During a public meeting at the Coal Creek Canyon K-8 school on October 25, 2013, three representatives from a charter school presented an option to keep the school open for the next school year.

The Jefferson County School Board had voted to close the Coal Creek Canyon K-8 school during a Board meeting on October 12, 2023, and later the Board voted to approve a resolution regarding Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools, which included closing the CCCK-8 school.

The vote followed two public information sessions at the school and a public hearing on October 2. According to a letter from Jefferson County Schools to Coal Creek Canyon K-8 Staff and Families, “Today, the Board of Education voted to close the district’s two smallest K-8 schools, which includes the closure of CCCK8.

“CCCK8 will remain open for the duration of the 2023-24 school year.” Principal Kevin Carroll and the staff at CCCK8 will keep the focus on students, their experience and learning throughout this school year.

The district is facilitating an expedited charter authorization process, whereby a school could open to serve students in grades PK-8 in this community as soon as the 2024-25 school year. The other option: “When CCCK8 closes, Three Creeks K-8 will be the designated K-8 neighborhood school for students who live in the current CCCK8 boundary area,” according to the letter to parents. “Transportation will be provided.”

At the meeting on October 25, Tim Matlick, executive director, and Tiffany Blakely, communication engagement coordinator, at Jefferson Academy Charter Schools. Carole Bartusiak, principal at Woodrow Wilson Academy, assisted the JA representatives in presenting a proposal to provide a charter school in the CCC building.

Jefferson Academy (JA) began as an idea in April 1993 by a group of parents wishing to become proactive in their children’s education. E.D. Hirsch‘s Core Knowledge Curriculum was chosen to be the guiding force to this back-to-basics, highly rigorous approach to learning.

This grassroots organization began with word-of-mouth discussions. The group then distributed flyers within the community to recruit other parents who wished to participate in the founding of a Core Knowledge Charter School. In May 1994, JA was approved by the Jefferson County Board of Education, making it one of the first charter schools in Colorado.

Matlick said the school has facilities for elementary school in Westminster and secondary in Broomfield. They are in their 30th year. He started out as a teacher and moved to Colorado 22 years ago. He has been a principal for nine years.

Bartusiak said she is principal at another charter school and lives in Coal Creek Canyon. “It is important to me.” Woodrow Wilson has 55 kids and three homeschools in Westminster, Lakewood, and Evergreen. She fell in love with charter schools because they have more autonomy. “School is my passion,” she said.

Tiffany Blakely does marketing for campuses, helps build partnerships and works with families in need and holiday care packages. She is a Jeffco graduate.

Matlick said Jefferson Academy reports to two boards, for the Academy and the Jefferson County School Board. They can request a waiver from policies established by Jefferson County School Board, but they have to have a replacement policy.

The Academy’s board sets the calendar and curriculum. They have a lot of flexibility.

Bartusiak said that the charter school also gets to decide who to hire. “We have more options,” she noted.

Matlick said it comes down to a financial issue. The situation is “tricky at best,” and he wants to bring homeschool families into the mix.

Bartusiak said that they are proposing a five-day schedule with Core Knowledge academic programs on Monday through Thursday, and Friday as a day to pursue other activities, including field trips. On Fridays, they would bring in the homeschool families.

They hope to bring in experts from the area and are thinking about having some night programs, such as learning about the stars.

Regarding the timeline, Bartlick said they are compressing what is normally two years of work into two months. They have the public meeting tonight and would like to have parents fill out letters of intent if they want to choose the Jefferson Academy as their school for next year. They are applying for a federal grant to help with expenses. If chosen, the charter school would open in July.

The application is due on November 8, and they need to know how many parents fill out the letter of intent. November 15 is the deadline for Jeffco to approve the grant application. On November 20, letters of intent are due, and they will create the budget and see if it will work. They can make $22,000 per student and homeschool students can be funded at 50 percent.

On November 28, they present the plan and application to the JA Board. December 1 is the deadline to submit the application to Jeffco, and then the Board votes on the application on January 14.

Matlick said they would like to afford CCC teachers the opportunity to stay here, and they have one year to try it. They are working with the district on this. Teachers will get paid at 92 percent of the District pay scale.

The retention rate for teachers is better at Jefferson Academy than in the District. Teachers can have three hours of planning time on Friday and can come in later on Friday.

Carroll said the school would remain a K-8 school. Several district staff members will review the application.

Matlick told parents that they are not bound by the letter of intent. “If we have the numbers, we will determine, yes, we can do it or no, we can’t do it… .I’m not promising anything tonight.”

They will plan to lease the building from the district. They are bound to a number of hours students must attend, so Fridays would not be optional. They are also bound to supply support services; at this time the Academy has 78 students with challenges and already has 16 students from the Canyon.

He added that it will be a transition year, and they hope to capture students. They will not provide busing.

Regarding fundraising, the Academy has a foundation, and they would like someone in the community to be liaison with the Foundation.

He said that when you “choice into” a school, that will be your home school. All programs are one day a week. He pointed out that JA is one of the top three schools in the District.

Carroll said Ralston Valley is the boundary high school. Kids can also matriculate into JA programs.

Matlick said they have proposed 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for school hours and polled the audience to see what they preferred. The majority wanted to start at 8:30 a.m. A before-school program would run from 6:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. and the after-school program would be from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

They then passed out letters of intent for those in the audience.

On October 30, Blakely updated the current numbers based on the letters of intent:

• 58 confirmed to enroll in CCC/JA K8

•14 may/most likely enroll in CCC/ JA K8

•9 confirmed to participate in the Homeschool Super Friday Program

“This is a great first push- thank you for your efforts! Our rough goal is to get 110 confirmed for CCC/JA K8 and 40 confirmed for the Homeschool Super Friday Program (so we need 52 more for K8 & 31 more for Super Friday).

“We have some work to do between now and November 6 to reach our goal. If you could take a moment to let me know the avenues (if any) you have used to get the word out, or ideas that you have that may not have been used yet, that would be great and will help me to know where we can fill some gaps in marketing and communication.

“Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything further. We will send updates as numbers change, and as we add them to the communication and marketing toolbox.”