School hours for all students are from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. Recesses, lunch and P.E. are included in these hours.
The schedule varies on Fridays depending on the time of year and grade level. There are ten Fridays built into the school year calendar. These Fridays are required for secondary students (G6-12), but are optional for elementary (K-5) students. During Fall, CCS offers 10 optional swimming days from 8:30-12:30 at Hooper Pool for K-3 students. During winter, from January through the end of March, the Monarch Ski and Snowboard Program, and an Alt-Monarch Program, runs a longer day, from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm for the older students grades 4-12. Some Fridays we are also able to offer K-3 additional programming. For Holidays, swim days, Monarch days, and other special schedule days, see the current calendar.
Charter schools are tuition-free, public schools that have the flexibility to be innovative, entrepreneurial, self-governing, and yet are held accountable for student and operational performance.
Charter schools are independent public schools with rigorous curriculum programs. Each charter school is different, thus offering parents a variety of choices so they can select the school that best fits their child's unique learning style.
In exchange for operational freedom and flexibility, charter schools are subject to higher levels of accountability. The Crestone Charter School is open to all students, and offers quality and choice in the Moffat Consolidated School District #2.
The "charter" establishing each such school is a contract detailing the school's mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. The "charter" contract is between the charter school and the entity granting the charter ("the authorizer"). The Moffat Consolidated School Distirct #2 is the Crestone Charter School's authorizer.
In Colorado, charters are granted for a period of time, generally five years. At the end of the term, the authorizer may renew the school's contract. Charter schools are accountable to their authorizer, as well as to the students and families they serve, to produce positive academic results and adhere to the charter contract. Charter schools must also follow state and federal public school laws. The Crestone Charter School's original contract was signed in 1995, and our current contract was approved in 2021 and is valid through 2035, a rare 15-year contract.
Like traditional public schools, charters receive state funding based on a formula for each child enrolled in the school.
YES! Beginning in 2022, the Crestone Charter School, in collaboration with the Moffat School Food Service Department began providing breakfast and lunch at no cost to all students. Menus are posted on Mondays at our school and on the Moffat facebook page. We also offer a healthy snack program, that can help supplement student learning between Food Service Meals. In 2025/26, this program will be reduced from the >120 snacks provided daily for our 90 students. Parents are asked to send a morning and afternoon snack with their child each day.
No, CCS is a publicly funded, tuition-free school. There may be some costs associated with special programs or trips, but we do our best to keep these costs to a minimum. By keeping our overhead low, utilizing parent and community volunteers and creatively fundraising, CCS can offer programming that is typically associated with private schools at affordable prices or even for free.
Yes! There is Friday program during Fall and Spring that varies by grade level. During summer break, we offer an adventure learning camp in coordination with Alpine Acheivers and the SLV Boys and Girls Club. Students can participate in a variety of athletic programs: Wrestling, Basketball, Football, Track, and Cross Country. At other times there have been school bands and other clubs that vary from to year to year, but Chess, DnD and a Dance are all typical offerings.
The Mentorship Program is CCS's take on High School electives. Community members share and teach their passions, skills and/or trade with the students. Programs like, soap making, sustainable building/agriculture, welding, computer programming, and silversmithing have all be offered. There is a consistent offering of a wide variety of music, art and culinary classes as well. All mentors are Federally background checked and work under the supervision of CCS staff.
Children are often the first communicators that something is not going well at school. If they have a complaint about a teacher or another students, they are likely to voice this concern to their parents. It is important that parents pay attention to what their children tell them; it is also important for parents to check out what the child has reported. The first thing to do is talk to the child’s teacher to get another perspective on the event. Miscommunication and misunderstandings are easily come by in schools when many children are vying for a teacher’s time and attention. Sometimes in a high energy classroom a teacher may have misunderstood a child’s need; sometimes children have not understood what a teacher expected. Talking to the teacher is the most important thing that parents can do to resolve a problem or catch a misunderstanding! It is a central feature in the school’s program that teachers are available to parents, and that classrooms are permeable to parent visits and observation. The goal is to have teachers and parents work as a team in the best interests of the child.
The parents’ next recourse is to speak with the school’s Director. The Director will suggest a course of action, depending on the issue, but is always inclined to try to get the parents and teacher to communicate effectively, albeit with the Director’s help. Meetings may be set up at times convenient to all parties. The child may or may not be involved, depending on the issue. Every effort will be made to resolve the matter in a way that protects the child’s and teacher’s rights and integrity, preserves the appropriate functioning of the classroom, and provides a method for continuing communication between parents and teachers. The Director’s role in conflict resolutionis to help find a way that the child, the teacher and the parents come to a satisfying and effective resolution of the matter.
If parents are still not satisfied with the outcome of these discussions, parents have recourse to the school’s Governing Council, composed of parents and community members. This is done through contacting one of the members of the Council to determine what appropriate steps should be taken. The Governing Council will always seek to have the concern resolved at the teacher or Director level.
For students who are served under section 504, a formal complaint process has been established by the Moffat Board of Education which covers all complaints against District personnel and practices including compliance with the rules and agreements set forth under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This is Policy AC-R of the District Administrative Policy Manual. Under this policy, the Compliance Officer is the Superintendent of schools. All formal complaints should be filed with the Superintendent.
Because enrollment at the Charter School is a choice made by parents and children, parents always have the option of withdrawing their child and seeking educational alternatives at other schools or through home school.