Area's mountain schools excel

The mountain schools in Poudre School District are doing a bit of crowing this year.

On Dec. 8, the Governor's Report Card listed Livermore School tops in the district and number seven among all Colorado schools. Only six elementary schools in PSD received an "excellent" rating from the governor, and among those were the mountain schools at Livermore and Stove Prairie.

The rankings are based on scores for all tests given at the schools, including reading, writing and math in grades three through six.

Bob Kulovany, principal for the mountain schools, attributed the high scores to effective teachers, support from the parent community and a good work ethic on the part of students. Also, he said, the schools have good intervention programs, providing immediate help to students who are struggling with a subject.

Kulovany said the mountain schools are very focused on the basics of reading, writing and math. "We teach to the standards," he said.

This year, there are 70 elementary school students at Livermore, 44 at Stove Prairie and 52 at Red Feather Lakes.