Laurel Reckert, Nederland. It has been quite a year at Nederland Elementary School! The last three months have been unprecedented for all of us with the shift to home learning. However, our amazing teachers and staff have done a tremendous job in continuing quality learning for all of our students. I’m also very grateful to our parent community for supporting their children at home during this unique time. Additionally, I’d like to express my gratitude to Teens Inc. and the Boulder Valley School District Information Technology Department for supporting our families with internet access to participate in home learning. It truly takes a village to support a shift like this, and the Nederland community has been a tremendous part of the success of this transition.

Prior to March, we were focusing on many different facets of instruction and school improvement. This fall our fourth and fifth grade teachers received the new Fountas and Pinnell literacy materials. Our first grade teachers also received the Fundations phonics program for their students (to build on preschool and kindergarten learning). This marked the full implementation across the building of this research-based literacy program across the school. These high quality materials coupled with quality instruction and countless opportunities for differentiation have polished our school-wide literacy practices.

Throughout the year our school improvement focus was refining our Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) model. Through this process we use a team approach to support students who are not making the growth we’d like to see in academics, behavior or social/emotional learning. Over the course of the year we refined our practices with more regular team check-ins that included district specialists and ensured that interventions aligned with individual student needs and research-based practices.

We also had the opportunity this year to engage in stakeholder conversations about our school’s core values. Through surveys, conversations with parent groups and shared decision-making with faculty we determined how to use Board of Education monies earmarked to retain our mountain families. After months of discussions we all landed on the importance of the outdoors and outdoor learning experiences for our children. Once we return to in-person learning we will be expanding these opportunities for our students.

As a school community we also focus on social-emotional learning. I’m very excited that we will be moving to a new research-based curriculum for all of our students called Second Step. This instruction will be delivered by classroom teachers weekly to support the growth and development of the whole child.

Lastly, this fall marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of our school. We are hoping to celebrate this momentous occasion in September. Please watch The Mountain-Ear for more information as we get closer to the fall.

(Originally published in the May 21, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)