Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools

Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools is Jeffco Public Schools’ response to the Board of Education’s request for a comprehensive plan to ensure thriving schools and extraordinary student experiences.

A Path Forward To Thriving Schools

The 2020 Census shows a population increase in Jefferson County of an additional 55,854 residents from 2000 to 2020. However, during this time, the population of people ages 5-19 decreased by 29,918.

The population of children five and under also decreased, and 2020 had the lowest number of births in 15 years. There are significantly fewer school-aged children in Jeffco today than 20 years ago.

After-Action Reviews

Multiple after-action reviews were completed during key phases of Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools to identify process changes and improvements moving forward.

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Property Process

Jeffco is following a 4-step process to determine the future use of Jeffco's unused properties. Learn about current available properties, opportunities to engage and frequently asked questions on the property disposition webpage.

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FCB Dashboard

Jeffco developed the FCB Dashboard to monitor the health of all district-managed schools as outlined in the district’s FCB-R policy, considering the district's large system of schools.

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Frequently Asked Questions

These frequently asked questions can help the community.

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News and Updates

Regional Opportunities After Action Review Part Three

Sep 10 2024

In an effort to engage in real-time reflection and learning and to continuously improve, Jeffco has published a third and final After-Action Review for the Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools initiative.

Regional Opportunities After Action Review Part Two

Mar 12 2024

The second after-action review of the Regional Opportunities initiative is focused on experiences and perceptions around hiring, enrollment and efforts to prepare for student, family and staff transitions.

Resources and Information

After-Action Reviews

Regional Opportunities After Action Review Part Three

Regional Opportunities After Action Review Part Two

Regional Opportunities After-Action Review Part One

Read the after-action review that was completed to identify process changes and improvements for any future closures and consolidations of schools.

Regional Opportunities Board Updates 2022-23

2023 Board Updates

August 24, 2023: Recommendation: Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools Phase II
June 22, 2023: Pomona/ Moore Articulation Discussion and Resolution
May 11, 2023: Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools Phase II Resolution
May 3, 2023: Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools Phase II Resolution Study Session
February 24, 2023: Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools Phase I and Phase II Update
January 19, 2023: School Properties Disposition Board Presentation

2022 Board Updates

November 10, 2022: Board decision on Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools
November 8, 2022: Wheat Ridge Development Update Memo
November 2, 2022: Regional Opportunities Update to the BoE, Community Conversations and Survey Results, Keystone Report
October 12, 2022: Regional Opportunities Update to the BoE
September 7, 2022: Regional Opportunities Update to the BoE
August 25, 2022: Final Regional Opportunities Recommendation

Candid Conversations Video Series

In the Path Forward to Thriving Schools video series, Jeffco spoke with community members impacted by school closures. Watch Jeffco staff and parents share their honest experiences.

View the full playlist on YouTube

See this conversation with Valerie Moreno as she shares thoughts about her experience with school consolidation.

Candid Conversation with Valerie Moreno

See Sandy McSperrin share thoughts about her experience with school consolidation.

Candid Conversation with Sandy McSperrin

See former Allendale principal, Rob Malling, share thoughts about his experience with school consolidation

Candid Conversation with Rob Malling

See this conversation between Matt Palaoro, Jeffco's Chief Student Success Officer, and Jeffco parent, Michelle Miley. Matt and Michelle discuss the transition of her son from a special education center-based programs.

Candid Conversation with Matt Palaoro and Michelle Miley

See Anthony West share thoughts about his experience. He is a former parent of two students at Allendale Elementary, which closed in the spring of 2021.

Candid Conversation with Anothony West

See this candid conversation with Tessel Stevenson, a parent of two students who attended Fitzmorris Elementary, which closed in the spring of 2022. Tessel shares thoughts about her experience with school consolidation

Candid Conversation with Tessel Stevenson

Why Regional Opportunities For Thriving Schools

Jeffco has the capacity to serve 88,000 students in its traditional district-managed schools and currently only serves 66,500 students. Jeffco’s excess capacity impacts every part of the district as it stretches resources to sustain all its schools.. Jeffco must use resources efficiently to solve many challenges created by changing demographics.

Most importantly, budget limitations create inequities in the educational opportunities that schools are able to provide to students.

Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools Phase I focused on thriving elementary schools. Phase II focuses on thriving K-8 and middle schools.

A Thriving Student and Educator Experience include things like:

At least one class per grade level.
Consistent planning time for school teachers.
Full-time support from an instructional coach and Digital Teacher Librarian (DTL).
Full-time Social Emotional Learning and Mental Health staff.
Operational Budgets to support materials and resources.
Full-time art, music and PE (AMP) teachers in each building.
Family engagement supports and staffing.
Full-time positions that are easier to fill.
Equitable access to:
- Wrap-around services based on individual student needs.
- Intervention and enrichment.
- A variety of peer interactions and classrooms for students to experience.

Graphic explaining the best experiences for a thriving student and educator

Related Media Coverage

2023 Related Media Coverage

Colorado Sun: "Jeffco will shuffle kids from 16 closing elementary schools to ones falling behind in reading and math"

2022 Related Media Coverage

The Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools media report contains media mentions for Jeffco’s Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools initiative between June 1 and December 31, 2022. Read the report.

Members of the media can contact the Jeffco Media Relations team to request an interview.

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Regional Opportunities for Thriving Schools

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