Posts tagged Boulder County
Boulder County invites residents for advisory boards and commissions selection
Jan 4th
The county is recruiting residents to serve on 20 advisory boards and commissions. Advisory boards and commissions provide recommendations to the Boulder County Commissioners and give residents the opportunity to have their voices heard within Boulder County government. The county, in turn, benefits from this citizen input.
Boulder County is currently recruiting members for the following advisory boards and commissions:
• Adult Protection Review Team
• Aging Advisory Council
• Board of Adjustment
• Board of Health
• Board of Review
• Citizen Review Panel
• Commercial Properties Advisory Committee
• Core Services Board
• Eldorado Springs LID Advisory Committee
• Extension Advisory Committee
• Fire Code Review Committee
• Food and Agriculture Policy Council
• Historic Preservation Advisory Board
• Human Services Advisory Committee
• Mosquito Control Advisory Board
• Niwot LID Advisory Committee
• Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee
• Planning Commission
• Resource Conservation Advisory Board
• Workforce Development Board
To view descriptions of the various boards and commissions or to download an application, visit the advisory boards and commissions page of the Boulder County website. The deadline to submit applications is 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 31.
Boulder County developing first ever master transportation plan
Dec 28th
Boulder County, Colo. – In partnership with local municipalities and transportation agencies, Boulder County is in the process of developing the first-ever countywide Transportation Master Plan.
The TMP will outline what travel will look like for those who live, work, shop and recreate in Boulder County 25 years from now.
“We are excited about this planning effort,” Boulder County Transportation Director George Gerstle said. “While the county has many plans in place for the development of its roadway, bicycle, pedestrian, trail and transit networks, we do not have one that looks at the multimodal transportation system as a whole. The TMP is an important tool in helping to identify programs, services, and facilities for public investment.”
Public feedback is critical to the one-year planning process and opportunities to provide input into the draft plan will take place throughout 2011, with the first series of meetings scheduled in January:
• Thursday, Jan. 13
Boulder County Transportation Department
Large conference room, second floor
2525h St., Boulder
• Wednesday, Jan. 19
Centaurus High School
Student Center
10300 South Boulder Road, Lafayette
• Thursday, Jan. 20
Longmont Public Library
Meeting rooms A & B
409 Fourth Ave., Longmont
All meetings will be held from 5-7 p.m., with a presentation beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Jan. 13 meeting in Boulder will focus on transportation issues in the western portion of Boulder County.
For more information, please contact Transportation Planning Manager Julie McKay at 720-564-2662 or jmckay@bouldercounty.org.
Background
Last summer, the Boulder County Consortium of Cities convened the Sustainable Transportation Task Force to guide the master planning process. The stakeholder group – which consists of staff representatives from the communities within Boulder County, adjacent counties, and transportation agencies – has since started to identify the key issues for travel throughout the region. The TMP is unique because, while all of the cities and towns within Boulder County have their own plans, it will provide a picture of travel throughout the region. This includes travel between communities within Boulder County and between Boulder County and neighboring counties.
“Travel largely begins and ends in places other than the unincorporated areas of Boulder County, but the county plays a central role in facilitating travel from place to place,” Gerstle said. “At the same time, decisions that affect how people access and use the transportation system are often in the hands of others.”
State and regional agencies – such as the Colorado Department of Transportation and Regional Transportation District – fund, implement and manage many of the essential elements of Boulder County’s transportation network.
“Given these complexities, our relationship with all of the agencies represented on the task force is very important,” Gerstle said. “We need strong partnerships in order to effectively provide services and leverage the county’s transportation dollars.”
Feedback from the January public meetings will be considered by the task force and presented to the Boulder County Planning Commission and Consortium of Cities in February.
Too Cool for school? How about "Virtual High School" in #Boulder
Dec 24th
Fifty teachers in the Boulder Valley School District now working towards filling student achievement gaps thanks to a VHS-facilitated grant.
Boulder Colorado– Virtual High School Global Consortium (http://www.govhs.org), the pioneer of K-12 online learning and course design for teachers, today announced that technology-enhanced courses will soon be a reality at middle and high schools in the Boulder Valley and Thompson School Districts. Thanks to a grant facilitated by Virtual High School (VHS) and funded by the Colorado Department of Education, over 30 teachers are presently learning how to use blended learning opportunities to fill large student achievement gaps in the districts, particularly amongst Hispanic and low income students.
“A number of studies have shown that technology-enhanced learning environments can significantly narrow the student achievement gap that many schools are experiencing today,” said Liz Pape, President & CEO of VHS. “We are excited about this program because it will produce significant outcomes for both students and teachers, as well as will open the door for district-wide implementation in years to come.”
The $200,000 Enhancing Education Through Technology Grant provides for a pilot program that enables up to 50 teachers to take three of VHS’s professional development courses so as to create blended learning opportunities for students. The blended or hybrid learning approach combines face-to-face classroom methods with online activities to form an integrated instructional approach. Internet-based activities, such as blogging and contributing to wikis, are used to supplement face-to-face instruction.
The grant started in September and teachers just completed one of two courses, 21st Century Teaching & Learning or Web 2.0: Collaborative Instruction. Through these online courses teachers learn to use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information. From there, educators will go on to a specially designed course, Creating Blended Classrooms through Open Educational Resources. Teachers enrolled in the program will receive their choice of either a stipend or graduate college credit.
“The feedback so far has been extremely positive,” said Kurt LeVasseur, Director for Career and Technical Education & Online Learning Principal for the Boulder Valley School District. “Our teachers are already using online communication tools with students in their in-person classrooms. Part of the reason this has been so effective is because teachers have been able to implement these technologies as they go along.”
Designed to supplement a school’s in-person curriculum with online courses, Virtual High School (VHS) is a non-profit collaborative of high schools, teachers and students. Teachers who are certified in their specific discipline, and who have completed a VHS professional development program, facilitate and continually monitor all courses. In addition, VHS students benefit from small classes and personalized one-on-one attention from active high school teachers, while mastering subject matter and 21st century learning skills that will increase their chances for future success in higher education and the work environment.
boulder valley schools pr special agency contributed to this story by providing background information