Over the summer, we supported K-12 students in the Boulder Valley School District who needed to catch up on unfinished learning. Our investments supported elementary and middle school students whose skill levels in core classes had fallen below grade level as well as high school students who needed credit recovery.
Elementary and middle school students
We invested $75,000 in summer learning by extending the school day and offering free after school care to support students who would otherwise be unable to attend:
1264 students attended a half-day of summer learning four days per week for six weeks
161 BVSD students enrolled in free after school care across four sites
Students received meals, snacks and supply materials for activities for each day of care
High school students
We funded free credit recovery that reached every BVSD high school. A total of 1272 students enrolled in BVSD Online over the summer:
48 middle school students and 1224 high school students took online courses
560 high school students enrolled in BVSD Online only for credit recovery
52 high school students enrolled only for full semester credit recovery
Students taking math, science, and world language courses saw the highest success rates
Looking ahead
We are committed to ensuring the disruptions to learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic don’t result in long-term learning gaps for our students. Impact on Education remains focused on supplemental learning opportunities and initiatives that contribute to student success. We will continue to invest throughout this 21-22 school year and beyond in targeted ways that support the students who are making up ground and ensuring that we provide additional instruction to those who need it most.
From the very start of the pandemic, we knew disrupted learning would create widespread inequities and learning gaps. We made sure to include supplemental instruction in the launch of our Critical Needs Fund to make sure we could fund opportunities for K-12 students to access additional instruction to catch up on learning they might miss.
This spring, we funded over 10,000 hours of supplemental instruction, providing opportunities for students to receive academic support and additional instruction after school and on Mondays as well as access to ACT/SAT preparatory courses.
This summer, we are turning our attention to supporting the elementary and the middle school students whose skill levels in core classes are below grade level as well as high school students who need to recover credits they did not pass or did not complete. Doing the learning now will lead to higher growth and achievement in the fall.
Summer learning opportunities
While schools are closed for the summer, many BVSD students are still engaged in learning. The Boulder Valley School District kicked off its Summer Learning program this week for rising 1st graders through 9th grade students.
With over 1,200 students enrolled, 160 of them, about 15%, are able to attend only because Impact on Education funded before and after child care. This allows all students, regardless of family income, the opportunity to receive safe, supplemental instruction, technology, and curriculum on their grade level.
In addition to summer learning, nearly 1,800 students are making up high school credits this summer, at no cost to them. Any student needing to retake a failed or incomplete course may sign up to take credit recovery courses this summer. While fees to retake high school classes typically cost between $50-$300, Impact on Education is funding all credit recovery courses for BVSD high school students this year with dollars from our Critical Needs Fund.
Looking ahead
The academic support being offered this summer is designed to help ensure students start the 2021-22 school year on grade level. Work is underway to ensure we meet student needs when school resumes in August and throughout the school year, too. Keep an eye out for our blog or sign up for our e-newsletter for more updates about the ways we are supporting local students.
Thanks to a new partnership with the Arly Kruse Educational Foundation, Impact on Education is facilitating an additional $30,000 investment to catch up groups of elementary students at two BVSD schools with targeted academic tutoring this spring. This tutoring is part of the broader catch-up plan, offering supplemental learning opportunities to high needs students experiencing academic setbacks due to the pandemic.
Literacy and math tutoring
Alicia Sanchez Elementary School and Escuela Bilingüe Pioneer Elementary, both in Lafayette, identified students in need of tutoring using literacy and math assessment data as well as teacher recommendations.
“This is fantastic! Thank you so much for advocating for our students. Their parents are so grateful for and supportive of the opportunity.”
Anabel Rafoul, Assistant Principal of Escuela Bilingue Pioneer Elementary
Targeted tutoring is now in place for 44 high needs elementary school students. Students at both schools receive two hours of tutoring per week in literacy, math, or both, to improve their academic skills and future success. Teachers are already seeing the growth and are reporting increased student confidence as well as noticeable improvement, specifically in reading.
About the Arly Kruse Foundation
The Arly Kruse Educational Foundation aims to enhance the education of children from diverse backgrounds through academic support and tutoring free of cost to Boulder Valley School District families.
The Foundation’s namesake was a retired teacher with a belief in the power of tutoring. Her husband and organizational Founder, Jack Kruse, shared, “We’re thrilled to be able to partner with Impact on Education to provide supplemental and targeted literacy instruction to students in need.”
As the Foundation for Boulder Valley’s public schools, Impact on Education was uniquely positioned to identify schools with specific needs and partner with the Arly Kruse Educational Foundation to bring those resources to the students who needed them most. We are so grateful to be able to provide high quality supplemental instruction to students whose learning has been disrupted.
When the COVID-19 pandemic required schools to close, we jumped into action, raising more than $600,000 to meet the critical needs of students, families, and schools in the Boulder Valley School District.
One year later, we’re sharing an update on how our Critical Needs Fund and Student Academic Support Fund addressed vital needs for our students including food security, the digital divide, and supplemental learning. We are proud of the work we’ve accomplished and hope you are too.
$12,000 to equip elementary students with supplies
Acquired and distributed 3,000 backpacks filled with school supplies for elementary school students when remote learning began
$10,000 to keep kids reading at home
Purchased thousands of books to distribute to families so students had reading material at home during the lockdowns in spring 2020
Collected and distributed thousands more books in the fall that reached students before winter break
On the horizon
We will continue meeting the critical needs of BVSD students this spring and summer and are committed to ensuring students facing opportunity gaps receive the support they need to stay engaged in learning.
A recent study by McKinsey & Company estimates that “students on average could lose five to nine months of learning by the end of June 2021. Students of color could be six to 12 months behind, compared with four to eight months for white students.” This translates to an average loss of “three months of learning in mathematics and one-and-a-half months of learning in reading.”
We are planning ways to provide supplemental instruction next school year and are committed to making sure that the disruptions to student learning in 2020-21 do not lead to long-term or permanent deficits for the students in our community, especially those who are traditionally underserved.
BVSD students are back to remote learning today, and Impact on Education is right here to help them. At the Nov 10th BVSD Board of Education meeting, BVSD Superintendent Dr. Anderson recommended all schools return to Phase 1, or all-remote learning, for the duration of the calendar year. This decision was based on Boulder County public health case numbers and the impact of current quarantines on school staffing. As we have since March, Impact on Education moved quickly to ensure we supported BVSD students and families as they navigate this return to remote learning.
We have learned a lot since we launched our Critical Needs Fund back in March, but it’s clear that there are still large-scale district-wide needs. Our role is to address the many challenges of local students, including home internet access, adequate food, childcare, and supplemental instruction to ensure gaps in learning do not lead to more permanent deficits.
IT Support for BVSD Students and Families
With more and more students learning from home, BVSD IT is challenged with making sure every single student has a reliable internet connection and functioning device. Impact on Education is supporting these efforts with funding to ensure all families have home internet. Now, we’ve turned our attention to making sure that the internet service is adequate in households with multiple kids at home. Impact on Education is partnering with BVSD IT, Boulder County and the City of Boulder to purchase and distribute over 500 additional hotspots for families! We’re also proud that our partnership has helped streamline a process for assisting students and families with connectivity and internet reliability issues.
Emergency Food Distribution
When school buildings are closed, food becomes an immediate need, and we know that students can’t learn if they are hungry. Since March, Impact on Education has been working in close partnership with the BVSD Food Services team to distribute food items and fresh produce to families every week. Families can access food on Mondays from 10:30 am – 1:30 pm at Columbine, Crestview, Emerald, Louisville Middle, Manhattan, Sanchez and Nederland Middle-Senior High.
School Age Care Scholarships for BVSD Students
Starting today and for the month of December, BVSD will offer full-day drop-in School Age Care (SAC) at multiple schools. Impact on Education will continue to provide scholarships for families who need the all-day care. The enrollment process remains the same with families registering their students for SAC and applying for Childcare Assistance through the state. We work with Community Schools to evaluate the number of scholarships needed to supplement. We know that having paraeducators assist students in-person with online learning is a priority for some families, and we are proud to support the BVSD community with this aspect of Phase 1.
Supplemental Instruction for BVSD Students
Schools are facing immediate student needs for individual academic support so Impact on Education created a Student Academic Support Fund that has already funded small group tutoring, software licenses to improve literacy instruction, Advanced Placement testing fees and much more. We are evaluating this program now and will decide during the month of December how to advance this program in the spring semester.
We’re All Together with BVSD!
Wherever the learning occurs, Impact on Education will support students, families, and schools however we can. Whether the needs are district-wide, school-wide, or for individual students, we will continue to adapt our efforts to meet those needs.
Looking for other BVSD family resources? Click here.
If the pandemic didn’t throw you for a loop last week, the snow definitely did. Snow in September? Really, 2020? Just as we were beginning to think we’ve seen it all this year.
Things might feel upside down, but one thing is clear – whatever craziness comes our way, we’ll be here for the students in our community. We might be scratching our heads along the way, just like the rest of you, but we won’t skip a beat in ensuring our students’ needs are met.
If we’ve learned anything, it’s that this is an evolving year. Our funding priorities and the ways we support students have had to shift and will continue to adjust to respond to the changing nature of school operations. We recognize that nothing is certain right now, and we are committed to making sure that our work at IoE continues to shift accordingly.
That’s why we’re continuing to focus our efforts on meeting critical needs this year. Our Critical Needs Fund, established in March, will remain our primary focus this school year. We are committed to ensuring the following:
Connectivity
Pre-COVID, we knew that we had a digital divide in our community among those who had internet access at home and those who didn’t. Since the pandemic forced school buildings to close and a shift to remote learning, this divide has become a primary focus. Virtual learning requires steady, reliable internet access and computers. We are proud to say that, in partnership with BVSD IT, Impact on Education is ensuring that every student in BVSD has a computer and reliable home internet. If you are a family in need of internet assistance, go to BVSD IT, reach out to the BVSD Help Desk or call 720-561-4357.
Food Security
Many students rely on school for breakfast, lunch, and weekend nutrition. That’s why, with our partners at BVSD Food Services, we’re ensuring that students and their families receive nutritious food while out of school. Hungry stomachs can’t learn, and we don’t expect them to.
Food is distributed every Monday from 9-11 A.M and 4-6 P.M at seven school locations across the District. For more info, check out the BVSD School Food Project website.
Student Academic Support
In order to adapt and respond to extraordinary student needs and circumstances and based on feedback from BVSD principals, we’re replacing our Opportunity Fund with aStudent Academic Support Fund this year. We know that schools will learn about specific student needs as the year progresses, so we have created a new way to offer academic support on a rolling basis to those students facing financial hardship. We anticipate supporting students by covering the costs for class or elective fees, providing academic tutoring, and purchasing supplemental equipment, technology, or support. We are rolling this out on a pilot basis through December, when we will evaluate and make any program tweaks needed to continue meeting these needs in the spring of 2021. Requests must come from school principals or principal assistants, so students facing financial hardship should reach out to their school administration to request assistance.
Student Engagement
In these trying times, we are also focusing our efforts on ensuring that students don’t fall behind and that they stay engaged in their classes. We committed to providing 5,000 hours of additional instructional time to support learners who may be falling behind. And we are working in partnership with Community Schools and BVSD’s student engagement team to be sure that every student stays engaged in their work this year.
Additional Resources
While we are proud of the ways we are able to assist students and support our local schools, we know that students and families often have needs that stretch far beyond what the schools or our Foundation can do to assist. Fortunately, there are great resources available for those in need in our community. Whether you need resources yourself or you are trying to learn about resources available to help others, this list assembled by Ema Lyman, one of our fantastic Board members, offers comprehensive resources for those in need of housing assistance, employment services, transportation resources, medical assistance, crisis support, food, clothing and countless other emergency needs.
Working together, we know that we will get through this pandemic. Current students are our future leaders, and their lives are being shaped by our community’s response to this crisis. With the support of an incredible community of donors and supporters, we are able to support these students in big and small ways each and every day. We hope that our collective efforts will inspire a new generation of problem solvers and creative thinkers who will lead us all to a brighter future.
300,000 meals for BVSD families! Yes, you read that right! Because of generous individuals and businesses in our community, Impact on Education’s Critical Needs Fund was able to support BVSD Food Services in providing over 300,000 meals since mid-March when school doors suddenly closed, cutting off access to the 6,500 students who rely on free or reduced cost breakfast and lunch each day. Food bags were distributed in a safe, drive-through manner at various school sites and reflected the consistently high standards of Chef Ann, Director of Food Services, which means high quality, local, organic when available, fresh produce, protein, and whole grains.
On Tuesday June 9th, our Executive Director Allison Billings presented this $100,000 check to BVSD Food Services Operations Manager & Registered Dietician, Stephen Menyhart, and we couldn’t be more grateful for such dedicated partners in keeping our BVSD students and families ready to learn and feeling connected to one another during this uncertain time. This investment was complemented by the $40,000 in grocery gift cards that Impact on Education provided to families in need between March and May to ensure that their basic needs were met.
Food distribution details
When: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays, through Aug. 6 (no distribution July 2)
Where: Sanchez Elementary, 655 Sir Galahad Drive, Lafayette; Crest View Elementary, 1897 Sumac Drive, Boulder; Columbine Elementary, 3130 Repplier Drive, Boulder; Emerald Elementary, 275 Emerald St., Broomfield; Louisville Middle, 1341 Main St., Louisville; Nederland Middle/Senior, 597 County Road 130, Nederland; and University Hill Elementary (site may change in mid-July due to construction), 956 16th St., Boulder.
Thanks to you, we are closing in on our Critical Needs Fund goal of $500,000. So far, Impact on Education and our entire community have raised nearly $470,000 from almost 750 donors. And both of those totals are growing because our impact continues to grow.
We’re continuing topartner with BVSD Food Services to distribute bags of fresh, local food to families at seven different school sites across the district twice a week, and that food distribution will continue into July.
We’re also providing grocery gift cards to families in need to supplement the meal bags from BVSD Food Services, and to date, school community liaisons have distributed over $40,000 in gift cards.
We’re so proud that BVSD has ensured internet access and devices to all BVSD families, and we’re now looking into how we can support the district in their professional development offered, so that all teachers are prepared and have the tools they need to support learning in the fall, whether that happens in person, remotely or in a blended format.
Finally, we know that our Critical Needs Fund will also address BVSD students’ significant academic gap as we move into the fall to ensure this temporary gap in in-person learning doesn’t translate to a longer-term overall knowledge and skill gap.
This “new normal”
More students will likely need interventions in some form and more continual food assistance; this situation is ever evolving and much is uncertain. Some needs can be foreseen and many cannot. Our Critical Needs Fund was established as support for both now and the future. And as the needs and our efforts grow, our community has stood with us, and we cannot thank you enough.
So, whether you’re someone in need of help or someone who can provide help, Impact on Education is here for you. We are committed to meeting the needs of the students and families in Boulder Valley’s public schools now and well after the COVID-19 crisis has ended.
Home-based learning will continue – your support is needed now more than ever
Boulder Valley School District announced on Monday that schools will remain closed for all in-school learning for the rest of this academic year and that Summer School will also be taught remotely. Education and teaching will still occur, but both teachers and students will be logging on from home. With this announcement that building doors will be closed for at least the next few months, we know that the needs in our community will continue to grow.
Our strong partnership with BVSD allowed us to mobilize immediately and ensure that all students have the necessary tools to continue their education from home. So far, we have:
Here’s a quick break down of the impact:
113,632 meals have been distributed to BVSD families since March 17th
2,000+ backpacks full of supplies and work packets distributed to students
$30,000 worth of grocery gift cards distributed to the most critically impacted BVSD families
1,000+ families did not have access to internet prior to Stay-at-Home orders, now EVERY student household in BVSD is connected to wifi
Several hundred masks have been collected from the community and distributed to BVSD essential workers
This work is only possible thanks to the hundreds of individual donors who contributed to our Critical Needs Fund.
In case you missed it, our Executive Director Allison Billings went live on Facebook to share an update on the swift and encompassing efforts by BVSD staff, supported by Impact on Education.
Please help us get the word out, please share on social – click here for easy facebook share.
While we are extremely proud that we’ve been able to provide so much support so quickly, we also know how much more work we have to do. The costs to continue providing food to support families in need this summer are significant, and the enrichment programs we know will be needed to help students catch up will be significant. We are so grateful for all who are joining us to make sure that these temporary school closures do not lead to permanent learning deficits.
Across our community and across the world, families and individuals are starting to settle into their new “routines.” Our new normal is staying at home and wearing masks and gloves during the essential times we need to leave the house. For some, we are working from make-shift offices in our homes, while others are trying to figure out how to pay rent as their employer has been forced to close, ending their job and source of income.
Students’ new normal is school at home. Assignments come from teacher emails, video chats or phone calls or arrive in a backpack either picked up by a family member or dropped off on a doorstep by a school community liaison. Some families are able to make this transition happen fairly well, while others struggle to juggle their own work-from-home schedule while now being a tutor/educator. And for some children, they do not even have the support of an adult in their home to ensure that their work is being completed and that they are connecting with their teachers.
Impact on Education is there for the students and teachers of Boulder Valley School District. We are driven to ensure that all students have the opportunities to receive a great education. We look for the barriers and work to break them down. Though we have been tackling obstacles and battling the achievement gap since our existence, we are in a crisis that exposes the barriers, but also sheds light on how amazing our partnership comes together to support ALL STUDENTS.
We continue to work with Boulder Valley School District as they adapt to educating children in these unprecedented times. We remain nimble to meet emerging needs and poised to take immediate action to ensure that the essential needs of students are met and that their education can proceed. We continue to listen to parents, families and our partners at BVSD.
In week two of home learning, we can already see the successes of our actions and the Critical Needs Fund:
We are proud to see that 96% of BVSD students connected with their teachers last week. The teachers and community liaisons have worked hard to make sure that students are not only accessing educational materials, but they are making connections again with their school and peers, they are being reminded that there are other adults in their lives that care about them.
To make this possible, we helped acquire and distribute:
Over 2,000 backpacks to students across the district filled with the basic tools – paper, pencils, crayons, calculators, work packets and notes from their school principals that they are loved. Watch the video of a distribution day here
Over $10,000 age appropriate books to families who do not have shelves of reading books to turn to during this time of confinement
Over 7,000 chromebooks with the help of district IT staff are working with families to properly set them up and get access to the internet.
And, so many of our children are still receiving nutritious meals from school – BVSD continues to be the one place that they can count on to have a full belly so that they could concentrate on their studies.
To make this possible, we have been able to utilize the Critical Needs Funds and leverage partnerships.
Just this week 20,224 meals have been distributed – bringing the total to 71,056 meals since March 17th
And, due to a partnership with BVSD Food Services and the nonprofit Conscious Alliance and their sponsor, Hormel, these families will all have a ham to prepare for Sunday’s Easter dinner.
And lastly, to make all the behind the scenes support happen, BVSD has hundreds of essential workers who we need to make sure are safe.
To make this possible we have:
Collected hundreds of hand-sewn and industrial masks from the community
These BVSD team members leave their homes every day to help make the emergency plans happen. They care for essential employees’ children, prepare and distribute food bags, they go to the homes of our most directly affected families to deliver food, gift cards for essentials and school supplies, they sit on the curbs of our school buildings to distribute laptops and backpacks, they clean all the school building to ensure they are ready for students to return, they receive donations and deliveries in the warehouse – they keep and promote the community of what is school!
We are grateful to be able to help the district tackle many of the challenges! A supportive community means the world to so many of our families:
We truly are #AllTogetherBVSD
UPDATE (4/20/2020): THANK YOU to a fantastic community – our mask needs have been fulfilled!) CURRENT NEED– FACE MASKS: BVSD is providing care to children of “Essential Employees.” We must help these teachers and children stay safe, so we’re asking for volunteers to donate face masks that we’ll distribute to students, teachers and other building personnel.
If you are a group or individual with a donation of 5 masks or more, please email us to schedule a pick up time.Bulk collections will continue through April 17th.
Addition Resources:
Please click here to learn more about BVSD’s Home Learning Kickoff Plan
Please click here to learn more about BVSD’s Materials and Food Distribution Plan
Please click here to learn more about Emergency Food Distribution
Please click here to learn about the Boulder Valley School District’s response
Please click here to learn more about resources in Boulder County
Please click here to learn about the State of Colorado public health and action plan
Read reporting on BVSD and IoE efforts to support students
113,632 meals have been distributed to BVSD families since March 17th
