School changes with Olander, Blevins, Polaris,...
Emily Thurn
Emily Thurn
1222 Red Oak Ct
Fort Collins, CO 80525
October 10, 2023
Board of Education
Poudre School District
2407 LaPorte Ave
Fort Collins, CO 80512
Dear Members of the Board,
I am a parent of a 1st grader at Olander Elementary. We choiced into Olander at the beginning of our daughters kindergarten year due to the project based learning program, the social emotional learning program, and the school’s culture of inclusion. Our daughter has thrived at Olander and we have been very happy. Prior to the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, our family dog had been attacked by two large dogs with the intent to kill. Our dog is 10 pounds, so my husband was letting our daughter hold the leash and walk the dog when the dogs attacked. Due to the trama from this event, she required private counseling, but she also received amazing, supportive counseling services from Olander’s counselor, Mr. Brown. She started off the year being terrified of dogs who were even in cars with the windows rolled up and across the street. By the end of the school year, she turned into a much happier and confident child who was no longer absolutely terrified of dogs to the point of not being able to move.
Choicing into Olander means I spend 15 to 20 minutes driving each way. We now have two children at Olander as our son is in the preschool program. For this school year, I have been driving to Olander at least 3 times a day for 4 days a week. The drive has been hard, but Olander has been worth it. Initially, we were planning on finishing out this 2023-2024 school year and re-evaluating the commute and benefits of going to Olander versus going to a school located closer to our home.
When we received notice of changes in Poudre School District on September 26, 2023, with the rest of the PSD community, we were concerned that our school may be affected due to lower enrollment. We had already lost one of our counselors, and one of our literacy lab people who worked with our daughter. What we did not expect was to receive that second email from Superintendent Brian Kingsley that Polaris was going to move into Olander and change the curriculum to Expeditionary Learning (EL). The principal, assistant principal, and teachers learned of these changes 2 hours before the rest of Olander’s community. It’s incredible to know that key stakeholders in this huge change were not even included in the planning process. How will the superintendent and Board Members know that these changes will work and be sustainable?
Please take the time to speak with the stakeholders at these 5 schools and discuss how these changes would work so that all the major players can make informed decisions for our children’s schooling. Each school has its’ own culture and way of educating our children, reaching those children who may not do well in the larger PSD schools. As we have been told, PSD is facing budgetary challenges and we do need to discuss them in an open manner in a way that best meets the needs of all children in our district. It is our responsibility as a community to make sure that all children, especially those children with special needs that may be overlooked due to their lower population numbers, are considered when making these decisions. Give these schools and our community time to look at the different choices available to make PSD a better district. Talk to the stakeholders and listen to what their valuable input brings to the discussion.
When we heard that Olander Elementary will no longer be the school that we choiced into, we have had to make some difficult decisions. Although Polaris is a smaller school, we do have friends with children who go there. Since we have heard there are some Olander children who go on to Polaris in 6th grade, I did speak with them about the Expeditionary Learning program works. After that discussion, we decided that EL is not a good fit for our family.
Unfortunately, there is too much chaos and lack of information in order to make an informed decision to stay at Olander since the school of choice process will be starting in less than a month.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this important matter.
Sincerely,
Emily Thurn
CC: Jeni Arndt
Tricia Canonico
John Kefalas
Kristin Stephens
Jody Shadduck
Jared Polis
Joe Neguse
Michael Bennet
John Hickenlooper