District Strategic Plan

The district strategic plan was rolled out a few years ago detailing the vision and important pillars of the district! Each program throughout the district implements these four pillars in unique ways to fit the community and school's culture. However, all four of these pillars are a top priority for everyone in the district.

Safety

Maximizing physical, psychological and online safety for students, staff and community 

    The safety of all students is the utmost importance to us as a program and a district. Safety is used in a broad sense of the word and we are committed to ensuring the physical, psychological, and online safety for everyone in our building. This can look very different from school to school or program to program, but the bottom like is that safety is the utmost priority for all of us! In order to maintain the safety of all of our students, it is vital to notify staff of schedule changes! Students are considered missing for our program in the following situations: 

    In any of the above situations these steps are followed by staff members to locate the child in question:

• 1. Check with childcare staff, office support staff, and classroom teacher

  2. If child was inadvertently put on the bus, call Transportation Central Dispatch at 303-387-9999 and provide child's name and bus number. If dispatch is able to locate the child on the bus, the bus driver will be able to return the child to the program. Conduct immediate search of school/campus/surrounding areas as appropriate. Notify parents, if child is not found.

  3. Notify emergency contacts, if parents cannot be reached.

  4. Designate a staff member as a key contact to personally answer phone.

  5. Exchange phone numbers once parent or emergency contact is reached. If a bus is involved, driver needs to keep in communication with the transportation dispatcher.

  6. Call 911 and contact Security Communications Center at 303-387-9999, if child is not found at this point.

  7. Contact all appropriate parties as soon as possible when child is found

    On a daily basis it is important to ensure children's safety through active supervision by all staff members. This means that staff members that are included in ratio (15 students per 1 staff member) are walking around the area, maintain line of site of all students, interact with various groups of students throughout the session, ensure students are utilizing all furniture and supplies appropriately, and maintaining safe interactions with other students and staff. If you ever have any questions as to what this looks like or more details, please do not hesitate to ask any staff member!

Choice

Providing each child the maximum opportunity for success

    Douglas County is committed to choice at all levels of the organization. This looks different at Roxstars, but choice is still very important to our program! As you all know we are more of an isolated community in the district and do not have other elementary schools just down the block, however that does not mean choices are eliminated. We know that you have a choice as to which school you send your child to as well as which before and after school program you utilize, so thank you for choosing Roxstars! Within our program, choice is very important as well! Here is a snapshot of what choice looks like in our program:

World Class Education

Achieving sustainable learning for the 21st century

    Every student has a unique way of learning and as a district we are constantly implementing new techniques to optimize learning for all students. As a before and after school program we don't make education decisions, but we have the opportunity to create an environment that supports the direction of Roxborough Primary and Intermediate. Over the last year, we have spent a significant amount of money, time, and thought in creating a space that is in line with the school and district's overall vision of 21st century learning.

    We have the incredible blessing have a full room for our program in the Intermediate building called the Roxstars' Room. This room has undergone a transformation in the last year to better suit different learning styles and needs of students. We have purchased 25 additional iPads for students to use during homework time because most of the Intermediate students' homework is internet based. This allows students to complete (or at least start) their homework at Roxstars so that they have more family time in the evening at home! We also have tables of different heights and bean bags for students to utilize throughout the afternoon. These tables and bean bags provide options for students as to what where they want to do homework everyday. As you know some students like to sit at a table, stand at a table, walk around, sit on the ground, or sit/lay on bean bags. We also have headphones for all students to listen to music or cancel out some of the background noise during homework time.

    At the primary building homework time looks a little different because of the needs of the students. Homework time is not as long and it has a tendency to be louder because our primary students homework usually involves more adult interaction. That might be help with math homework, having the student read to us, sight words, reading to the students, etc. We also do not have a dedicated space like the Roxstars' Room at RXI, so we have made homework tents that give the students some quiet space for 20 minutes during homework time. We have also just recently purchased 8 chromebooks and 8 iPads for the primary building for students to use during homework time. The chromebooks and iPads are intended to help students complete their internet based homework. All of this is done with the idea that students will have options as to how to best succeed at school related tasks!

    There are also various options for students to learn through play. In the Roxstars' Room, the cafeteria, and the gym in both buildings there are countless opportunities for students to use their imagination, build anything using toys, crafts, or gym games that suit each students' interests. While we don't have a free for all of activities, this is the best example of how learning through play is implemented into our program on a daily basis.

System Performance

Defining and measuring what matters most

    Throughout the district, we are committed to doing what is best for students at all levels. As previously mentioned, we fully understand that you, as a parent, have a choice as to where to send your child for before and after school care, and we value that you have chosen (or are thinking about choosing) our program. We want to continue to put out the best product on a daily basis and in order to do that it is important to collaborate with all stakeholders as to what is best for the program. Your opinion and your voice is important to us, so that we can work together to do what is best for our families!

    We collect information and opinions in various forms including surveys, face-to-face conversations, emails, and phone calls. In the past we have put out surveys to collect information about scheduling needs, Winter Break, field trips, potential clubs, separating the afternoon program, and the program overall. We also collect information from students on a more informal basis, but the information is still vital to future planning. The kids rarely have any hesitation with letting us know what field trips or activities they like and don't like, but this is great for us because it allows us to constantly know where students are at! We try to provide activities and field trips that appeal to various interests on a regular basis and receiving their feedback allows that to happen on a consistent basis. This does not mean that every student will like every activity, but it does allow us to see what works and does not work. Encouraging students, parents, and staff to share feedback also gives all of us the opportunity to work together to work towards our common goal of what is best for kids!