ROAR REPORT

Excited to Start the New School Year

The summer has been an eventful one, and I hope that students and families used that time to get rested and rejuvinated! I know that our staff has been working feverishly trying to make sure that our start is as smooth and welcoming as possible. Thank you to all those who participated in the Routt County Fair this past week, and now we are excited to shift our focus to an amazing school year.

This week's ROAR Report is focusing on starting the new school year off on the right foot, and sharing out learnings from last year. Every year school districts go through a cycle. We get to the end of the year, and everyone is ready for the year to be over. Not because we don't like what we do, but because by May both students and staff have been running as hard as they can and folks are ready for a break. Graduation culminates the previous year as we celebrate our graduates, and then students and teachers begin to recuperate. At the district, we begin to plan for the next year. The week after Memorial Day, it feels like we have all the time in the world. As the summer progresses, the building starts to feel empty. Our custodians work hard to deep clean from the last year, and begin to prepare the environment for the upcoming year. When July rolls around, staff begins to trickle back in to do planning and preparations, principals report back the middle of the month, and then the summer is over. I hope you'll join me in thanking the team in making sure that we are ready for students on Monday, August 18th, and I look forward to the energy that the students bring to the school!

Meet the Team

As we begin another exciting school year, we are thrilled to welcome both new and returning faces to our Hayden School District family. Our dedicated staff is the heart of our schools, and we are proud to introduce those who are joining us this year and recognize those returning to continue supporting and inspiring our students in new roles.

👩‍🏫 New Staff Members & Returning Staff Members in New Roles

Kalee Voegtle – K-8 Principal

For the past four years, she has served as our dedicated K-5 Principal, bringing strong leadership and a deep commitment to student success. We are confident she will continue to thrive in her expanded role and help lead our entire K-8 community to new heights.

Lanc Sellden – High School Principal & Athletic Director

Lanc, who has served as our 9-12 High School Principal for the past two years, is now also taking on the role of Secondary Athletic Director. Lanc brings a great connection with our students and a fantastic sense of humor that helps build a positive and welcoming school culture. We are thrilled to have him leading both academics and athletics as we continue to support our students’ success on and off the field!

Ashley Daigle – K-12 Dean of Students

With years of experience in education outside of Colorado, and a true passion for supporting student growth and success, she will be a valuable resource for students, staff, and families across all grade levels. We are excited to have her on board and look forward to the positive impact she will bring to our school community.

Lysa Long – Elementary Instructional Coach

Lysa, who has been a dedicated 1st grade teacher with Hayden Valley Elementary, is now joining our team as the Elementary Instructional Coach. In this new role, Lysa will provide invaluable guidance and support to our elementary teachers, sharing her knowledge and experience to help enhance instruction across the school. We are thrilled to have her expertise benefiting our entire elementary team!

Haley Beurskens – Middle School Instructional Coach

Haley, who has provided excellent science instruction for our students as the Middle School Science teacher at Hayden Middle School, is transitioning to a new role as the Middle School Instructional Coach. In this position, Haley will provide support and guidance to our middle school teachers, sharing her expertise to strengthen instruction and student learning across the grade levels. We are thrilled to have her leadership in this new capacity!

Danielle Campbell – District Administrative Assistant, Board Clerk & Transportation Dispatch

A member of our school district team for over a decade, Danielle has stepped into a new role as our District Administrative Assistant, Board Clerk, and Transportation Coordinator. Danielle has worn many hats over the years—including Elementary Admin. Asst. and Athletic Director—and brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and heart to everything she does. Her deep love for being a Tiger shines through in her work and commitment to our students, staff, and community. We are so lucky to have her continue serving in this expanded role!

Lisa Guire – K-8 Administrative Assistant

Lisa who has been a valued member of our team as the K-5 Administrative Assistant, and now she will be serving our entire K-8 student community, continuing to be a staple of support and familiarity in our school. We appreciate her warm and welcoming smile when students, parents, and guests enter the building. We are grateful for her dedication and excited to have her in this expanded role.

Misty Sellden – Elementary Counselor

With years of experience supporting students and families, Misty brings a deep understanding of children’s social and emotional needs — and an incredibly kind soul to match. We are so lucky to have her on our team, helping our students feel seen, supported, and empowered every day.

Chloe Jiminez – 1st Grade Teacher

Chloe is eager to start her teaching journey and help our youngest learners grow with curiosity and confidence. We cannot wait to see the fun and learning unfold in 1st grade this year!

Kristin Allen – 5th Grade Teacher

Kristin brings a passion for engaging students in meaningful learning and building a strong classroom community. We are excited to have her join our Tiger family — it is going to be a great year in 5th grade!

Maria Koop – Elementary Music & YVPS3 Post-Workforce Readiness Coordinator

Many of you may recognize Maria from her work last year as a dedicated paraprofessional in our district. With a deep passion for music and a strong commitment to student success, she is excited to bring creativity and energy to both the classroom and the coordination of our YVPS3 grant efforts.

Rebecca Smith – Middle School Science Teacher

Many of you got to know her last year through her work in our Special Education department, where she made a strong impact supporting students. We are excited to see her bring that same dedication and energy into the middle school science classroom. Welcome to your new role — it is going to be a great year!

Daniel Schneider – Middle School Special Education Teacher

Daniel returns to us after a year at a neighboring district bring experience supporting students at the elementary level and is excited to bring that knowledge and passion to our middle school team. We are so happy to have him continuing to support our students in this new role — welcome aboard!

Rhonda St.Clair – High School & Athletic Director Administrative Assistant

Rhonda has served Hayden School District students for almost two decades as an Instructional Para-Educator and Interventionist. As she transitions to her new role, her deep knowledge of our district and passion for students make her a fantastic fit in this new role.

Katherine George – Secondary Student Support Coordinator

Katherine, who has been a dedicated high school teacher in our district for the decade—teaching a variety of subjects—is now stepping into the role of Student Support Coordinator. In this position, Katherine will work closely with students to ensure they receive the support and services they need to reach their full potential. We are excited to see her continue making a positive impact in this important role!

Brody Backurz – High School Social Studies Teacher

Brody brings a strong passion for history, government, and helping students make real-world connections to the past and present. We are excited to have him join our team and cannot wait to see the impact he will make in the classroom and beyond!

Brant Fuller – High School English & Foreign Language Teacher

Brant joins us from our neighbors to the west and brings valuable experience and a passion for language, literature, and connecting with students. We are thrilled to have him on board and cannot wait to see the impact he will make in both our English and world language classrooms!

Returning Adminstrators and Teachers_2025

Listening and Growing Together: 2025 Climate Survey Results

At Hayden School District, we believe that feedback from our families and staff is essential to our continuous improvement. This spring, we partnered with Possip to gather input from families and staff through our 2025 Climate Survey—and we’re grateful to the voices who participated. Next spring we hope to have even greater response to help us improve!

What We Heard – Strengths to Celebrate

From our families:

95% shared that their experience with HSD has been positive or mostly positive.
91% feel our staff genuinely care about their child’s success.
Families praised our staff quality and instructional efforts, with special recognition for teacher relationships—especially at the middle school level.
Families overwhelmingly feel our schools are safe learning environments.

From our staff:

100% of staff reported feeling safe and positive about their work environment.
90% feel they have the tools needed to succeed, and 91% believe district leadership is committed to well-being.
Staff highlighted their students and peers as bright spots in their daily work.
Nearly all staff feel our schools prioritize a positive culture.

Opportunities to Grow

We also heard where we can do better. Families expressed a desire for:

Stronger, more transparent communication—particularly around district decisions.
Clearer updates and more timely information through preferred channels like email.
Continued progress in areas like academic rigor, student expectations, and staff retention.

Staff voiced similar needs:

A desire for better communication around planning and staffing.
More support with student behavior and recognition of staff contributions.
Continued efforts to align our goals and provide helpful feedback.

What’s Next

We’re taking this feedback seriously. Communication will be a key focus this year—ensuring our families and staff feel informed, valued, and heard. We’re also working to increase instructional rigor and consistency, elevate school pride, and support every student and staff member in meaningful ways.

Together, with open dialogue and shared goals, we’ll keep building a district where everyone thrives.

Following our Board of Education retreat this summer, and as a response to feedback from our parent and staff survey, our school district took a "deep dive" into how we can improve teaching and learning across Hayden School District. As I shared in July, we are working to eliminate distractions in our classrooms, and increase learning opportunities for all our students. Our staff at all levels have focused on how we can increase "rigor" in all our environments. Now "rigor" can be a somewhat nebulous term, so we have worked to identify 5 components that we will work to improve and enhance as we strive to provide the highest quality learning opportunities for our students. I am including these 5 components for you to review, and also to know that our work doesn't stop in identifying what "rigor" means at Hayden, instead it is just beginning. Our teachers worked to help identify areas in these components where our system is strong, and where we have room for growth. It is a priority for our district leaders, building leaders, instructional coaches, and dean of students to support teachers in ways where we can improve student learning. As I shared in the July ROAR Report, our goal is simple but ambitious: to significantly increase student engagement and learning outcomes across all schools. We hope you will see our intense focus on "rigor" in our classrooms as your child learns throughout the school year.

Document explaining the 5 Components of Rigor at HSD

A list of options to stay connected with Hayden School District through technology platforms

Hayden School District is committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment for all students and staff. As part of this commitment, we are implementing the RAPTOR Visitor Management System across our campus. This system enhances school safety by screening visitors, tracking check-ins, and ensuring that everyone entering our buildings is accounted for. It also provides instant alerts to administrators if a potential threat is identified and automatically logs all visitor data for efficient reporting.

While safety is our top priority, we continue to welcome families, volunteers, and community members into our schools. RAPTOR simply adds an extra layer of security—because creating a safe and inviting space for learning means protecting it, too. Upon entering the building, visitors entering beyond the main lobby during school hours will be asked to present a state- or federally-issued photo ID (such as a driver's license). Visitors will then be printed a visitor sticker that should be prominently displayed while visiting or volunteering. The sticker will have your picture printed on it along with your name, where you will be visiting, and the date and time of your arrival. As you leave, simply check out with one of the administrative assistants by giving them back your visitor sticker and exit the building. It's that easy.

I understand this will be a new process for our school community. School staff will continue to communicate and help through this new procedure. We will also be gently reminding families and visitors over the course of the year as we implement this new system. RAPTOR will not be used for visitors to our building during athletic events, after-hour programs, evening performances...

On behalf of all students and staff members in Hayden School District, thank you for your support in keeping our schools safe and welcoming for all.

Hayden School District RE-1 has two Board of Education positions that become available in November of 2025. If you have an interest in serving as a Hayden School District RE-1 board member, please contact Danielle Campbell at 970-276-3864 to arrange a time to pick up the election packet. If you aren't sure what serving as a board member entails, all of our current board members are willing to connect and share their experiences with you. Their email addresses can be found of the Hayden School District website.