Dear Thompson Community:
I hope you are having a terrific spring season. Soon the final bells will ring throughout our buildings and another school year will have officially wrapped up. This has been a fantastic school year, with many things to celebrate and many efforts to look forward to as we look ahead. Before we head into the summer weeks, I wanted to highlight a few of the key items from 2023-2024:
Peakview Academy at Conrad Ball opened its doors to students for the first time this past fall. The school is a consolidation of the former Mary Blair Elementary, Monroe Elementary and Conrad Ball Middle School communities.
A “wall breaking” ceremony was hosted for “The Landing,” a new regional shelter that will host unaccompanied youth from throughout our community. Located at the former Monroe Early Childhood building in Loveland, the new shelter is currently under construction with a targeted opening of later this year.
Crews worked hard this school year to wrap up some of the last remaining projects from our 2018 bond program. With the utilization of grant awards, bond premium, earned interest and other key steps, the district was able to increase its $149 million investment into over $208 million in project development and improvements.
Turner Middle School’s Jessica May was recognized by the Colorado Department of Education as the 2024 Teacher of the Year. In her role, May has represented Colorado teachers and has done terrific work to help promote the importance of public education.
Each year, Thompson School District students earn millions of dollars in scholarships for their educational plans after high school. Among this year’s winners are Loveland High School seniors Kennedy Layne and Peyton Hendricks as well as Loveland Classical seniors Grace Hilde and Reese Worley, who have all been selected as Daniels Scholar recipients. In addition, Kennedy was also named a winner of the 2024 Boettcher Scholarship, along with Loveland High School’s Egan Bauersfeld.
Truscott Elementary School was presented with the State of Colorado’s Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award, and Berthoud Elementary School captured the John Irwin Schools of Excellence Award. The honors were earned as a result of student assessments that were completed last spring. Administered each school year, the state’s assessment program is a standards-based process designed to measure student performance at schools throughout Colorado.
This year featured an expansion of our Unified Sports program into the middle schools. We also hosted our first-ever Elementary Unified Sports Day where amazing young athletes had the opportunity to experience the excitement of being part of a sporting event.
This year, we celebrated yet another significant increase in our graduation rate, with a 2023 measurement of 91.1% – an increase of 3.5% from 2022. The four-year graduation rate in Thompson has now increased each of the past six years.
Once again, schools throughout our district celebrated numerous individual and team successes in regional and state athletics and activities.
In addition, our amazing high school students again earned hundreds of college credits, many industry credentials, and a large number of certifications as they graduate and move on to post-secondary options in higher education, careers, and the military.
As I reflect upon these key moments from our school year, I am reminded once again of how fortunate we are to have such amazing support from our entire TSD community. None of this would be possible without your gift of time and your dedication to TSD. We have so much to look forward to in the coming months and years and I am very grateful to our community for taking this special journey with us. Have a wonderful summer and we’ll see you soon for the launch of the 2024-2025 school year.
Sincerely,
Dr. Marc Schaffer
Superintendent
Thompson School District
In alignment with our commitment to digital access and equity for all students, the Thompson School District and I.T.S. Division is pleased to support continuous learning opportunities throughout the year. Recognizing that learning can happen anytime and anywhere, we aim to prevent the "summer slide" by providing summer programs for our students.
To facilitate this, the I.T.S. Division will not be collecting student devices prior to the summer break for 5th- through 11th-grade students. This ensures that our students can continue to access educational resources and engage in learning activities during the summer months. If you are seeking opportunities to use digital tools during the summer, check out our CLAMPS Learning Options
Computer Activities
Library and Literacy Activities
Arts and Music Activities
Math Activities
P.E. Activities
Science and Social Studies Activities
Thompson's Tech4All (1:1) program ensures students have access to digital tools. We strive to create learning conditions that enable students to reach their fullest potential. Because student use of the Internet, electronic communications and district technology resources are a privilege and a responsibility, below are our Responsible Use Policies stating the expectations for use of student personal devices at school or anytime a student is using devices provided by their school.
Please take a moment to review the applicable Responsible Use Policies for your students. These forms are available for signature through Infinite Campus and/or schools will be sending a paper version of the Responsible Use Agreement home to families if it is the best solution for their community.
Tech4All Device Checkout and Responsible Use Agreement Elementary
Tech4All Device Checkout and Responsible Use Agreement Secondary
Please view our We Trust You video, which highlights how Thompson School District believes in our students' ability to be responsible and properly care for their technology devices.
Please contact our ITS Help Desk at HelpDesk@tsd.org or 970-613-7777 with any questions Monday - Thursday 7:00 am - 4:00 pm, and thank you for your ongoing support in making our district a place where every student can thrive.
K-5th Grade Winner
Aleea Triplett – 5th Grade
Sarah Milner Elementary School
Who likes being lonely? Aleea Triplett thought that most people don’t, especially her grandparents and great grandparents who live close by. They inspired her to consider other senior citizens who don’t have family nearby to visit them, whether they live alone, in a retirement community, or assisted living. She was inspired to help these community members and dreamt up the idea to create a pen pal program between elementary students at her school and a senior citizen center. By coordinating a program with scheduled deliveries, she would assure that each senior citizen was getting a letter on a regular basis through partnerships with students, teachers, and a senior citizen center. She believes these connections will make a difference in our community, which will help to change the world.
“Senior citizens can learn from kids and kids can learn from them. Learning and sharing things with
different people in our community can help make us better people. Not all senior citizens have
family to take care of them and love them. Plus, making new friendships makes everyone more
happy.”
6th-12th Grade Winner
Illyana Collins – 11th Grade
Mountain View High School
Illyana Collins noticed that a lot of high school girls don’t get information about or have support related to physical and mental wellness, especially as they go through changes in their bodies as teenagers. She felt that she and others had a lot of questions, especially in the uncertainty of how young women define themselves. As a doer, she was spurred to change that by taking action. Her idea was not only to educate female students about physical and mental wellness, but also to create a safe space to connect with professional women who could empower and influence them as well as with other students who may be experiencing similar confusion and uncertainty. This resulted in coordinating a health and wellness retreat for high school students at Mountain View High School at the end of April. You may have read about this event in the Reporter Herald. Illyana’s goal is to make this retreat a sustainable annual event that reaches every high school female student in TSD. By empowering future generations of young women with knowledge, confidence, and a safe community, she feels they will positively impact the world around them, whether it is helping a classmate or serving others as the first female American president.
“The retreat will provide a lasting and memorable impact on attendees, while giving them a chance to relax and connect with strong women.”
Thompson Education Foundation Peach Sales
TEF Peach Sales are open! Buy a 9- or 18-lb box of peaches from TEF this summer and support the Scheer Student Opportunity Fund, which provides funding assistance to TSD students.
Order here until July 28: https://www.thompsontef.org/peach-sales
TSD Rockies Appreciation Games
There are still two Colorado Rockies TSD Appreciation Games left for you to support TEF. Get tickets for the May 27 or June 15 game and a portion of your ticket sale goes back to TEF. https://www.thompsontef.org/denver-sports-games
Sounds of Centerra Summer Concerts
Support TEF at the July 19 Sounds of Centerra Summer concert! That 80s Band will be rocking the night away as we recognize TSD alumni. Come join us at Chapungu Sculpture Park for a rockin' reunion night.
https://www.centerra.com/event/sounds-of-centerra-that-eighties-band-2/
Moonlighting Teachers
Laugh along as Moonlighting Teachers poke good-natured fun at just about every facet of the world of education. September 20-22, the Rialto Theater hosts three hilarious, fast-moving shows that will appeal to anyone who has ever attended school - or worked in one.
Get tickets here: https://www.thompsontef.org/mlt-2024
Help Your Child Stay Healthy This Summer!
We all know that the increased physical activity during the summer helps our kids stay physically healthy–did you know that it also helps with mental health? Here are some tips on supporting both physical and mental health for your TSD student this summer so they have both a great summer AND return for the new school ready to learn and make new friends! (For more details, see here for the full article).
Encourage physical activity
Foster creativity
Maintain a routine
Encourage socialization
Limit screen time
