Stories

For years, the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation has helped fund and pioneer the district’s programs, initiatives and learning tools.

One in particular that is keeping students connected to their education across the district’s 108 square miles is the use of the innovative program SeeSaw. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cherry Creek School District has had to adapt to foster students’ education within their own homes as well as in the classroom of brick and mortar buildings. SeeSaw has been a bridge to this new learning.

Cherry Creek Schools’ Assistant Superintendent of Career & Innovation Sarah Grobbel, a member of the Performance Improvement Team that implemented the use of the application for Remote Learning, has seen the power of SeeSaw and the role the Foundation played in it’s implementation. 

“Originally, the tool was used to be a one-way communication tool for the school community,” said Grobbel. “Now, parents are able to receive information from the school, and students can also interact with this software from home or at school to see assignments and submit work in a very simple access portal.”

“The Foundation played a critical role in providing financial support for the technology which connected our elementary school to the school community to communicate school information, highlight school events, and share student learning,” Grobbel added. 

The Foundation’s Educator Initiative Grants (EIGs) -- grants given to teachers pursuing education innovation and opportunity for their students -- are a great “testing ground” for technology, programs and initiatives that can later be used by the district as a whole. 

“The Foundation created EIGs to help educators dream of what is possible and help innovate ideas that are ahead of the implementation curve,” said Grobbel. “These EIG grants reward our educators for their innovative efforts in promoting learning for all students.”

SeeSaw was one of those early EIGs given to teachers to connect their students learning in the classroom to their parents at home. Now, the application is being used on a district-wide scale to connect students’ learning on a two-way flow from home to school. 

“We continue to receive positive feedback from students, parents, and teachers on the success of this tool in staying connected,” said Grobbel.

Supporters and donors of the Foundation are not only directly aiding one student or one classroom’s educational opportunities, but they can actually be helping initiate an equitable tool that spans across Cherry Creek School District’s 55,000 students. 

By Jeremy Chavez