Dear Families,

Happy (almost) Charter Day! When we consider all that has happened in the more than two decades since Peak to Peak was first chartered, it is truly extraordinary. We are honored to now be a part of this legacy of providing young people with an exemplary K-12 liberal arts, college prep education that challenges them to achieve their academic potential and become active and responsible citizens. 

You can support this legacy by contributing to our Annual Fund. Giving is now open and our goal is 100% family participation at a donation level that is meaningful to each family. Click here to donate. 

Thanks to all who joined us for our first town hall of the year yesterday. Linked here are the slides shared and we are working to re-record the presentation due to technical difficulties that impacted our virtual attendees. It will be linked here once it's available. Some of the highlights from the presentation can be found below.

Educational Updates:

The fall season is upon us, it's time for our annual elementary conferences. We want to take a moment to remind you of the significance of these conferences and share how they contribute to your child's education.

Elementary students are off from school during these conference days, but our dedicated teachers will be hard at work. They will be engaged in meaningful discussions with parents and guardians, sharing students’ progress, achievements, and areas for growth. These conferences foster a strong partnership between home and school, as well as ensure the best possible support for each child's learning journey.

Please understand that during conference days, teachers may not be able to respond to emails as promptly as usual. They are fully committed to focusing their time and attention on families.   

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in your student’s education. Together, we can create an enriching learning environment.

2022-23 Academic Outcomes

We are delighted to share some positive outcomes from last year’s state testing. Our students demonstrated significant progress in various subject areas, showcasing their academic skills, dedication and hard work. Peak to Peak continues to be rated as a performance school on Colorado's School Performance Framework. This is the highest rating the Colorado Department of Education awards. We are immensely proud of the achievements of our students. These outcomes are a testament to their commitment to learning and the support they receive at home. Please check out the Town Hall slides, linked above, to read the highlights from each level.

Operational Updates: 

• Bond Progress: BVSD approved the school’s bond spending plan and we released a request for proposals to get a general contractor on board who will help with the large construction work (including renovation of the auditeria into a K-12 auditorium / performing arts center!) 

• Needs Assessment: We will soon begin a needs assessment to understand our campus expansion needs beyond the work that will happen with the BVSD bond funding. Look for specific focus group dates coming out at the end of October and please plan to join us for one of these meetings. 

Thanks for your continued support of Peak to Peak and our students. Please reach out with any questions or concerns. 

Jennie Klein, Executive Director of Education | jennifer.klein@bvsd.org 

Jennifer Douglas, Executive Director of Operations | jennifer.douglas@bvsd.org 

After reviewing the results of last year's Annual Family Survey, the Peak to Peak Leadership Team is interested in revisioning or restructuring our Communication Pathways as our grievance resolution process. We want to hear from you! If you would like to give us feedback or share your experiences, please reach out to Tracy Durland by email or schedule a face-to-face conversation on October 25th or 26th. 

Our next Board of Directors' meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 25th at 5:00 PM. The meeting can be attended in person in our College Counseling Center, or you can attend virtually via Zoom. The agenda is typically posted on the Monday before each meeting and can be found on the Board of Directors' page on our website. If you would like to sign up to make a public comment for this board meeting, you can do so using this Google form. Sign-ups will close at 4:00 p.m. on the day of the board meeting.

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

Our school is administering a nationally developed school climate survey from the American Institutes for Research (‘Safe Supportive Learning Survey’ for grades 5-12 and ‘Conditions for Learning Survey’ for grades 2-4). The district selected these surveys to better understand the current climate of schools across the district. The surveys will ask students about their perceptions of school on topics such as student engagement, school environment, and school safety. Surveys will be administered online by the Office of Student Assessment and Program Evaluation in Boulder Valley School District.

Your child will be invited to participate in a survey during regular school hours on Thursday, November 2nd or Friday, November 3rd. This will occur during homeroom time at the elementary school level, during a grade level class at the middle school level, or during flex time at the high school level. Once your child logs into the survey, they will be asked what they’d like to do, either take the survey or not. If your child agrees to participate, they will spend about 10 minutes at the secondary level and 15 minutes at the elementary level completing the online survey. The list of questions for the district climate survey are attached for review (Questions for grades 2-4; Questions for grades 5-12). Your child does NOT have to answer any questions that they do not wish to answer. For younger students, your child’s teacher will read survey questions aloud while students follow along online.

Student responses to the survey will be confidential. Your child’s survey response goes to the Office of Student Assessment and Program Evaluation where staff will delete identifying information and distribute summary results directly to our school. Therefore, no one at our school will know how your child responded to the survey. Your child’s answers will be combined with the answers of other students at our school and across the district to produce reports that will help us better meet the needs of all students to have a safe and engaging learning environment at school. 

If you have any questions, please contact Alison Berman at 303-453-4640 for elementary, Victoria Hankey at 303-453-4608 for middle school, or Josh Benson at 303-453-4731 for high school.

Thank you,

Alison Berman, Elementary School Assistant Principal 

Victoria Hankey, Middle School Assistant Principal

Joshua Benson, High School Assistant Principal

Single-day loaner Chromebooks are available in the Library Media Center (LMC) for students who forget theirs on a given day.

• Daily loaner Chromebooks must be returned at the end of the day they are checked out.

• A fine of $3.50 per day will be assessed for overdue chromebooks.

Long-term loaner Chromebooks are also available when a device needs to be sent in for repair work. These services are only available to students that are participating in the 1:Web Program.

If you have any questions, please contact James Fuller (james.fuller@bvsd.org).

We are excited to announce our next elementary early-release after-school event!  These events allow our elementary students to stay for a full day on certain early release days. Parents/guardians do not have to pick up the students who attend until 3:00 PM and all proceeds go to support our K-12 student clubs!
 
All K-5 students are invited to attend our next early release after school event on Friday, November 3rd from 12:50-3:00 PM in our south gym.  The theme will be "Día de los Muertos" and hosted by our Latinx Student Union group! We'll have face painting, arts and crafts as well as a showing of Coco so students can learn about this special celebration! The cost is $10 per student. 

Dear Elementary Families, October, 2023

It’s October and many are already thinking about Halloween. On Tuesday, October 31st, Peak to Peak Elementary will celebrate this tradition together with our K-12 counterparts. In elementary school, we will have a regular school day for the majority of the day, and then students will celebrate with extra festivities in the latter part of the day. 

For a costume, your child can select any age-appropriate outfit that they desire, provided it does not portray negative or dangerous themes. (It is also okay if your student(s) prefer to wear regular clothing that day- a costume is not required.) Please help us keep the school safe and welcoming by avoiding anything looking like weapons, full-face costume masks, or content that would not be suitable for young children. Please also avoid any costumes that may be offensive to particular groups or individuals, portray stereotypes, or downgrade others in any way. Note: Full-face masks are not permitted at school, and cannot be worn at any time.

You have the option of sending your child dressed in costume to school at the beginning of the day, or sending it in a bag to change into during the afternoon before the festivities. Remember, we will still have a relatively normal morning and lunchtime, and students need to be comfortable all day long without distracting elements from normal classroom and playground routines. If students wear a costume to school all day, it needs to be able to be used for typical classroom functions and personal needs, and able to be worn for the full length of the day. More complicated costumes should be reserved for an after-lunch changing time.

We will have a costume parade at approximately 1:30 pm for Kindergarten-4th grade students. It will be located in the grassy Quad area outside in the center of all the campus buildings (weather permitting). You are welcome to come watch the parade and cheer for our students as they walk around showing off their costumes. If you join us, please stay on the outside edges of the circle, to leave as much room as possible in the middle for our students to all fit. Additionally, classrooms will hold parties either immediately after, or immediately before, the parade. Check with your grade level for specific details.

Homeroom teachers will provide additional information about parties, special projects, or volunteering opportunities on this day. We encourage families to join our festivities, attend classroom parties, or participate in the costume parade as your schedules allow.

We look forward to enjoying this child-centered celebration together this year!

Sincerely, Elementary Staff

This information was included in the Counseling Newsletter.

Congratulate Your Senior!

We know how awesome your child is, but why not let everyone else know by placing an ad in your student's senior yearbook?  Senior recognition ads are a tradition at our school. The special early bird discounted deadline for submitting your child’s yearbook ad is October 27th. For more information on pricing and how to submit your ad, please visit www.TheYearbookCompany.com.

November 14th is the deadline to submit your student’s senior portrait. Please click here to upload the portrait.

Peak to Peak was selected as one of many schools in the state of Colorado to implement the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS). This survey asks questions about behaviors that may provide insight into the state of health among our teens across the state. It tracks trends and identifies any potential areas of concern with student abuse of substances and risky behaviors. It also requests demographic information for the purposes of data collection and analysis. We will be participating in the HKCS on November 2nd and 3rd, with a random group of classes and students selected to complete the survey. Students who are not selected to take the HKCS will complete the BVSD annual climate survey, mentioned in the All School News section, above. Please note, the HKCS is an optional survey with passive consent unless you take the appropriate steps to opt your student out. This process will be shared once it is made available by CDPHE. If you have any questions, please reach out to Josh Benson.

Boys soccer will be hosting the first  round of state playoffs on Wednesday, October 25th at Peak to Peak. Come out to support our athletes! Kick off is at 6:00 PM.

The Peak Annual Fund is off to a strong start with over $25,000 raised so far to support our funding gap. Can we count YOU in? As has been done for over 20 years, we ask every family to participate at an amount meaningful and significant to your individual family. Please take this weekend to reflect on what Peak to Peak means to you and your students and consider a donation meaningful to you. Please visit our donation site for information on our annual funding gap, what your donation supports, why participation is so important, our FAQ document, monthly giving opportunities, and contact information for our Peak Annual Fund ambassadors who are available to answer any questions. Thank you Puma families for continuing this legacy of giving at Peak to Peak.

Don't forget to get your pumpkin ready for Puma Pete's Pumpkin Walk on Tuesday, October 31st. Pumpkins can be dropped off in the front circle at drop off (after 7:30am) and will be included in a festive pumpkin walk for all to enjoy! Prizes for favorite pumpkins will be awarded at all levels along with other fun guessing games  available for all K-12 Pumas and guests on campus. We look forward to seeing the many pumpkin-decorating talents in our community!

This week we received our King Soopers quarterly statement in which we received $4633 with 428 active participants this quarter. THANK YOU everyone who has linked your phone number with Friends of Peak to Peak!  Did you know you can log into your account and see how much $ you have contributed to Peak to Peak through this program? If you shop or purchase gas at King Soopers and you have not yet linked your rewards number please take one minute to do so HERE. Thank you!

Do you have a student or staff celebration to share with us? Submit accomplishments and photos for the Puma Spotlight by clicking here!

We can't be there for every moment, but we know you are there with your cameras. By sharing your photos through this form, we can share the story of your Puma moment with our community.