Lalenia Prioritizes Supporting BVSD by...

Working within budget to provide relevant and challenging educational opportunities for ALL students ​

 

K-12 education is underfunded in Colorado. BVSD also has additional strain on the budget due to declining enrollment. It’s imperative that all students get their needs met in the classroom. As elementary schools may be particularly affected by budget cuts, Lalenia’s priority is to make sure education remains strong and that kids have continued opportunities for PE, art, music, library, and counseling services.

 

At the high school level Lalenia wants to investigate, understand, and mitigate barriers to entry for minority students pursuing high level Advanced Placement and IB programing.

 

Lalenia supports increased connections with community to foster postgraduate success with career readiness. Engaging the talents of our students through apprenticeships, internships, and other work-based programming is essential.

​

Supporting the mental and physical well-being of students

​

The long-term social and emotional effects of covid are still unknown, and we have witnessed the Marshall Fire and King Soopers violence. BVSD launched six Student Wellness Centers, each with a dedicated full time counselor. It’s not a traditional high school counseling office, focused on scheduling and post-graduate prep, but rather a place for kids to reset when feeling overwhelmed. Funding spaces such as these helps students know they have support when they need it. It’s crucial that we continue to build robust systems of counseling in our schools. Lalenia advocates for similar programs in all middle and high schools.   

​

Advocating for both personal and campus safety in partnership with community experts 

 

Our kids face a myriad of social issues: increased suicide rates, sexual assault, disproportionate discipline, social media...just to name a few. Our connections to community experts help us to provide our students with the most up to date support and information. These partnerships help our teachers to focus on education, while community members provide support around social and emotional aspects of navigating adolescence.

 

Examples of valuable partnerships between BVSD and community organizations:

 

• Blue Sky Bridge - Provides sex assault prevention education, forensic interviewing, continued counseling support for children and families who have experienced sexual violence.

• Boulder Valley Safe Schools Coalition - A public/private partnership in support of gay, lesbian, transgender queer and questioning youth.

• Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA) - Provides support and services to survivors of sexual violence

• Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (SPAN) - Provides sex assault prevention education and crisis intervention, legal advocacy and counseling support for victims of interpersonal violence.

 

Lalenia has worked to provide these services to BVSD students, as a volunteer for both Blue Sky Bridge and MESA.

​