! Discovery Preschool created “Whole Child, Whole Community” wellness team to integrate healthy choices for students and staff using grant funds in ’21-’22 school year
The Altona Middle School Canopy Project was nominated by Next Gen Learning to be a partner school with the Canopy Project, a partnership of K-12 schools across the country focused on innovation
Blue Mountain Elementary initiated partnership with Stuvz through parent Geoff Hess.
Two Central Elementary students placed third and one student placed first at the State Stock Market Challenge.
LaunchED Virtual Academy hosted virtual meetings and presentations with authors, content experts and community members highlighting and sharing expertise and connecting real world experiences
All classroom teachers and interventionists at Alpine Elementary trained in Acadience assessments – advancing work as a Dyslexia Incubator school
Alpine Elementary fully established PBIS system contributing to strong school culture
Alpine ELementary achieved International Baccalaureate Organization Reauthorization with the fewest recommendations in the school’s history
Otterbox Cares awarded Centennial Elementary a grant for $3,200 to enhance our Innovation lab opportunities for students.
During the Sanborn Read-a-Thon Fundraiser, students read 24, 066 minutes over a 7 day period- which equals 2 weeks, 2 days, 17 hours and 6 minutes of reading.
Soaring Heights Vex Robotics VRC & IQ middle school state champions; 8 teams qualified for worlds
Longs Peak piloted the first Sketchnoting elective in the district for 8th graders.
Longs Peak robotics team took 11th at the state robotics championship in their first year of competition.
Longs Peak was accepted into the Amazon Future Engineers program
Coal Ridge received their second OtterCares grant to expand our design thinking space
Coal Ridge received the District Wellness Grant and created a new outdoor classroom space
Frederick High partnered with the CSU Department of Biomedical Sciences and their Biomedical Academy that brings CSU grad students and FHS students together through Virtual Reality
Amanda Fitzgerald, P-TECH counselor at FHS was recognized as the Colorado BioScience Teacher of the Year
Columbine parents successfully engaged in their first ever VIRTUAL parent teacher conferences
88 Falcon Tech Students at Skyline High will complete a paid internship with IBM this summer and 12 Falcon Tech alumni are employed full-time with IBM
St. Vrain’s Innovation Center & Erie High’s Academy of Aerospace and Engineering received a $50,000 grant from Boeing.
A 4th Grade student at Black Rock placed second in the Stock Market Experience for the North Region
Black Rock’s Future Problem Solving team is 1st in the state of Colorado and will be competing in the International Competition in June
Eagle Crest has continued our partnership with the Mwebaza Foundation and raised thousands of dollars this year to support our sister school
Eagle Crest received a wellness grant worth $2,500 for work completed by a team of teachers. Eagle crest used the money to enhance our Green Star efforts and purchase flexible seating in classrooms.
Red Hawk students participated in the Colorado Recycles Week Virtual Signing with Governor Polis
Red Hawk students collected more than 150 pairs of socks for the Denver Coalition for the Homeless and organized the distribution of Epic Everything Dave’s Killer Breakfast Bagels
Jeff Klipstein at Lyons Middle Senior High received the Teacher Recognition Award from the Boettcher Foundation
Two Innovation Center students were recognized as the Colorado Affiliate Winners for the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Award
Innovation Center student, Lillian McLellan, received underwriting for her business from the Young Americans Bank for full funding
The IC Studio team has been working with the City of Longmont Transportation Department and completed the first video in a series of 3 to 4 on the new EMUC (Enhanced Multi-Use Corridor) projects in the City.
Two IC Cyber Patriot teams at the Innovation Center qualified for Platinum division (top 20% in the country)
First Female Private Pilot-Kalyssa Beringer (Erie HS) went through the IC Pilot Ground courses
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University has committed to scholarship opportunities for any St Vrain Innovation Center student who applies to their program
The IC VEX Team, Semicolon are the defending state champions from 2020; currently ranked 95th in the world in skills. Have won 4+ tournaments this season (both virtual and in-person)
The Innovation Center will host Colorado’s 1st MATE Underwater Robotics Tournament
The Innovation Center has five active teams in the AI/Cybersecurity Initiative
NAMM 2021 Best Community for Music Education (one of three districts in Co)