In collaboration with The Colorado COVID-19 Emergency Hunger Relief Fund, Huerfano RE-1 will be handing out fresh fruits, vegetables and other food items over the next several weeks for families and residents of our community. Our first event will take place at Peakview and Gardner locations Thursday June 4th starting at 11 am to 12 noon ( 1 box per household while supplies remain). This will be a drive up process similar to the school sack lunch pick up. For Walsenburg, we will have signs guiding traffic around the back of John Mall High School, through the alley between John Mall and Peakview. For Gardner, the time is the same 11am – 12pm, and will distribute from the parking lot of the school. Please do not arrive or line up before 10:45 am.

We ask for your help by returning any boxes and empty egg cartons we hand out so that we can reuse them for making future food boxes. Please email Tara Burke at if you need additional details.

We will be serving sack lunches this week on Tuesday May 19 and Thursday May 21 from 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. at Gardner and Peakview locations. Hope to see you there.

***NEW*** Here is the approved calendar for the 2020 – 2021 Final Huerfano RE-1 Academic Calendar – approved 5-11-2020, by the Re-1 Board of Education.

(Please click the link above, or the image below for the PDF document of the calendar.)

NOTICE OF PROPOSED SCHOOL BUDGET Notice is hereby given that a proposed budget has been submitted to the Board of Education of Huerfano School District RE-1 for the fiscal year beginning 2020 and has been filed in the office of Huerfano School District RE-1 Administration Building and on The District webpage, http://huerfano.k12.co.us/?page_id=65 where it is available for public inspection. Such proposed budget will be considered for adoption at a regular meeting of the Board of Education of said District via Zoom https://zoom.us/j/7218322432 on May 11, 2020 at 5:30 P.M. live stream https://facebook.com/HuerfanoRe1/live/

Any person paying school taxes in said district may at any time prior to the final adoption of the budget file or register his objections thereto.

BOARD OF EDUCATION

May 6, 2020

Huerfano School District RE-1

Dorothy Martinez

Official notice from Superintendent Moore: It is with great sadness that I announce all Huerfano RE-1 schools will be closed for in person instruction the remainder of the school year (through our last day of May 22nd) as stipulated by Governor Polis late Monday evening.
I know everybody entertained the hope that we could possibly resume normal instruction, events and activities in May. These items will not occur, unfortunately.
There are still many school related items that will need to be discussed and acted upon of which many depend on the status of the Corona virus and regulations put in place by the Huerfano and Las Animas Health department.
Parents and students, remote learning will continue through May 22, 2020. I ask that you please finish strong and make every effort to do the best that you can.
We do have plans for an alternate format of graduation on May 22nd that will be held downtown at the intersection of 5th and Main similar to a homecoming parade with recognition of each graduate. A 2nd, more traditional graduation with very limited number of guests along with extensive social distancing will be held on June 13th at the football field complex if allowed to do so by our health department at that time. The specifics of our nontraditional and traditional graduation ceremonies will be released in due time.
I want to thank everyone for being patient, understanding and thinking safety first for all our community.
Thank you,
Mike Moore

News Release from CDE: Colorado plans to offer seniors free SAT tests on a school day next fall

DENVER – Colorado 12th graders would be able to take the SAT test on a school day next fall for no cost under an agreement the Colorado Department of Education is pursuing with the College Board, the organization that administers the test.

This spring’s administration of the SAT along with the rest of the state’s assessment requirements for the 2019-20 school year were suspended by Gov. Jared Polis’ executive order due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given the SAT plays an important role in the lives of Colorado’s high school students as a means of demonstrating readiness for graduation and postsecondary experiences, as well as providing scholarship opportunities, a commitment was made to investigate alternative testing options.

“It’s important for many of our students and their families to know the state is still planning to provide them with an opportunity to take the test for free on a school day,” said Katy Anthes, Colorado’s education commissioner. “Preserving continuity in the assessment expectations and experiences is especially important now as Colorado high school students navigate the many changes brought about by the national emergency.”

CDE expects it would be able to offer vouchers for interested students who are unable to take the SAT on the designated school day to participate in a national administration on a Saturday this fall. Additionally, options for offering the PSAT tests that are normally taken by ninth and 10th graders are being investigated.

The results of the assessments are not intended for school and district accountability, which has been paused for the 2020-2021 school year.

As with all state programs, a fall administration of the assessment depends on adequate state funds being available.

CDE News release here

A Message from the Superintendent of Schools

Some school districts very recently stated that their schools are closed the remainder of the school year and will continue to offer their instructional models. In essence, we are doing the same thing without stating that schools are closed the remainder of the school year. We know that schools are closed until April 30 and we know that in person, face-to-face instruction will likely not return the rest of the school year. Therefore, our remote, at home learning will continue to be offered as scheduled most likely until the end of this school year. The school board and I will discuss the semantics (use of the word Closed versus using the Governors guidelines) at the April 13 board meeting.

Access to Huerfano RE-1 Buildings and Facilities
All Huerfano RE-1 buildings and facilities (including schools, playgrounds, athletic fields, etc.) are closed through April 30 and most likely through the end of the school year. We are unable to allow families or students access to our schools to pick up any personal belongings at this time. In addition, in order to help minimize the spread of COVID-19 in our community, we ask our families and students to avoid playgrounds, ballparks, athletic fields, tracks, etc. located on Huerfano RE-1 properties.

Community Service Hours for 2020 Graduates are waived
With remote learning in place and COVID restrictions; it is incredibly difficult for our high school seniors to receive the necessary hours of community service hours required to graduate with the Class of 2020. I have had many discussions about this dilemma with our high school leaders, and together we have made the decision to waive this community service requirement for RE-1’s graduating seniors. In other words, the determined # community service hours will not be required for our 2020 graduates.

Prom Canceled /Graduation Ceremonies (pre-k, 8^th grade, HS)
Due to this extended closure, we have made the decision to cancel the Huerfano RE-1 sponsored prom scheduled to take place in late April.

We are very proud of our Class of 2020, as well as, our pre-K and 8^th grade students for reaching a milestone. Thus, we are looking into options for these graduation/promotion ceremonies. While we do not have a specific plan in place for graduations just yet, we are working on contingency plans should our closure be extended beyond April 30 and through the remainder of the school year. One potential option may be to reschedule graduations/promotions for the summer so that we can still celebrate our amazing graduates who have worked hard to earn their graduation diplomas or to be promoted to 1^st or 9^th grades. We do not want them to miss these important milestones.

—
Michael J Moore
Superintendent/Huerfano School District Re-1

Calling all Parents and Guardians:

We are SUPER EXCITED to say that we are able to continue our Empowered Parents program through webinars.

The first of four webinars led by Hugh Keating will start this coming Tuesday, April 07 at 5:15 p.m.

Mr. Keating will cover such topics as: homeschool stress; coping with isolation and relaxation techniques.

Dial in and join us. Tuesday April 7, 2020 at 5:15PM-6:15PM
The number to call is 1-312-584-2401. When prompted, enter the meeting number/Extension: 1753477#

03/30/2020

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students:

As you are aware, we are entering our 2^nd week of “At home learning” and that regular school instruction has been suspended until April 20^th as per the Governor’s Executive Order. We will remain closed until directives are issued to reopen schools. It is very possible and likely that we will remain in this “at home learning” form of education for the remainder of the school year, which will be determined via discussion between the Governor and the Colorado Department of Education.

We are fully aware and understand that this shift in education will be challenging for parents, students, and teachers alike, and we are committed to being as flexible as possible to support all families who we know are dealing with significant disruptions to their life and livelihoods not associated with school and learning. Anxiety, uncertainty, frustration and fear have all made their way into our lives to some degree and we all acknowledge that reality and how it affects all of us.

Yet Education must continue for all our students and our teachers will continue to be hard at work preparing authentic classroom lessons (as close to the classroom instruction as possible) and continuing to provide various communication avenues for you, the parents and students.

Lessons will continue to be offered in the formats previously distributed

• paper/pencil packets
• Online lessons via Google classroom activities, Plato, Kahn Academy etc. In addition, teachers are currently working on creating their own direct instruction videos.

Please refer to each teacher’s plans as provided to access any links or video presentations.

*Parents and students, it is very important to know that assignments must be completed and returned as expected. This work is the only way we are able to assess your child’s/children’s mastery of the skill sets/content knowledge needed to be successful at the next grade level. In other words, successful completion and return of work will be critical for helping to determine next year’s grade promotion.

There are still many unknowns about important school events, which typically occur in mid-April and May.

I will keep you updated in regard to said events as we receive more guidance and directives from the Governor and Colorado Department of Education.

Thank you for being patient, understanding and considerate because all of us are new in this life changing event. Let us all work together respectfully and compassionately. Thank you so much. Please communicate with your teachers should you need anything. I am available for you also.

Respectfully,

Michael Moore

Superintendent Huerfano RE-1 schools

At home learning letter 3-30-20