2017
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Award Winners

NBRS Badge for Bear Creek Elementary School

Bear Creek Elementary School - Boulder, CO

Bear Creek with Snow Blanketing the Flatirons

Bear Creek with Snow Blanketing the Flatirons

Bear Creek is a place that fosters belonging. Hundreds of students show up at school early in the morning and stay after classes to participate in fitness, music, art, and engineering clubs. Parents fill in gaps as regular reading, writing and math mentors. They run our community garden program and carnival club, and they fundraise to support technology and additional paraeducator support. Teaching candidates and guest experts from the area and university programs become part of the fabric, too.

We believe that one of the essential strategies that has led to the long-term success of the school is the staff's dedication to collaboration. We each bring strengths to our job, but we are better when we work together. The open space environment, with only partial walls separating classrooms, lends itself to a collaborative culture. Students see the model of a collaborative workplace and are the beneficiaries of our collective effort.

The Bear Creek teaching staff embraces positivity and professionalism. They engage in deep conversations and write action plans around school-level improvement goals that they identify as important. They are willing to try new ideas and evaluate their effectiveness. Their positive attitudes have resulted in early and widespread adoption of innovative learning approaches, which are enthusiastically embraced by students and prepare them for becoming 21st Century graduates.

Over the past ten years, the teaching staff at Bear Creek has become more dynamic and diverse, and this has helped us better reach all learners. We have been open to hiring new teachers and supporting them to the same level of success and parent satisfaction as that achieved by our most veteran teachers.

2017 Awardee

Bear Creek Elementary School

2500 Table Mesa Drive
Boulder, CO, 80305-5746

(720) 561-5520

Principal at time of Nomination:
Mr. Kent Cruger

Boulder Valley School District No. Re2

Suburban

School Website

School Facebook

Mission

We provide a comprehensive and innovative approach to education and graduate successful, curious, lifelong learners who confidently confront the great challenges of their time.

Student Demographics

  • Asian: 7%
  • Black/African American: 1%
  • Hispanic: 6%
  • White: 77%
  • Two or more races: 9%
  • ELL: 3%
  • Economically Disadvantaged: 4%
  • Application