“Several years ago, as a department, we drew up our own mission statement and made a vow to be a bigger part of these kids’ education,” says Sanja Morgan, director of transportation.

The main manifestation of that goal was the development of an innovative reading program for school bus passengers. The transportation department began collecting used books from libraries and other sources, and book bags were placed on each bus. - more -

Each school district must go through the accreditation process with the Colorado Department of Education each year and the evaluation is based upon the district’s improvement plan. -Read more-

• 5:30 – 6:15 dinner in the commons
• 6:15 – 6:30 child care check-in in the lower gym
• 6:30 – 6:40 welcome in the gym
• 6:45 – 7:05 1st breakout session
• 7:10 – 7:30 2nd breakout session
• 7:35 – 7:55 3rd breakout session

After three long days of intense professional development and collaboration, twenty-two staff members of Garfield Re2 are ready to help their schools be all they can be, SFA style. Staff from Wamsley, Kathryn Senor, Highland, Graham Mesa, Elk Creek, and Cactus Valley Elmentaries as well as Rifle and Riverside Middle Schools recently returned from the Success For All Experienced Users Conference held this year in Nashville, Tennessee. This conference is a yearly event for schools across the country that are implementing the Success For All or Reading Edge reform models. -more-

Rifle Middle School teacher Jacob Pascoe and the RMS Outdoor Club received a $500 donation from the Rifle Middle School PTA to support the club. PTA Vice President Julie Bjurstrom made the check presentation. Pascoe and fellow teachers Molly Peterson and August Heckenbach started the club to provide supervised, outdoor recreational opportunities for Rifle Middle School students. The club has taken trips to Rifle Falls, and is planning a trip to Hubbard Mesa. The club has turned many of the participants into budding nature photographers.

Sam Jorgensen, 8th grader at Riverside Middle School, won the National Geographic Bee at the school level on Friday, January 22, 2010. He bested a field of 30 contestants from 6th, 7th and 8th grade in a hard-fought competition, consisting of questions on U.S. cities, continents, world history, U.S. historical geography, and cultural geography.
Second place was secured by Richie Winkler, 8^th grade, and Riley Bolitho, 7^th grade, took third. The competition was very rigorous, and congratulations go out to all the competitors.

Sam now takes a written qualifying test, which goes to the National Geographic Society. If he scores high enough, he will compete at the state level. State finalists will compete in the National Geographic Bee in Washington DC.

It began with a few letters.

As part of Rifle Middle School Fifth Grade teacher William Allen’s writing assignment, he asked his students to use their writing skills to pen letters to a handful of soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

As children return to school, spend less time outdoors and more time in confined spaces such as classrooms, the chances of airborne illness increases. The flu season is already upon us, and there are confirmed cases of flu within Garfield Re-2.

The Garfield Re-2 School District is focusing on prevention.  We are continuing to work with Garfield County Public Health Department in monitoring the flu situation including H1N1, but here are some tips that we hope you will find helpful in keeping your family healthy this year: - more