Funding mental health and student well-being

Immediately after the Marshall Fire, mental health professionals from surrounding school districts came to BVSD to work with impacted students and families. During this time, it became apparent that providing students with ongoing mental health support during the school day was the most effective way for Impact on Education to support their recovery.

Since January 2022 we’ve worked closely with BVSD staff to continue providing this additional level of support, which includes:

BVSD’s first wellness center

At Monarch High School, where 1 in 10 students was impacted by the Marshall Fire, a Wellness Center was created to support students in August 2022. Staffed by a full-time counselor, the Wellness Center provides students a safe place to recharge and speak with a trained professional during the school day. 

Wellness Center Impact
August – December 2022

How Mental Health Advocates are supporting students and families

Mental Health Advocates (MHAs) focus exclusively on mental and behavioral health, supplementing what BVSD school counselors can provide. Within BVSD, MHAs:

The intensity of mental health concerns and the time required to provide support and intervention varies dramatically from case to case. The additional MHAs ensure the schools impacted by the Marshall Fire have the intensive layer of mental health support needed, and expand the district’s capacity to respond to mental health needs.

Mental Health Advocate Impact

August – December 2022

Our funding priorities

Impact on Education is committed to providing an elevated level of mental health support for all students, especially those affected by the Marshall Fire. Meeting these three goals would allow us to serve 11,698 students at 12 schools across BVSD:

  1. Scaling the Wellness Center program by replicating the model to offer it at 5 BVSD high schools
  2. Retaining four MHAs supporting through the 2023-24 school year
  3. Providing mental health training and educational resources for students, families, and staff

Join us to ensure students have mental health supports available during the school day.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

December 2023 Update:
EFAA release their second annual Community Well-Being Dashboard that captures the most recent data available for Boulder County on issues like poverty, income, employment, wages, food security, housing stability and family homelessness. Take a look:

How much does it cost to live in Boulder County?

Impact on Education exists to provide support and resources to the students overcoming the greatest obstacles. We work to raise both awareness and funds to eliminate the economic and learning barriers facing our students.

Right now, everyone in our community is experiencing increased costs for food, fuel and other basic necessities. Rising prices mean families across our community are struggling to make ends meet. Every school in the Boulder Valley School District includes families facing financial challenges, and the more people who recognize this, the more we can help those in need.

The cost of living in Boulder County

The federal poverty line for a family of four is $30,000 annually. While the threshold to qualify for BVSD’s free and reduced price meals program is considerably higher at $51,338, it’s still less than half of the estimated cost of living in Boulder County. The Self Sufficiency Standard, a measure that calculates how much income a family must earn to meet basic needs, is $107,462 for a family of four in Boulder County.

One way we’re able to identify students and families in need is through the Boulder Valley School District’s free and reduced price meal program.

Free and reduced price meals

Within BVSD, students receive free meals regardless of their income if:

Students may also qualify for free or reduced price meals based on their household income. For the 2022-23 school year, 25% of the BVSD community – 7,180 students – qualify for free or reduced price meals:

What this means for BVSD students and families

We are committed to ensuring that every student has access to the same opportunities regardless of uncontrollable factors like their economic status. Enrollment in BVSD’s free and reduced price meal program, and families impacted by the Marshall Fire, are two ways we’re able to identify students who need additional support.

But how many BVSD families don’t qualify for free and reduced lunch or other benefits and still struggle to make ends meet?

BVSD administrators, educators and staff often come to Impact on Education when they’re unable to meet student needs. We continue to explore how we can effectively and discreetly identify and offer resources to all BVSD students and families that are struggling financially in Boulder County. Our strong partnership with BVSD ensures we can provide direct resources that enable our schools and educators to support students.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to nearly 30,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

Why our Marshall Fire support continues

In early 2022, we began supporting the immediate and long-term recovery of the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) students and educators affected by the Marshall Fire. Our work has provided:

To see a full summary, please visit our Crisis Response page.

Prioritizing mental health

Immediately after the fire, mental health professionals from surrounding school districts came to BVSD to work with impacted students and families. During this time, we saw that providing students with mental health support during the school day was the most effective way to support their recovery. 

We worked closely with BVSD staff to continue providing an additional level of support. Impact on Education quickly enabled BVSD to hire four additional Mental Health Advocates (MHAs).

The new MHAs were hired in the spring of 2022 to support BVSD’s most impacted schools. They provided over 130 consultations and direct support to 93 families and 359 individuals and directed families to additional resources from Impact on Education, BVSD, and community partners, including:

Our partners with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy shared that six months after a disaster is often when the financial and emotional realities begin to sink in. Knowing these important moments would happen over the summer break, we allocated funding to ensure two MHAs could work over the summer to support 330 students.

Providing support during the 2022-23 school year

Mental Health

The MHAs continue to provide services at our most fire-affected schools. They provide students with consultations, family support, individual counseling, and support groups. MHAs also support the district Trauma Response teams and facilitate Resilience in Schools and Educators (RISE) sessions for educators and staff.

Financial and academic support

Early in the school year, we learned that families were continuing to experience or experiencing new financial challenges. We worked with BVSD to provide a way for families to request additional support, and are providing funding to cover the costs of school meals, transportation expenses to and from school, free virtual tutoring, and after school care.

Our work is not done

We know the needs of our community will continue and change through the 2023-24 school year. We are currently working on multiple ways to continue expanding the mental health services and resources available to both students and their families.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

3 ways we’re making a difference in 2023

Last year held many challenges for our community and our organization, but our commitment to creating opportunity for success, from preschool through graduation, supported BVSD students furthest from resources. If you haven’t already flipped through our 2022 Impact Report, we encourage you to see what we accomplished last year.

While we’re continuing to support recovery from the Marshall Fire, gearing up to recognize educators at the 2023 Impact Awards, planning our summer school supply distribution Crayons to Calculators, and preparing another round of our Academic Opportunity Fund, there are three important areas we’re excited to invest in this year.

1. Mental health and wellness

Our investment in four Mental Health Advocates supporting the schools most impacted by the Marshall Fire continues through the summer, and this spring we plan to offer educational opportunities for parents around adolescent and teen mental health. We’re also eager to start raising the funds to continue the Wellness Center at Monarch High School and expand it to BVSD’s other four large high schools (Broomfield, Centaurus, Fairview and Boulder) in the 2023-24 school year.

2. Career readiness

Over the next few months, we’re convening over 20 Career Readiness Academy workshops at three BVSD high schools. This program will help 60 students gain the skills, confidence and knowledge to pursue summer job and internship opportunities. Meanwhile, we are continuing to support the rollout of the GradPlus program. This includes identifying the improvements needed at BVSD’s middle and high schools to support career and technical education pathways and programs.

3. Early childhood education

This year our early learning program for incoming BVSD kindergarten students will shift to a four week, full-day program! We fund Kinder Bridge, now part of BVSD’s summer learning program, because access to early learning is not equitably available to all children who will enroll in the district. Kinder Bridge ensures 160 historically underserved students arrive prepared for school classrooms and excited to learn.

We hope you join us this year in supporting nearly 30,000 students in the Boulder Valley School District. Our work addresses systemic barriers and prioritizes those furthest from resources in order to equalize opportunity and bolster academic success.

Thank you for being part of our community and making investments to help us drive lasting change for students, educators, and our public schools.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

Our most impactful stories of 2022

As 2022 comes to a close we’re looking back on our most-read stories of the year. From our crisis response efforts after the Marshall Fire to introducing new board members and scholarship awardees, we’re sharing what inspired our community most this year.

We also encourage you to take a peek at our 2022 Impact Report to see what we’re most proud of. Read the report here.

2022 Year in Review

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

Schools and educators receive $245,000 in Academic Opportunity grants

Providing opportunity to BVSD students reduces the economic barriers to success. Our Academic Opportunity Fund provides resources to educators and schools through grants that enable all students to fully engage in learning.

Highlights of our second 2022-23 funding round

In the second round of the school year we received 65 applications to our Academic Opportunity Fund. So far we’ve been able to fully or partially fund 47 applications, distributing $68,000 to educators across the district, while we explore district and partnering funding options for some additional applications.

If you include our final round from the last school year, you’ll see that in 2022 we’ve:

What our schools are requesting

From the latest round, we received a variety of classroom- and school-based applications from schools across the district, including funding requests for:

A strong tie to our mission

The Academic Opportunity Fund directly supports our mission, allowing us to provide supplemental funding and resources to students and educators in order to expand what’s possible in education. 
Keep an eye on our Academic Opportunity Fund webpage for future funding rounds.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

Over 60 high schoolers joining this year’s Career Readiness Academy

This month we launched our 2022-23 Career Readiness Academy, a series of after-school workshops that help Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) high school students find and communicate their strengths in order to attain professional opportunities.

Tripling our impact

While last year’s academy was hosted at the BVSD Education Center and served 20 high school students, this year we’re expanding the program and reaching students directly at their schools. We have over 60 students enrolled in three cohorts at Centaurus High School, Boulder High School and New Vista High School.

The program targets students from low-income families as well as those who are historically marginalized, but each cohort welcomes a mix of students from varied backgrounds. Each student brings an openness to learn and explore, and a desire to gain professional skills that will serve them well into the future. 

“The next few months will be a really fun and rewarding time for these students. I’m excited to get to know our students and help build their confidence and professional skills.”

Denise Zapata, IOE Career Readiness Academy Coordinator

Gaining self knowledge and professional skills

So far the students had an orientation and their parents or guardians participated in a family session, so everyone knows what to expect and how to get the most out of the academy. Next year’s sessions will cover:

“As the workplace continues to evolve, it’s more important than ever to help students find their purpose and communicate their value to potential employers. Impact on Education is committed to helping all BVSD students find their path to success.”

Amy Batchelor, Anchor Point Foundation

The importance of college and career readiness

Our Career Readiness Academy supplements district programming to help high school students to learn about possible career pathways after graduation and gain professional soft skills in order to land a job, internship or other opportunity for growth in the near future.

The academy is one part of our work to empower BVSD graduates by providing College and Career Readiness opportunities.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 29,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

What do GradPlus and Ballot Measure 5A have in common?

Did you know the Boulder Chamber has identified workforce development as a priority need for local employers? Expanding career and college readiness opportunities for BVSD students will give them the credentials they need for success and will bolster our local workforce. 

What is GradPlus?

The Boulder Valley School District GradPlus program aims to expand each graduate’s skill sets by providing every student with learning opportunities and credentials that offer a head start on a career, postsecondary education, or both.

Grad Plus is intended to break down barriers between traditional academics and career and technical education, allowing students to maximize the credentials they earn across multiple quadrants. By their high school graduation, every BVSD student will complete one or more: advanced placement course, international baccalaureate course or concurrent/dual enrollment course; a seal of biliteracy; an industry certification; or an internship, apprenticeship, or other work-based learning experience.

Our investments in GradPlus

Impact on Education has been supporting BVSD in the creation and implementation of GradPlus behind the scenes for several years. For the 2022-23 school year, Impact on Education investments will support students in financial need and may include:

How Ballot Measure 5A will support GradPlus

Our secondary schools lack learning spaces, experiences and programming to adequately prepare students for  future careers in vocational trades. BVSD must catch up to peer districts like Cherry Creek and St. Vrain Valley, whose Innovation Centers provide paid work experiences, coursework and industry certifications. In a rapidly changing world, our students are missing out on these important experiences that go beyond the traditional classroom environment. 

Ballot Measure 5A includes renovating our secondary schools, which alongside the GradPlus program will allow BVSD to continue providing the high-quality education our students deserve. Students will be able to work with educators and local companies to leverage their talents and join the skilled labor workforce immediately after high school, and they’ll also have a competitive advantage when applying for higher education. 

Allowing students to build their own path to success is important, and GradPlus enables a skills-based curriculum where students don’t have to choose between learning a skilled trade or further academic pursuits.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 30,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

Why a local Target donated their school supply inventory to Impact on Education

En Español

It’s not often that a major retailer offers to donate their entire inventory of back-to-school supplies, but that’s exactly what the Target store in Superior, Colorado did last month. The store was remodeled after the Marshall Fire and ordered school supplies in anticipation of an early August reopening. Unfortunately they had to make room for Halloween merchandise when the store opened after school started and decide what to do with all of the school supplies.

A phone call from Shawn Stratton, the Target store manager, to Ari Gerzon-Kessler, Director of Parent and Family Partnerships with BVSD, led to Impact on Education accepting a donation of nearly $80,000 worth of brand-new school supplies.

Making sure the supplies went to those in need

Our initial conversations were focused on how to get the supplies into the hands of those who needed them the most, which would be difficult to do in a district with 56 schools and 30,000 students. In order to meet this goal we decided to open the first of three shopping days only for:

The educators who came through were incredibly grateful and excited to bring the supplies back to their classrooms and students.

“I collected the items that I consider helpful for kids when they start school, like pencils, pens, markers, notebooks, folders, and lunch boxes. Being able to provide these important items to students helps make their experience more exciting and enjoyable.”

Adriana Favila Humara, BVSD McKinney-Vento Specialist

Not including students who were displaced by the Marshall Fire, there are approximately 400 BVSD students that currently qualify for McKinney-Vento benefits, a federal program that serves students experiencing homelessness.

“We picked up a lot of school supplies, mostly for our classroom teachers, but we also grabbed some fun items for our school Giving Tree. Everything will be put in the hands of BVSD students, especially those most in need.”

Candace Garbow, Community Liaison at Fireside Elementary

Over 400 staff and educators came to our pop-up Target store over the course of three days. It’s no surprise that things moved quickly, with only composition notebooks left at the end, which we passed on to our partners at A Precious Child.

The people behind the scenes

It’s hard to visualize the space needed to store 22 pallets of school supplies until you peek into the delivery truck. Thankfully, the FOSS Center, located behind the BVSD Education Center, had some empty warehouse space for us to use, a critical piece of the puzzle!

In addition to Impact on Education staff and a few BVSD staff, we had 22 volunteers dedicate over 43 hours of their time to the donation. We all worked together to unload, organize and distribute the school supplies, creating an easy and fun experience for our shoppers.

We’re so grateful to everyone who helped make this possible and want to give a special thanks to:

While this project was unplanned and went beyond our daily work providing opportunities and eliminating barriers for BVSD students, we also knew that distributing learning tools directly supports our mission and helps expand what’s possible in education.

Por qué la tienda local de Target donó su inventario de útiles escolares a Impacto en la Educación

No es frecuente que un gran minorista ofrezca donar todo su inventario de útiles escolares para la vuelta a la escuela, pero eso es exactamente lo que hizo la tienda Target de Superior, Colorado, el mes pasado. La tienda fue remodelada después del Incendio Marshall e hizo un pedido de útiles escolares en anticipación de una reapertura temprana a principios de agosto. Desafortunadamente, tuvieron que hacer espacio para la mercancía de Halloween cuando la tienda abrió después del comienzo de las clases y decidir qué hacer con todos los útiles escolares.

Una llamada telefónica de Shawn Stratton, el gerente de la tienda Target, a Ari Gerzon-Kessler, director de Asociaciones de Padres y Familias del BVSD, hizo que Impacto en la Educación aceptara una donación de casi $80,000 en útiles escolares nuevos.

Asegurar que estos suministros lleguen a las personas necesitadas

Nuestras conversaciones iniciales se enfocaron en cómo hacer llegar los suministros a las manos de quienes más los necesitaban, lo que sería difícil de hacer en un distrito con 56 escuelas y 30,000 estudiantes. Para cumplir este objetivo, decidimos abrir el primero de los tres días de compras solo para:

Los educadores que vinieron estaban increíblemente agradecidos y emocionados de llevar los suministros a sus aulas y estudiantes.

“Recogí los artículos que considero útiles para los niños cuando empiezan la escuela, como lápices, bolígrafos, marcadores, cuadernos, carpetas y loncheras.  Poder proporcionar estos artículos importantes a los estudiantes ayuda a que su experiencia sea más emocionante y agradable.”

Adriana Favila Humara, especialista de McKinney-Vento del BVSD

Sin incluir a los estudiantes que fueron desplazados por el Incendio Marshall, hay aproximadamente 400 estudiantes del BVSD que actualmente califican para los beneficios de McKinney-Vento, un programa federal que sirve a los estudiantes que no tienen hogar.

“Recogimos muchos útiles escolares, sobre todo para nuestros maestros, pero también agarramos algunos artículos divertidos para nuestro Árbol de regalos de la escuela. Todo se pondrá en las manos de los estudiantes del BVSD, especialmente de los más necesitados.”

Candace Garbow, enlace comunitaria de la Escuela Primaria Fireside

Más de 400 empleados y educadores vinieron a nuestra tienda temporal de Target en el curso de tres días. Era de esperarse que las cosas se movieran rápidamente, y que al final solo quedaran cuadernos de composición, que pasamos a nuestros socios de A Precious Child.

Las personas detrás de la escena

Es difícil visualizar el espacio necesario para almacenar 22 tarimas de útiles escolares hasta que se echa un vistazo al camión de entrega.  Afortunadamente, el Centro FOSS, localizado detrás del Centro de Educación del BVSD, tenía un espacio de almacén vacío que podíamos usar, ¡una pieza crucial del rompecabezas!

Además del personal de Impacto en la Educación y algunos empleados del BVSD, tuvimos 22 voluntarios que dedicaron más de 43 horas de su tiempo a la donación.  Todos trabajamos juntos para descargar, organizar y distribuir los útiles escolares, creando una experiencia fácil y divertida para nuestros clientes.

Estamos muy agradecidos a todos los que ayudaron a hacer esto posible y queremos dar un reconocimiento especial a:

Si bien este proyecto no era parte de nuestro trabajo diario proporcionar importantes herramientas de aprendizaje a nuestros estudiantes apoya nuestra misión y expande lo que es posible en la educación.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 30,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

There are many ways to support student learning

We received over 100 applications in the first round of our Academic Opportunity Fund this year and initial award decisions were shared earlier this month. Thanks to a wonderful team of 24 great readers, we’ve been able to fully or partially fund 73 of these applications, investing over $112,000 to support BVSD students. 

OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS

Our Academic Opportunity Fund provides funding to meet the needs of students, educators and classrooms across the district. From Cal-Wood scholarships to transportation expenses to software licenses, we fund a variety of requests that will enable students to engage in learning.

School-based tutoring for Adelante! students

Over 150 first-generation Latinx students at Boulder and Fairview High School have been disproportionately impacted by COVID and need support to get back on track. An Academic Opportunity Fund grant will pay for tutors to help students enrolled in the Adelante! Program during and after school. Adelante! encourages and inspires college and career readiness for first-generation and low-income students.

Tutors will offer personalized support based on student needs and will provide subject area tutoring and college application preparation. Adelante has a proven track record of re-engaging students in their pursuit of education and bolsters post-secondary readiness in the areas of college and career.

The need for tutoring and coaching to complete college and scholarship applications is particularly urgent at Boulder High School because the school has seen a dramatic increase in students who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program and an increase in Latinx, mostly first-generation English speaking, students. Both schools have noted that there is a serious gap in pursuing higher education between the majority and minority student populations. The Adelante program has traditionally offered tutoring in addition to standardized test prep, essay reviews, workshops on filling out applications and scholarship applications.

Art therapy for middle school students

Like many schools across the district, Centennial Middle School has seen an increased need for mental health support. With limited mental health resources available their part-time school psychologist and school counselors asked for funding to bring a local art therapist to their students.

The funding will allow the school to engage the art therapist, providing an additional trusted adult for students, and support the purchase of supplies. This additional mental health support will help students interpret and express their emotions and thoughts so they’re better equipped to focus on learning at school.

Educational field trips

Young AmeriTowne is an award-winning educational program to help students learn about business and economics in a fun and hands-on way. 44 fourth graders at Alicia Sanchez Elementary are now able to take a field trip to Young AmeriTowne next spring.

Coal Creek fifth graders will participate in their annual field trip to Cal-Wood this school year. The school PTA subsidizes the class trip, but families are asked to contribute $100 per student. We’re covering this cost for 14 families for whom the $100 will be a hardship, 8 families in financial need and 6 families affected by the Marshall Fire.

Helping students develop their STEM identity

At Boulder High School, AP chemistry students have access to supplies like PH sensors and direct drop counters to develop their own experiments. In other chemistry courses that occur outside of block periods, the logistics of sharing these supplies in quick succession means that students who are not enrolled in AP level courses don’t have access to this experience.

Not all students will take AP level courses and the fees can be a barrier to participation for students in financial need. In order to offer similar learning opportunities to all students, we’re providing funding for chemistry supplies that will allow more students to develop their STEM identity by deepening their interaction with these concepts.

OUR CONTINUED SUPPORT

We’re still working with BVSD to gather additional information to make funding decisions on some remaining applications from our first round. We always verify the grants we disperse are aligned with District goals and standards and that we are not funding projects that can be met by District or other community resources.

We just opened our application for a second round and applications are due on Monday, November 14, 2022.
To learn more or apply, click here.

BEFORE YOU GO …

Impact on Education is a nonprofit organization, and we depend on our community to help us put our mission into action. We need your help to to provide opportunity and resources to 30,000 students and 4,000 educators in the Boulder Valley School District.

GIVE TODAY

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info@impactoneducation.org
303.524.3865

Impact on Education
721 Front Street, Suite A
Louisville, CO 80027

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