Crestone Charter School News

By Thomas Cleary, Crestone Charter School director CCS is growing, literally and figuratively. Below you will find introductions from the new staff who are coming on board for the 2024/25 school year. Some are new positions, like the instructional support role to help teachers and students in the classroom, the greenhouse coordinator for the new Growing Spaces Dome, and the experiential education coordinator to support field trips and travel learning.  Others are re-boots, like the in-house special education to replace our former virtual SpEd, and the return of a music teacher. As of press time we are on the verge of...

Story by Lee Eversole. A Scottish-American naturalist, John Muir, once wrote of the Grand Canyon, “It is a vast wilderness of rocks in a sea of light, colored and glowing like oak and maple woods in autumn, when the sun-gold is richest.” Although the 2024 Crestone Charter Middle School’s annual journey involved so many more cultural, historical and featural attractions, the Grand Canyon was our central focus. Monday morning, April 29. We congregate at the school. It’s the final preparation for our weeklong journey. Sleeping bags, snacks, coolers, backpacks all fit in the “gear van” with a millimeter to spare. Twenty-four...

By Daya Scheide. During the first week of May, the Crestone Charter School’s combined fourth and fifth grade intermediate class spent five wonderful days camping in the high mountain meadows along Burro Creek, just west of Del Norte. With plenty of sunshine, fresh air and clean water, the students enjoyed an unforgettable opportunity to work and play together and to reconnect with the rhythms of nature.  Under the guidance of EarthKnack teachers and interns, the students learned how to make cordage from local plants, start a friction fire with a bow-drill, safely carve wood with a knife, cut firewood with a...

By Thomas Cleary, Crestone Charter School director. In last month’s article, you read about the enrollment process for the 24/25 school year. The Crestone Charter School (CCS) is the school of choice for over 45% of the public school students in the Moffat #2 District. It might be the right place for your child next year, whether returning or new to the district. See the ad in this month’s paper. Join us May 20 at noon, and see the policy at bit.ly/CCSenroll2023 to find out more. CCS is one of the oldest charter schools in Colorado having opened our doors...

By Thomas Cleary, Crestone Charter School director. The season is upon us to start to plan for next school year! Families can think about the best educational fit for their children, and community members can think about the role CCS plays in our larger context.  The complete Crestone Charter School (CCS) Enrollment Policy is available at bit.ly/CCSenroll2023 but is summarized here.  Students who currently attend CCS will receive a re-enrollment form in the first week of April which must be returned to CCS by May 3 to continue their enrollment.  New families and students interested in joining CCS should visit the school, meet...

By Thomas Cleary, Crestone Charter School.  Forty-nine students, 12 mentors, six vans and buses, skis, boards, boots and duffles for all, a simultaneous non-Monarch program, and a blizzard on top of it all!  That is how the Winter Friday Programming began in January this year with the Crestone Charter School. This year’s dramatic winter programming expansion is the result of a perfect storm leading to a wonderful silver lining.  When I was a teacher at CCS from 2003 to 2011, the Monarch program included all students and teachers, grades four through 12, a handful of parent volunteers, our fleet of vans, and...