Platte Valley School District

**Pursuing Excellence for All: Every Student, Every Day; Student Registration 2023-2024; Student Information System Transition; Graduation 2023; Master Planning Process.**

I recently attended a northern Colorado meeting that was comprised of local board members from across the region. At the meeting individuals went around and shared items that were going well in their respective districts; various celebrations and accomplishments they were proud of. One district, which is “known” to be a successful district across the state for its innovation and success touted finally getting to the 90% graduation rate. It was a goal they had been working to achieve for a decade. I was certainly happy for that district to hear that they had achieved a stated goal they have worked towards in their district, and it means that more students are graduating than had previously. That is ultimately good for all of society.

It was also a reminder to me of how successful Platte Valley School District is in comparison to its counterparts, whether we get statewide accolades or not. Platte Valley’s graduation rate has been at or above 94% dating back to 2013-2014 with that 94% occurring one-time in the last decade. This in spite of having some of the highest credit requirements in the state for graduation. This is just a single example of our district’s work to help all students achieve and our community’s dedication and support for public education. It takes all stakeholders including teachers, support staff, administrators, families, and the broader community to have a successful school district. It is an example of how we Pursue Excellence for All: For Every Student, Every Day!

Student Information System (Infinite Campus). As we shared in last month’s newsletter, in addition to communications that were pushed out on April 24th and April 27th, we are in the process of migrating away from Infinite Campus to Alma for our student information system. Please see the information below on why we are making the change and what it means for you.

Why the Change and the Process. Throughout the fall, we spent time evaluating Alma, a Student Information System (SIS) as a replacement to Infinite Campus. We began this process due to poor customer service with Infinite Campus, to see if there was an alternative that would simplify our state data reporting processes, and to see if there was a system that was more functional and provided better access to data. We spent the fall and month of January evaluating Alma with stakeholder groups that included front office staff/registrars, teachers, technology, and administration. Additionally, we have worked to gather feedback from parents to obtain a parent perspective. After gathering all of the feedback from stakeholder groups we have decided to make this change for next school year. Additionally, we heard regularly from current Alma users how impressed they have been with Alma’s responsiveness. This was certainly demonstrated throughout our evaluation process. Below is a list of improvements and information we gathered:

*   Alma’s ability to work with standards-based grading that will minimize the custom built spreadsheets and redundant work for the elementary school. Additionally, the timeliness of standards-based grading will be greatly improved.
*   Improved usability for all stakeholders and state data reporting for our registrars.
*   Improved access to quality data and reports available to teachers, administrators, and families.
*   The responsiveness that Alma has had in making improvements based upon feedback from other districts that have been with them for multiple years, in addition to the responsiveness they demonstrated to our numerous questions and requests.
*   Improved reporting and reconciliation with the Alma fees platform.
*   A guarantee that Microsoft Teams will integrate with Alma prior to our launch. (Alma is building this specifically for our district as we will be the first, another example of their responsiveness).
*   Direct online support for all users.

What this Means for Families. First it is important to know the following two items:

*   All information related to student information for the remainder of 2022-2023 school year will be accessed in Infinite Campus as you always have. This means: (1) Current grades, (2) current attendance, (3) current schedules, (4) any information related to summer school. ALL information for the remainder of this school year will continue to be accessed in Infinite Campus.
*   Families will begin the annual update process for 2023-2024 beginning on Monday, May 1st. This will take place in the new Alma SIS. Anything related to 2023-2024 will take place in Alma. The first part of that process is with Alma Start for the annual data update. Student information related to 2023-2024 such as schedules, calendars, etc. will begin to be available July 1st. A direct link to the admissions and data update is available here:[Admissions and Data Update - Platte Valley School District (pvre7.org)](https://www.pvre7.org/en-US/admissions-and-data-update-f85c22dc).

Today, May 1st, families with students currently enrolled in the school district should have received an email with the subject “Platte Valley Account Activation Complete” from<notifications@getalma.com>. Within this email you will see the username for you to set up your Alma account which you can access by clicking the URL within the email. Additionally, a direct link to our “New Admissions and Annual Data Update” page will be available on the main page of all district and building websites. Step-by-step directions for the Alma Start process and how to navigate Alma Start were pushed out to all families on April 27th and will also be provided on our websites. Finally, anyone interested in the “Alma Now” app, should also reference the communication that was pushed out on April 27th or can refer to the information on this available on our websites.

If a family did not receive the email on May 1st from<notifications@getalma.com>with the subject “Platte Valley Account Activation Complete” please fill out the[Microsoft Form available at this link](https://tinyurl.com/kzw6b2td)or on the Platte Valley Technology webpage or by calling 970.336.8600 and someone from our technology department will be in contact with you to help problem solve the issue.

Graduation 2023. We are a few short weeks away from celebrating the culminating achievement for all that enter into and finish the public education system, high school graduation! We have 76 seniors that will be celebrating the conclusion of their public education careers by walking across the stage and receiving their high school diploma. Graduation will be Sunday, May 21st at 10:00 am and will be taking place at Platte Valley High School. We have made this change due to the increased total capacity we now have at the high school that came as a result of the 2019 bond. We look forward to seeing the strong community showing and supporting our Platte Valley graduating class of 2023!

Master Planning Process. We are getting ready to begin our master planning process. This is work we have taken on every five years as part of an evaluation of facilities, systems, and capital expenditures for over 25 years. We do this to put in place a priority list and schedule to address capital projects in smaller chunks in an effort to properly maintain and upgrade our facilities, as well as to minimize significant tax impacts on our community. At our District Accountability meeting on April 24th we shared what we have done to this point in our process and a high level overview of what we are looking at with our current facilities. Here is a breakdown for your reference.

*   This spring we went through an RFP process for a master planning services from architectural design firms. This was work that had not been done for over 20 years and we felt like we should review our options. We received proposals from four different firms with a fee range of $33,000 - $240,000. We selected two firms to interview from the four that submitted proposals. The two firms were RBB and HCM. After interviews the selection group felt like continuing to work with RBB, whom we have worked with for over the last 25 years, would be the best firm to work with moving forward. In addition to having the lowest priced proposal, their firm demonstrated the best ability to listen to what we were hoping to accomplish as part of our master planning process and put forth the best team.
*   Our goal with this master planning process is to put forth a comprehensive vision and plan for the district to be mindful of over the next 25 years. We have a number of items we know at this time.
*   *   We have a middle school that was mostly constructed in 1958 and is over 65 years old at this time.
    *   We have an elementary school that was mostly constructed in 1971 and is 53 years old at this time.
    *   The high school is just over 20 years old with a brand-new addition. In terms of learning facilities, it is the most current and in best condition. There should not be any major work that needs to be done to this building for over 25 years. That would not include capital construction items such as roof replacements, HVAC systems, parking lots, etc.
    *   We have a district administration building that was also built in the early 1970s that is not ADA compliant. We have staff that are unable to access the upper and lower levels of the building due to physical handicap. We have also had several sewer line issues take place with this building.

The district has been diligent over the years to address deferred maintenance projects and make improvements incrementally. Our staff works incredibly hard to ensure our facilities and systems run effectively and are well maintained. As we move forward with our master planning process, our goal is to identify systems and facilities that need to be addressed and the best way to address them. We want to be prudent and practical with our resources, while at the same time working to have a thoughtful plan in place for our facilities across the district. We look forward to sharing with our community what we learn and presenting options for consideration as we work through the process.

As we progress to the end of the school year I want to extend my appreciation and gratitude for the work that has taken place with our students and staff. Anywhere I go when I share that I am from Platte Valley School District I hear about how well our students and families represent our district. We truly are a hidden gem in northern Colorado, a star that shines well beyond others.

Yours in Education,

Jeremy Burmeister, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools

“The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you”. B.B. King

Dr. Jeremy Burmeister, Superintendent of Schools

From the Superintendent

**Universal PreSchool (UPK) enrollment continues to take place. The statute specifies prioritization of funding as follows:**

*   All eligible preschool students with disabilities in accordance with IEPs

*   4-year-olds / year-before-kindergarten – a minimum of 10 hours/ week

*   Eligible three-year-olds (and-younger with historical waiver) who meet a qualifying factor per rule

*   Additional hours for eligible 4-year-olds / year-before- kindergarten, per rule and subject to available appropriations

Go to [https://upk.colorado.gov/](https://upk.colorado.gov/?fbclid=IwAR0-BbInxnXrpiEyuSqd8fTM6RPYitoXN8fsEK-hUK4uqB_IdCRxMxAc5iI) to begin the statewide enrollment application. Make sure to choose Platte Valley Early Learning Center as your first choice! For questions or additional information please see the Platte Valley Early Learning Center Website or contact the Platte Valley Early Learning Center office at 970-336-8760[](http://voice.google.com/calls?a=nc,%2B19703368760 "Call +1 970-336-8760 via Google Voice")or email <dbunting@pvre7.org>. If you were unable to submit an application or if it has been denied, please reach out to Platte Valley Early Learning Center so that we can help problem solve the issue. (Some children’s birthdate falls in a “gap year” and it has been causing issues with the system. You child still may be eligible.) We look forward to working with our community and appreciate your patience as we navigate this new world of statewide UPK starting next August together.

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