7300 Beech Street
Arvada, CO 80005

A new principal starting in 2023 has really been detrimental. Her approach was to jump in and make immediate changes, which in my opinion created confusion and stretched herself thin. For example- there is an issue with parking lot flow. It is a flawed lot and would probably need to expand to make it better. She opened up the area used for bus drop off and created an anxiety inducing safety hazard that added more points of entry and exits that reduce traffic flow. Not well thought through and has made the problem worse.At the beginning of the year our child needed extra help after missing a large portion of the year with a serious medical condition. She brushed off our highly advised attempt for an IEP before the year started, which delayed our child four months of getting the help she needed.Our child’s celiac was not properly handled in the classroom. There were concerning practices by her teacher that year. Communication with that teacher lacked.Next year, the principal sent out an email the WEEK before school started to let us know fifth grade classroom size would be 29!! She failed to hire a teacher and brought class size from 21 to 29. We were not allowed the time to find a new school with acceptable class size. Our children will not get their needs met with such large classrooms. The teachers will get burnt out with the added weight.There’s been other head scratching changes that have left teachers confused. The principal’s short body of work has been a failure. Our two children have had their education stunted and we are left filling in the gaps at home. It’s been a sharp drop of quality from the prior principal to the current. The school district needs to intervene.

The teachers there all love the kids so much and work very hard to make sure everyone feels included and cared for. The faculty will context with kids of all kinds and give anyone who needs help the opportunity to get help. The school counselors are also a huge help to everyone there and are a commonly used resource. There is also minimal to no fighting unlike many other middle schools and everything feels completely safe. Overall the school helps everyone both the special needs, lower academic, and high academic in many ways and is a wonderful middle school.

Ralston is a Jefferson County School. Jefferson County School District has systemic issues which permeate the district from the superintendent down to the school level. While the majority of teachers at Ralston Valley are caring, the admin tend to lack humanness. They tend to take a one-size-fits-all approach and don't seem to be willing (able?) to perspective-take and consider individual needs and circumstances. While it's necessary to be firm and consistent, there are always going to be nuances when dealing with students from all different backgrounds and walks of life, a concept RV would do well to acknowledge. Some RV educators don't value parents as invaluable advocates and supporters in their children's lives---if and when they feel justified in overriding parental authority. Concerns shared with admin about employee missteps should be taken seriously and addressed, not downplayed or ignored. Complacency when things are going smoothly at RV can turn into being blindsided by an onslaught of circumstances or events which can negatively impact students. Teachers are the highlight of RV, most of them genuinely caring about students and working to meet them where they are. Bravo, teachers!