SCHOOL NEWS (for general public): January 2023

~~~~~~All students are kept informed directly by school staff through their weekly Newsletter and more. — This article is for those in town who wish to be informed as to what is happening in the school system — such as substitute teachers, grandparents, neighbors next to the school building, past students, etc. — this page contains a few brief “highlights” from multiple weekly school newsletters that might be of interest to residents; and some news gathered from other news sources, like social media.~~~~

Friday, February 17 including Monday February 20, school closed for President’s Day.

Lyons Middle/High School

GRADUATION RATES: St. Vrain Valley School District graduation rates continued an upward trajectory with the class of 2022– at 90%; while Boulder Valley’s graduation rate dipped only slightly, according to Colorado Department of Education data.

Lyons Middle Senior High’s very own Allison Zema is being recognized at the state level for being an Outstanding Young Music Educator! The Pride of Lyons is so proud of you Allison! She will be recognized at the at the conference on January 26th at the opening session. Allison says, “Thank you so much! I couldn’t be happier to be a part of such a supportive and loving community Lyons Love!”

CHEERLEADING CAMP registration is now open. Have your student contact Julie Vasquez at their high school.

SPORTS: for HS Boys & Girls Basketball / HS Wrestling / CLICK THIS LINK for dates and places, or to buy tickets/passes.

MENTAL WELLNESS: The School provides a link to families = CLICK HERE = for community resources! Info on the following and more…
Self Care…………Substance Use & Addiction……….Suicide Prevention

It’s that time of year to start working on summer career development, camps, scholarships:
(1.) Local Scholarships for the Class of 2023
Counselors visited Senior English classes on 12/16 and 12/19 to present information about local scholarships.  Please utilize the resources below for more information.
Class of 2023 Local Scholarship Presentation == Lyons Local Scholarships Overview

(2.) Career Elevation Technology Center (CETC) and Innovation Center (IC) Registration Requests
CETC:  CETC offers classes that provide real-world, hands-on experiences in pathways that are high-wage, high-growth, high-demand, and with a post-secondary trajectory.
IC: In addition to rigorous extended learning and mentorship opportunities, students gain valuable experience through employment that focuses on designing and engineering technology solutions for industry and community partners.

The request window for CETC is open from now until February 3rd.  The request window for Innovation Center is open until January 31st.  High School students wishing to request courses at either of these two sites should do so before these respective deadlines.  For information about each site, including the registration process, visit CETC or Innovation Center.

Lyons Elementary School

VEX ROBOTICS: Lyons Elementary School is participating in VEX Robotics. Tournaments are held year-round at the regional, state, and national levels and culminate at the VEX-Robotics World Championship each April! 2022 – 2023 == All students are natural scientists and engineers. They love to question, tinker, experiment and play. VEX competitions foster these skills and capitalize on the motivational effects of competitions and robotics to help all students create an identity as a STEM learner. VEX competitions are also a great way to expose students to valuable soft skills like communication, collaboration and time-management in a fun and authentic way.

The school has a STEM program, which they are raising their efforts to keep parents informed of what is being done. See the School newsletter for more information.

Gifted and Talented Early Access for 5 year olds
 In accordance with Colorado House Bill 08-1021, St. Vrain Valley School District has established a process for identifying “Highly Advanced Gifted” students under the age of 6 who demonstrate a need for complete acceleration into kindergarten or first grade. Colorado state law makes it possible to accept students for early entry if the child meets the criteria established . Please join us for an informational meeting on January 24th from 6:00 pm-7:00 pm.  RSVP to Connie Moreno at moreno_consuelo@svvsd.org. A link to the virtual meeting will be sent out the day before the meeting.

The Elementary school kids do a food drive every year, and bring in approximately 3,000 items for the Christmas boxes to our residents in need.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (music): we’re excited to have a wonderful Artist in Residence experience with our 2nd-5th graders to look forward to. Artist in Residence is a legacy program at Lyons Elementary School.  We bring in artists to develop school wide learning modules, which give students access to working artists in an effort to enhance our creative programming.  This year, our featured art group is Kid Pan Alley. During the week of December 12, musicians worked with our 2nd-5th graders to write songs.  Then, on Friday, December 16 at 6:30pm, our 2nd-5th graders performed a concert featuring our co-created songs at the Lyons Middle Senior Auditorium.

CAMPUS SUPERVISOR (formerly called school resource officer):  we are in the process of hiring a Campus Supervisor.  This position will greatly add to our school’s ability to prepare and respond to daily and periodic needs. The person will be unarmed, will provide an extra set of eyes and ears, and will be a great liaison to our students and community.  Our first task after hiring will be to review our morning drop off procedures. We are always looking for opportunities to increase safety, and drop off is a great place for us to increase our engagement.

DISCOVERY CAMP 2023 – This year’s challenge 2023: Build a STEM Space!
Students in grades PreK to 5th are encouraged to design their own dream STEM labs out of recycled and upcycled materials.
…why is this important?/How can your child get started?… Head to www.tinyrul.com/DiscoveryFair where STEM coordinator Mrs. Wegert and Principal Moore break down the project and process.
Please register your child to participate at: www.tinyurl.com/LESsignup
All events will be held in the Lyons Elementary School library. snacks provided. Bring your final design on Jan. 26th.
Workshops:
Learn about the design process – Jan. 11th / done
Make a prototype – Jan. 17th / done
Project presentations – Jan. 26th – 6 to 7 p.m
**ADULTS** if you would like to volunteer: contact Chas at chas.bolkovatz@amy-reinholds
Only kids and their parents can attend the “Presentation” at this time. We are awaiting a possible add on of an additional day for the *PUBLIC* to attend. This is an exciting program, and in the past people were blown away by the creativity of the kids, so we will post info if it happens.

(The Lyons Recorder apologizes for not getting the infomration to the workshops to you sooner, but we did not get a response to our email inquires on time)