Win Dad a Family Vacation to YMCA of the Rockies!
May 21, 2012 – 6:15 am | Comments Off

If there is an affordable, fun family vacation that rivals YMCA of the Rockies, I’d like to know about it.
Since I moved to Colorado almost 10 years ago, we have had a family reunion and multiple trips to both of the YMCA of the Rockies’ Colorado locations.
As new parents with an irascible, insomniac toddler, [...]

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Articles in School

Magnet school first-graders take hands-on approach to studying dinosaurs
May 29, 2011 – 7:00 am | No Comment
Magnet school first-graders take hands-on approach to studying dinosaurs

Aidan Hartman squatted near the 152 million-year-old fossil and studied it with a critical eye.
The only other dinosaur bones he had seen before Monday were in a museum and were well- scrubbed, connected and intact. But this piece, excavated by a group of Northglenn High School educators just a few months ago, held a special [...]

Your Opinion: Are today’s grade-school “graduations” celebrating mediocrity?
May 26, 2011 – 1:24 pm | 26 Comments
Your Opinion: Are today’s grade-school “graduations” celebrating mediocrity?

I’m all about celebrating milestones. Births, deaths, birthdays, holidays–I’m your gal. However, there is a trend in our schools that disturbs me: the graduation ceremony.
Twelfth grade, college and even 8th grade Continuations should be lauded affairs, a recognition of many years of hard work. I have fond memories of my senior year revelries as my [...]

New Denver Public Schools discipline system isn’t embraced by all
May 22, 2011 – 6:24 am | 14 Comments
New Denver Public Schools discipline system isn’t embraced by all

Discipline policies in Denver Public Schools have been praised as models for other districts across the country, but in a couple of recent cases, relatives of students have questioned whether the softer approach is protecting their kids.
In one, parents at Denver’s Edison Elementary went to police themselves to report a fourth-grader who they said threatened [...]

Dip in number of Colorado home-schoolers may be linked to surge in online enrollment
May 20, 2011 – 7:08 am | 5 Comments
Dip in number of Colorado home-schoolers may be linked to surge in online enrollment

For JD Elvrum and his family, public school had too many strikes against it.
“His first three years of school were marred by teachers’ strikes,” in his Pennsylvania school district, said JD’s mom, Tillie Elvrum. Add to that a slight learning disability and many moves as a result of his father’s career — in the Air [...]

The Gifts Teachers Really Want
May 18, 2011 – 6:40 am | 13 Comments
The Gifts Teachers Really Want

It’s that time of year again, when children pack up their desks, say goodbye to friends and give a final farewell before springing into a summer of endless sunshine and fun…followed by dog days of summer, indoor air conditioning, boredom and whining.
And that’s when we gain a true appreciation for our children’s teachers!

School-Sanctioned Bullying: The Importance of Being Your Child’s Biggest Advocate
May 18, 2011 – 6:39 am | 5 Comments
School-Sanctioned Bullying:  The Importance of Being Your Child’s Biggest Advocate

Since I’ve become a parent, I haven’t worried about whether or not bullying might happen…I’ve been flat-out waiting for it.  Because, frankly, bullying is nothing new.  We’ve all been through it at one time or another and while it isn’t fun, it’s reality.  But this type of bullying came in a way that I wasn’t [...]

Editorial: Denver teachers union blocking reform again?
May 17, 2011 – 5:30 am | 5 Comments
Editorial: Denver teachers union blocking reform again?

We have little doubt that 2008 legislation detailing how Colorado schools could gain autonomy and create innovative programs was meant to cover new schools.
Yet, that’s what the Denver teachers union seems to be arguing, as it has objected to so-called innovation status for three new public schools in northeast Denver.
The irony is that the union [...]

Parents: Enough multiple choice at neighborhood schools
May 12, 2011 – 12:00 am | 14 Comments
Parents: Enough multiple choice at neighborhood schools

The moms and dads of Skinner Middle School — taxpaying types with steady jobs and sensible family cars — don’t look like a bunch of radicals.
But after meeting quietly for months to brainstorm, then to crunch numbers and compile data, they went public with demands that turn a decade of school-choice/school-reform thinking on its head.
Their [...]

How to make summer break
May 10, 2011 – 7:00 am | 14 Comments
How to make summer break

Summer is fragile. It slips by at a dizzying pace. One moment, you are emptying the backpacks and stashing them out of sight.
The next, you’re filling a shopping cart with enough washable markers to decorate the exterior of a family band bus. It’s a good thing the Partridge Family didn’t use washable markers, or a [...]

Are Our Children in a “Race to Nowhere” Through the Education System?
April 27, 2011 – 7:00 am | 16 Comments
Are Our Children in a “Race to Nowhere” Through the Education System?

A few months ago, the mom taxi was running strong. One of us had at least one thing to do every single night of the week. Trying to schedule a play date or just take a breath was next to impossible.
I decided I was running my family into the ground. We were all headed for [...]