back to school 2012

INSIDE BACK TO SCHOOL: • Introduction ... 4 • Berthoud Schools in TSD ... 6 • TSD School Calendar 2012-2013 ... 7 • TSD School Calendar Variances ... 8 • Meet Ivy Stockwell’s New Principal ... 10 • Back to School Nights ... 12 • Infi nite Campus Portal ... 12 • Library Card Sign-Up Month ... 13 • TSD Options Program ... 14 • Educational Games ... 15 • Healthy Schools ... 16 • Berthoud School Supply Lists ... 17-18 • Classroom Layouts and Learning ... 19

© Berthoud Weekly Surveyor August 2, 2012

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J Back to School August 2, 2012 Berthoud Weekly Surveyor

Berthoud Weekly Surveyor August 2, 2012 Back to School J

Back to School August 2, 2012 Berthoud Weekly Surveyor

Back to School 2012 © is published by the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor. Editorial content is provided by Surveyor staff writers and the Thompson School District. For more information about advertising with the Surveyor, call 970-532-2252.

All additional information regarding individual schools, fees, registration and testing dates, alternative education options and other resources can be found at thompsonschools.org or call 970-613-5000.

970-532-2252440 Mountain Ave., Berthoud, CO 80513

www.BerthoudSurveyor.com

BACK TO SCHOOL 2012


Berthoud Schools in the R2J Thompson School District

Ivy Stockwell Elementary175 Fifth St. • 970-613-6100Principal Rick Bowles

Berthoud High School950 Spartan Ave. • 970-613-7700Principal Chris Garcia

Turner Middle School950 Massachusetts Ave. • 970-613-7400Principal Bill Siebers

Berthoud Elementary560 Bunyan Ave. • 970-613-7500Principal Camilla LoJeske


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School calendar variances 2012-2013

Follow Thompson School District on facebook and twitter @ThompsonR2J


By Kathleen DonnellyThe Surveyor

Principal Rick Bowles may be the new princi-pal at Ivy Stockwell Elementary School, but for Bowles Ivy Stockwell is a homecoming. Bowles grew up in Berthoud, was a student at Ivy Stock-well, Turner Middle School and a Berthoud High School graduate. After graduating high school, Bowles earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education from the University of Northern Colorado (UNC).

“I was a student teacher at Ivy Stockwell and after graduating from UNC my first job was in Fort Lupton at their elementary school,” said Bowles. “I was hired at Ivy Stockwell after Fort Lupton and taught fourth and fifth grade here for nine years. I was hired at Namaqua Elementary School and was principal there for four years. I am excited to be back at Ivy Stockwell as princi-pal because it is home. Berthoud is an amazing community and where I needed to be.”

While Bowles worked in Loveland for the past four years he has remained a part of the Ber-thoud community in a variety of ways.

“I have been fortunate to come back and I’ve enjoyed doing activities such as supporting Ber-thoud teams. I’ve come to football games and my dentist is still in Berthoud. Another honor I’ve had is handing out diplomas to past students at the high school graduation. Chris Garcia [Ber-thoud High School principal] allows students

to pick who gives them their diploma and I feel fortunate to come back and be able to do that,” said Bowles.

Bowles visited with students and staff at the end of the school year. He is excited about the direction Ivy Stockwell is headed and the great staff.

“I am looking forward to taking the next steps with the STEM program at Ivy,” said Bowles. “I attended a conference in April regarding the STEM program and was pumped up after that conference. We are partnering with Adams 12 for a cross-district development and look forward to a great partnership with them. They are help-ing with items such as training. Right now the Ivy staff is at a training and development session regarding using real life situations for learning and problem solving. Not only do I have a great staff but the parents and PTO are all supportive. I’m excited for the first day of school when the students arrive here and there are eager faces at the door. It really energizes you. That’s why we all do what we do.”

Until the school year starts, Bowles is enjoying family time. He and his wife have two daughters — Cora who is seven and Rhya who is four.

“They are great girls and I’ve spent the sum-mer spending time with them which is great. I’ve had tea parties, played Barbies and My Pretty Ponies and they also enjoy going to Rockies games with me. They love dressing up in their Rockies gear,” said Bowles who is also an avid

Broncos fan. A sign hanging on his office door reads “Bronco Fans Only.” A lack of Bronco fans is probably not a big problem for the new princi-pal back home in Berthoud.

There’s No Place Like Home

Courtesy photoIvy Stockwell’s new principal, Rick Bowles.


Back to School NightBerthoud High SchoolThursday, Aug. 23, 5 – 7 p.m.

Meet and Greet Berthoud Elementary Friday, Aug. 24, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Back to School Night Ivy Stockwell ElementaryFriday, Aug. 24, 4 – 6 p.m.

Back to School Night Turner Middle SchoolCall 613-7400 for date and time

Infi nite Campus Portal for parents and studentsNew Portal option: Infi nite Campus Portal App is coming soon! Watch for more information on your Portal account.

What is the Campus Portal?Campus Portal is a tool that provides real-time, secure online

access to pertinent student information. Information available on Campus Portal may vary from level to level and school to school. Campus Portal also allows you to select options for receiving communication from the school.

How do I obtain a Portal account?In order to create your personal Portal account, you will

need your unique Person GUID which serves as the activation key when you fi rst go to the Portal. This key is available from your child’s school. Parents and guardians will need only one account to access information for all of their children. Student accounts are system-generated based on active enrollment. Students will receive their Portal login information from their school.

After receiving your activation key, you can set up your account by visiting the Thompson School District Campus Portal website: https://campus.thompson.k12.co.us/campus/portal/thompson.jsp

For assistance or additional information on Infi nite Campus Portal, contact Thompson School District Infi nite Campus Support at 970-613-5102 or [email protected].

W E L C O M E . . .


Close your eyes and imagine cooler weather, the changing leaves crunch-ing under your feet and the smell of winter clinging to the edge of the air. Now open your eyes and cross the threshold into the Berthoud library.

As students head back to school this September, we encourage parents to visit the Berthoud Community Library and make sure their children sign up for the most important school supply of all — a library card.

September is Library Card Sign-up Month, a time when the American Li-brary Association (ALA) and libraries across the country remind parents and caregivers that a library card is the smartest card you can own.

When it comes to achieving academic success a library card provides stu-dents with access to a world of both print and electronic resources. Students can access free databases and attend programs, activities and clubs that provide an added value to the educational experience. This year, be on the lookout for tween and teen book clubs as well as a computer game design class. No wonder 84 percent of Americans agree that the public library is important to education.

Today’s students learn differently from their predecessors, with studies indicating that students most effectively learn when they are allowed to fol-low their personal interests. Libraries and librarians are on the frontlines of engaging these students, making a library card an essential tool for inspiring a passion for learning.

This September, open the door to a world of possibilities for the student in your life and sign up for a library card today.


Thompson School District has absorbed local administration of the Options Program for home schooled and unschooled students. The program was formerly operated through Aurora Public Schools since 1998. Enrollment continues through May for the 2012-2013 school years.

The new name for the program is Loveland/Berthoud Enrichment Access Program or LEAP. “In April 2011, Aurora Public School contacted the home districts of each of its Options schools to determine if the home district would be interested in taking over the administration of the Options program,” said Judy Skupa, deputy superintendent of the district. She said Thompson responded af-firmatively and has been working with Aurora and Options for the transition scheduled to be complet-ed with the opening of the 2012-13 school year.

LEAP responds to growing programming to meet the demands of students for alternative learning opportunities. LEAP joins the district Innova-tion Lab in providing an enrichment opportunity for homeschooled and unschooled students (Un-schooled students are defined as those students allowed to learn through natural life experiences, including work and social experiences and ex-ploration, differing from the traditional learning structure and curriculum). LEAP is held one day a week, on Thursdays, at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. The Innovation Lab’s main point of entry will be at the BU House located at 320 E. Third Street in downtown Loveland. Ferguson High will also serve as a point of entry. Students are expected to complete at least 90 hours of work by the end of

the first semester. There will be many learning sites that host the student’s learning throughout the Loveland community.

Teachers, administrators, and support staff for LEAP are well-trained and dedicated to educational excellence outside of the traditional school setting, said Judy Skupa, deputy superintendent in the Thompson School District.

All teachers are fully accredited and must hold a valid Colorado teacher’s license appropriate for his/her assignment. In addition, teachers are highly qualified as deemed by the Elementary and Second-ary Education Act. Teachers are able to provide the personal attention necessary for an outstanding educational experience. Teachers maintain ongo-ing communication with parents to ensure school and home are working as a team toward excellent education for each child.

The benefits to families who enroll in the Op-tions program include:

• Organizational and planning resources for the home school• Free curriculum• Classes with licensed teachers• Hands on activity classes• College credit classes• Career counseling• Academic testing• Transcripts• Record keepingFerguson High School Principal Sheila Pottorff

will oversee the LEAP and Innovation Lab pro-gram. A learning administrator (formerly titled

Thompson Online Principal; continues to oversee Thompson Online) will oversee the day-to-day op-erations and work collaboratively with the Options and Innovation Lab Coordinators who are charged with the responsibility of program development, enrollment of students, school safety, evaluation of staff, and attendance.

The Options School is staffed at one teacher per nine students. Teachers are expected to be on the campus for six hours, five which are contact time and one for planning purposes. Instructors serve as mentors for students in their project-based learn-ing.

As a home school/unschooled family, the State of Colorado requires all home schooled/unschooled students to submit a Letter of Intent to Home School to the Thompson School District every school year. If a student is enrolled in the OP-TIONS program, they are considered a part-time public school student and therefore are officially registered through the Thompson School District. Parents are no longer legally required to submit any other Letter of Intent. Many home school stu-dents participate in athletics and extracurricular activates through the local district. Students need to be registered through the district in order for local athletic departments to be in compliance with CHSAA (Colorado High School Activities Associa-tion) regulations.

— Thompson School District

TSD continues Options program as LEAP


By George DuncanThe Surveyor

When the television was invented there was a chorus of voices that said this mindless medium would progressively make Americans dumber. Americans may have gotten dumber over the past decades, but television can’t be totally to blame. Similar complaints have been made about computers, cell phones, video games and a host of other electronic items.

However, there are games that can actually improve children’s mental abilities. The educa-tional games displayed at Frames, Games and Things Unnamed in Longmont teach things like critical thinking, communication, dexterity and strategy. (And you won’t develop critical thinking from television. Probably not from the Internet either.)

The games include Math Roulette, where the player spins a top to disperse colored balls into slots worth varying points. The balls are different colors and mean different things in the game. The object is to be the first to reach 1,000 points, but since one color of the balls results in a negative score it’s not as easy as it first may seem.

Another game is Shut the Box, and there are four versions. Shut the Box Travel, Shut the Box 1-9, Shut the Box 1-12 and Shut the Box 1-48. The basic premise is the same – end up with the lowest score. However, in the Travel and 1-9 versions a player is practicing addition skills. When a player moves to the 1-12 version, he or she can also use multiplication, and once you’re ready for the 1-48 version, well, the player has really mastered math.

The Nickel Pony Race is a game that, regardless of its name, comes in a pony version, a prairie dog version, an elk version and a moose version. It’s a great game for all ages and teaches counting by fives, how to roll the dice, and how to play with cards. One other educational game is Campbell’s Alphabet

Dice, and it is similar to Scrabble, yet there is no board and the rules are somewhat different. It’s great to practice spelling words.

The store also carries a variety of wooden puzzles that aid in education as well. One such puzzle is called The Giant Puzzle, and it is similar to Sudoku. However, in The Giant Puzzle you must work with colors and numbers to arrange them so none repeat and all rows add to 25. In addition the store has two puzzles; one called Revolving Century, where the object is to make all rows equal 100, and Safecracker 40 and 50 where rows equal those amounts. All the games are extremely chal-lenging.

Another particularly challenging game is a puzzle called the Soma Cube. This puzzle has 240 solutions and

should all 240 be mastered, there is an ad-ditional 70 or so that the store will provide. And these are only a few of the educational toys that the store stocks.

The address is 457 Main St. in Longmont. The website is www.framesgamesandthingsunnamed.com and the business phone is 720-841-3324. The store is open on Tuesday – Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Educational games will develop mental skills


Berthoud School Supply Lists


Healthy schoolsDid you know that research shows student health directly im-

pacts the ability to learn? Thompson School District (TSD) is com-mitted to supporting a healthy learning environment and is cur-rently developing a Health and Wellness Plan. Through a survey done last spring, parents, staff members and community partners have identified the health priorities in the district. The new plan outlines these priorities and the goals that have been developed to help guide us in future efforts.

As families play such a critical role in the development of their children, we have involved parents in the planning process, but there’s still lots more to be done. There are numerous ways that parents and grandparents can take part in the health and wellness initiative in TSD.

See what you can do to help make schools healthier for all of our students at www.candoonline.org/sites/defaultfiles/B27_parentpro-motes.pdf.

Contact Kathy Schlepp at [email protected] or 970-613-5127 regarding wellness opportunities in TSD.

— Thompson School District


When school begins anew, students are often excited about seeing their friends again and spending time with classmates they will be learning alongside all year. Though who a student sits next to in class is important to students for one reason, teachers have different motives behind classroom seating arrange-ments.

Classroom layout plays a role in how students learn, concentrate and behave. Before the school year begins, teachers may establish a seating and learning environment unique from other classes. Throughout the school year, adjustments may be made in the best interest in children.

According to Scholastic, oftentimes elementary school-aged children learn best when they’re allowed to move throughout the classroom. Learning stations that allow such movement have become more popu-lar in classrooms. One station may cater to auditory learning, while another may feature manipulatives that is ideal for students who thrive by learning with tangible items. Computer stations are also common,

and this variety of stations breaks up the monotony of one type of learning by keeping students interested and engaged.

Some teachers prefer to arrange desks in different fashions depending on the teachers’ teaching styles. The design of long rows of desks all facing the front of the classroom is not always practical for students or teachers. It can be difficult for teachers to see students in the middle or the back of the room, while students may find it difficult to concentrate on learning if they’re staring at the backs of other classmates’ heads.

Common desk layouts include grouping a few desks together to face one another for collaborative lessons. Some teachers prefer a “U” or circle layout to encour-age discussions.

Students prefer different environments in which to learn, and teachers may be wise to create different scenarios inside of the classroom. An isolated cubicle or desk shielded by bookcases can be a good retreat spot for a child who likes quiet for personal study. Other students like to study and work together, so a

round group table may be the ideal place for them to gather. The classroom need not always be brightly lit for learning either. Teachers can think about using dif-ferent types of lights to set up nooks in the classroom to facilitate learning.

Hard seats, hard desks and the same location over and over can sometimes be uncomfortable. Teachers with novel educating styles may prefer to switch envi-ronments from time to time to keep students’ minds engaged. For example, they may take science lessons outside for children to learn first-hand about nature or animals. A trip to the school’s theater or all-purpose room may be better for a language arts assignment, such as acting out a play. Students from the same grade may swap classrooms with another class so they benefit from a different teaching style and environ-ment. Sometimes teachers put all students together for a group lesson to exchange new viewpoints.

Some designers and architects also have views on how classrooms should be designed. In 2011, the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture, with offices in Sydney, Stuttgart and Shanghai, designed a concept for the “classroom of the future.” It’s a prefabricated and portable classroom unit that integrates into the landscape while enhancing the learning environment. The materials are cost-effective and sustainable.

Classroom environments may once have been about rigid rows of desks where all eyes were focused on the blackboard. But today teachers and innovators have realized the benefits of switching things up to tap stu-dents’ learning potential. From the use of smartboards and computers to the rearrangement of seats, variety in the classroom is often advantageous to students.

— Metro Editorial

Classroom layout can affect learning

back to school 2012

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