Dear Weld County School District Re1 Parents/Guardians, and Staff
Welcome back to the start of the fourth and last quarter of this school year.
We want to share a couple of reminders with all our families:
- Fourth quarter
This last quarter consists of 10 weeks and starting on Monday April 4th the district will go back to*4 - full weeks of 5 days (Monday to Friday)*This is to accommodate for the state assessment window.
The last quarter of the school year is important to our students and staff as we are in the process of completing coursework, completing credit hours, having transition meetings between grade levels and schools, etc.
We want to encourage our students to fully participate in all the activities and opportunities provided to them to finish the year strong academically.
Our seniors are completing 13 years of formal education that started many years ago in kindergarten and we want to celebrate their accomplishment at the *graduation ceremony on Saturday May 28.*To do that we need every senior to show up every day and work hard taking care of their school business to obtain the credits they need to graduate. We don’t want anyone to stumble in the last stretch and we encourage them to work with their teachers to get their work done and turned in. Teachers need evidence of learning to assign grades on time.
1. State assessments
The state is getting back to business as usual regarding state assessments and accountability measures including all students from grade 3 to 11. Our students will participate in English Language Arts and Mathematics in Grades 3-8; Science in grades 5, 8, and 11. Our high school students will take the PSAT 9, and 10 assessments and our juniors will take part in the SAT assessments.
We encourage all parents to allow their child/ren to participate in these state assessments to track their progress towards meeting the content standards or grade level readiness.
2. School Calendar for 2022 – 2023
The Board approved the calendar the school district will use for the next two years. We want to thank the calendar subcommittee for hours of work creating different options, and the staff, and the community that took the time to provide input.
We know that some people did not get their preferred option and our best hope is that we can move forward to start planning for next year.
The detailed calendar for the 2022 – 2023 school year is available on the website, and we ask you to use it when you are planning your vacations, trips and activities.
A couple calendar highlights are as follows:
- Student school day: 8:00 am to 3:40 pm. This is a 20 minute longer day for everyone.
- There will be four consecutive Mondays or 5-day weeks in the beginning of the school year.
- No Mondays in April.
- Elementary students will do testing by appointment during the first 3 days of school.
- The first instructional day for secondary students is Thursday August 11.
- The first instructional day for elementary students is Tuesday August 16.
- The last day of school will be Friday May 26, 2023.
- The total number of student contact days are reduced from 159.5 to 152.5 days. The 20 minutes extra per day is to compensate for the loss of 7 school days.
3. Board listening session
The school board invites you to attend their second listening round table on Wednesday March 30th at 6 pm at the Educational Service Center in Gilcrest. The purpose of these sessions is to meet the board and to share ideas on how the district can better serve the students and the community. We want to hear about what you think the district is doing well and where and how we can continue to improve our operations. Every voice is important, and everyone is welcome to attend the session.
4. Performance Evaluation of Colorado’s K-12 Education Accountability System
The Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) is conducting an independent evaluation of Colorado’s K-12 Education Accountability System on behalf of the Colorado Office of the State Auditor (OSA). This evaluation is required by House Bill 21-1294, and it covers several different objectives that are specifically outlined in the bill.
As part of this evaluation, they areseeking feedback from educators and parents through online surveys. The purpose of the 5 minute survey is to understand how families access and use information that the Colorado Department of Education provides about student and school performance.
We understand that this is a busy time of year for districts and schools.Participation is voluntary, and we appreciate your assistance.
Educator Feedback Survey Link:https://platform.humrro.org/Login/t05/i/747?mspw=ColoradoK12Ed
Parent/Family Survey Link (English): https://platform.humrro.org/Login/t05/i/746?mspw=ParentFamily2022
Parent/Family Survey Link (Spanish): https://platform.humrro.org/Login/t05/i/748?mspw=ParentFamily2022sp
Thank you for your time and assistance!
Mr. Van