Due to the weather forecast of rain, snow and cold for Friday and Saturday, Greeley-Evans School District 6 is planning to move Northridge High School, Greeley Central High School and Greeley West High School graduations to the Bank of Colorado Arena (formerly Butler-Hancock Arena) at the University of Northern Colorado.

Here is the revised schedule for these graduations:

• Northridge High School, 9 a.m. Friday, May 20, at Bank of Colorado Arena

• Greeley Central High School, 8 a.m., Saturday, May 21, at Bank of Colorado Arena

• Greeley West High School, noon, Saturday, May 21, at Bank of Colorado Arena

Parking will be free for family and friends attending the graduations in lots L and M, which are located West of the arena.

Because seating is limited in the arena, students will be issued tickets for admission to the graduation ceremonies. Schools will be communicating more information on how many tickets will be available per student and how to obtain tickets to the ceremony. All ceremonies will also be streamed live on the Greeley Schools YouTube page for those who cannot attend the ceremony. Links will be available on the District 6 website homepage at www.greeleyschools.org.

Because we live in Colorado and the weather can change rapidly, should the weather forecast appear to be more favorable for the outdoor ceremonies, graduations will return to their original times and venues. Additional communication will be sent out if any change occurs in this amended graduation schedule. 

It was her maternal grandfather who worked to ensure Bianca Hernandez Vasquez could read and write in her native Spanish language.

“He was the one who motivated me to learn,” Bianca said. “Knowing that I can converse with others in my family and my community means I can really show up in my culture.”

Bianca, a senior at Greeley West High School, is one of 131 Greeley-Evans School District 6 students who have qualified to receive the Colorado Seal of Biliteracy for high school diplomas. This is the first year the Seal of Biliteracy has been available in the state of Colorado.

A Seal of Biliteracy is a credential given by a school or school district recognizing students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. It was made possible in 2017 through Senate Bill 17-123, and provides avenues for students, through testing and other evidence, to earn the credential.

Bianca gained her seal by taking the Advance Placement Spanish exam. She is also studying French and will be taking the IB French exam next week.

Mohammad Branham, a senior at Greeley Central High School, is fluent in Indonesian and several sub-dialects of the language. Because there is no exam for Indonesian, he completed a capstone project that provided evidence that he can write, read, speak and listen to the language.

Mohammad spent 10 years living in Indonesia with his native Indonesian mother and became fluent in the language. He is fluent in English and is also teaching himself Korean.

Colorado universities will give two credits for students who achieve the Seal of Biliteracy. Mohammad said that was the primary reason he decided to pursue the Seal of Biliteracy.

“It was worth it,” he said. “It will save me money and I thought, ‘Why not?’”

Bianca is headed to the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Fall to study biology, with the hope of becoming an obstetrician and gynecologist. Mohammed is planning to study software engineering at the University of Northern Colorado in the Fall.

Preserving their biliteracy is important to both Bianca and Mohammed. They know that being proficient in multiple languages will be beneficial in their careers and in life.

“It provides me more opportunities ahead and a jump start on my future,” Bianca said.

District 6 is one of 48 school districts in Colorado that have implemented the Seal of Biliteracy for High School Diplomas.

For more information on the Seal of Biliteracy, click here.

Community members, alumni, former staff and students are invited to the Last Chance Open House at Greeley West High School Saturday, April 16 from 2-4 p.m.

This will be the final opportunity for the general public to view the old Greeley West High School building before it is closed permanently on April 29 for final asbestos abatement and demolition. There will be no more public tours of the old building. 

The Open House will be a self-guided tour of the school. Some staff will be available on site for questions.

The newly constructed Greeley West High School will officially open in August. The existing school will be torn down to make way for the main parking lot and front entry landscaping.

Ground was officially broken on the new James Madison STEAM Academy PreK-8 on Tuesday, marking the beginning of construction of a building that will replace Madison Elementary School.

This is the third new school to be constructed with dollars from the 2019 Bond Issue, approved by voters in Greeley and Evans. The new school will be built west of the existing school on the same site, and is slated to be complete by August of 2023.

“This is going to be your new school,” Superintendent Dr. Deirdre Pilch told the students who gathered for the groundbreaking. Because of high winds, the ceremony was hosted inside the gymnasium, and the ceremonial groundbreaking took place outside the gym to the north. “I want you to be curious and interested about what is going on here, and think about all the different people with different careers it will take to build this new school.”

A Mission and Vision Task Force met six times in late 2020 and received input from students and parents. It was decided Madison will convert from an elementary school to a preschool-eighth grade building, serving the same boundary. The school will focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) and will work toward becoming an AVID Showcase School.

The new James Madison STEAM Academy will be built for 750 students, and will include a community health clinic in partnership with Sunrise Community Health. The building is being designed and constructed by Hord, Coplan, Macht, and Adolfson and Peterson respectively, the same team who designed and built the new Greeley West High School, which will officially open in August.

Six Greeley-Evans School District 6 seniors who will graduate in May have been notified they will receive the prestigious Daniels Scholarship.

Paid for through the Daniels Fund, a private foundation started by entrepreneur and cable television pioneer Bill Daniels, these scholarships cover four years of tuition and fees, room and board, books and miscellaneous educational expenses for scholars who attend any accredited nonprofit college or university in the United States. The scholarship pays up to $25,000 per year toward the students’ unmet needs, after applying the Expected Family Contribution, as well as other scholarships and financial aid.

The District 6 Daniels Scholarship recipients for 2022 are:

• Lucero Cervantes Andazola, Early College Academy
• Garret Cole Yackey, Frontier Academy
• Brenden Michael Folsom, Greeley West High School
• Rasheed William Garza-Archuleta, Greeley West High School
• Ali Ziyad Lone, Greeley West High School
• George Spencer Paladichuk, Northridge High School

More than 2,000 students applied for Daniels Scholarships this year. The foundation awarded 130 scholarships in Colorado this year.

The Daniels Fund awards scholarships based not only on academic success, but on the character, leadership qualities and commitment to contributing to the community exhibited by students.

“We are so proud of this year’s Daniels Fund scholarship recipients,” said Superintendent Dr. Deirdre Pilch. “Having six of our students receive this competitive scholarship really is a testament to the hard work and tenacity of these incredibly talented young people, and the staff and volunteers who supported them through this rigorous application process. This scholarship will help these students realize their dreams. Congratulations to them all.”

Last year, two District 6 students received Daniels scholarships. Over the past 16 years, 111 District 6 scholars have received this competitive award.