One thing I have always loved about Colorado Academy is our eagerness to try new things. Over the years, we have reinvented our schedule. We created new programming and courses that have deepened learning, like our Advanced Studies and Research offerings, which expand the number of rigorous courses in the Upper School. Our REDI Lab program has grown and evolved over the years. As we announced last week, we received a prestigious E.E. Ford Foundation grant to support the REDI Lab Aimee and Jonathan Coleman Center in the Mariposa District of Denver. This new facility, a partnership with the Denver Housing Authority, allows our students unique learning experience in the city. And next year, we are rolling some changes into our calendar that will allow for “flex” days, during which we can engage our students through new programming, such as class retreats and field trips.
I am excited to take students to the nearby summer camp of Geneva Glen on one of these days next year. I have long hoped for some type of relationship with a Colorado summer camp where students and teachers could go during the school year. Geneva Glen has a century-long history and is less than a half-hour away in Indian Hills.
We started thinking about how we could get our students off campus to learn in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains before COVID-19. Our teachers had all kinds of ideas about classes and activities they could do. Getting off campus can engage learners in different ways, and being in nature always lifts morale and mental health. We are grateful that Geneva Glen is open to having our students utilize their facilities, and I am excited about how our flex day programming might evolve.
As we wrap up this year, I am already looking forward to next fall!