The last Gilpin County School Board meeting while the 2021-2022 school year is in session was held on May 17, 2022. This aligned with a time of celebration as sports teams held their banquets and athletes prepared to go to the State Track meet which occurred over the weekend.

Patrick Linnehan, the Gilpin County Elementary School technology teacher, conducted a presentation on the Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) which showed that Gilpin County Elementary students have done exceptionally well even in spite of the pandemic. Gilpin elementary students performed at or above the state average in all subjects, sometimes quite impressively.

Gilpin County fourth-graders outperformed the state average by 35% in fourth-grade math, with 63.6% meeting or exceeding expectations and 13% in third- grade reading. Linnehan credited the school’s success to the team-based program which aims to give students the individualized attention needed.

The program is split into three tiers from general to special education, uses data and… to assess a child’s well-being in and out of the classroom, and aims to intervene at early stages in education and help students reach their full potential. The program is intended to form teams of classroom and special education teachers, administrators, and social/ mental well-being professionals. Linnehan continued the presentation on the program’s process. Further information can be found on the Colorado Department of Education’s website under “Colorado Multi- tiered System of Supports.”

The school board then reviewed plans for its Back to School Night and Open House scheduled for August 11, 2022, 6-7:30 p.m. Rather than the usual meet and greet between teachers and students, there is a proposed plan to foster a more “carnival” atmosphere complete with face painting, inflatables, and, hopefully, a barbecue. “If we feed them they will come,” said Tina Cope. Advertisements for the event are planned to be run in the Weekly Register-Call, The Mountain-Ear, Clear Creek Courant, and the Canyon Courier.

The School Board discussed further media engagement to ensure that the community knows the benefits of a smaller school. Many families prefer to move their kids to larger high schools elsewhere. The idea is to create further initiatives to allow the local community to learn about the school and foster the alumni community by creating an annual newsletter and encouraging alumni participation in events like homecoming.

The school board intends to move forward with the same fee schedule as the 2020 school year but continues to monitor the costs over the year, considering that food and transportation costs are sure to rise over the next year.

The board heard from Gilpin County high school junior Skyley Ramsey on her experience at Gilpin County as part of the student and board engagement discussion. Ramsey keeps a busy schedule with three AP courses of the six offered as well as keeping up two sports. Despite her busy schedule, Ramsey said that the support of the tight-knit community at Gilpin high school allowed her to properly balance her academic and sports goals, allowing her to ask for extended deadlines when necessary. “It’s really nice to have such a supportive community and being [a] small school really helps with that,” Ramsey said. Ramsey also praised the Gilpin School for the access to resources that the school has allowed her over the years. Ramsey said, “Anything that I want to do. If I want to be a great basketball player I just ask my coach if they can open the gym. Always. They say yes.”

The Gilpin County School Board meetings are held bi-monthly on the first and third Tuesday of the month. The board meetings are held in the Gilpin County School board room at 7 p.m. and are open to the public. The next meeting is on June 7, 2022.