Estes Park public schools are back in session and that means more pedestrians along Estes Park roadways. Police Chief Wes Kufeld reminds drivers to obey speed limits and to pay special attention to pedestrians at crosswalks. Chief Kufeld commented, “We all need to share the road and take responsibility for the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists in our community.” He continued, “While our police officers are actively enforcing these reduced speed limits, we rely on drivers to be fully aware of their surroundings.”

School zones are clearly marked with signs indicating speed limits. While some signs advise drivers of a reduced speed limit when children are present, other signs flash a yellow light to advise drivers of reduced speed limits. Exact times vary, but signs generally flash on school days between 7:15 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. and from 2:50 p.m. until 3:40 p.m. During these times, the speed limit in the school zone along Highway 7 is reduced to 25 miles per hour while side street speed limits are reduced to 20 miles per hour. Fines for speeding in a school zone are doubled.

Even when school is out of session, drivers must watch for pedestrians at crosswalks, which are marked with lines on the roadway and bright yellow signage. Vehicles are required by law to stop for pedestrians at marked crosswalks; fines are doubled for disregarding a school zone crosswalk. Chief Kufeld commented, “People tend to forget about the numerous crosswalks on Highway 7.” Along Highway 7, crosswalks are positioned just south of U.S. 36 and at the intersections of First Street, Manford Avenue, Graves Avenue, Morgan Street, Lexington Lane and Pine Knoll Drive.

For more information, please contact the Town of Estes Park Public Information Office at 970-577-3701. To receive Town news in your e-mail inbox, please e-mail townadmin@estes.org.

EP News Photo

On Monday, August 23, 2010, Chloe Burke and her mom Claudine Perrault were greeted by Principal John Bryant and teacher Sandee Life on the first day of school in Estes Park, Colorado.

The state of Colorado’s budget shortfall has hit home.

Park School District R-3 Superintendent Linda Chapman will describe the crisis in school funding at the next League of Women Voters meeting on Wednesday, March 10th at 9 a.m. in the newly refurbished Hondius Room of the library.

All interested members of the community are welcome to attend. Mrs. Chapman will describe the effect of decreased funding on students, staff, and programs. There will be ample time for questions.

On Thursday, March 18th, the League will sponsor a Voters Forum for all candidates for Town Trustee in the Town Board Room from 7 to 9 p.m. Members of the public may submit questions for some or all of the candidates that evening ;and hear their reply. The event will be televised live on cable channel 12.

For more information about the Estes Park League of Women Voters, see the website http://www.lwv-estespark.org .

The League of Women Voters promotes the informed participation of citizens in government by providing non-partisan educational information on topics of public concern and on the processes of government. The organization also takes positions on specific issues after extensive study. Membership is open to all. For more information, call Sue Pinkham at 586-0992.

On Thursday, February 4, all five of our Estes Park dentists gathered at the Elementary School to provide dental screening for 102 Estes Park youth, preschool through eighth grade. Seven urgent cases were identified, 32 had no special dental needs, 30 needed dental treatments that were not urgent and 33 were recommended to have cleaning and/or sealants. The school is taking responsibility for follow-up with parents.

The dental screening program was a joint effort of the Kiwanis Club of Estes Park, the Estes Park school system and the dentists of Estes Park. A big thank you goes to our dentists, Dr. Richard Villemonte (SALUD), Dr. Robert Alexander, Dr. Eugene Oja, Dr. William Pike and Dr. Daniel Rauk for volunteering personal and staff time to this important factor involving the health of our Estes Park children. Dr. Oja’s office also provided dental hygiene kits to the younger children that were screened.

Special thanks go to Theresa Oja, the school nurse and Ginger Carnell, the health para- professional for their detailed organization of the event.

Kiwanis Club members helped directly with the dentists in support of the screening as well as assistance in escorting younger kids to and from their classrooms. Participating were Vern and Jeanie Mertz, Wayne Park, Jack Ranney, Bob Johnson and Kathy Hale.

What is a School Board? What do School Board members do? Why serve on a School Board? Potential Board candidates considering running in the November 3rd School Board election will receive these answers at a candidate orientation meeting.

The informal meeting will allow potential candidates to ask candid questions about the Board’s role as it relates to the community and to ensuring that every student receives a quality education. The meeting will address key characteristics of highly effective candidates, time commitment, policy governance, and current issues facing the district. A potential candidate should possess strong interpersonal skills, have a concern for the entire school district not for a special interest, have a willingness to learn, and a commitment to teamwork, time and engaging the community.

Park R-3 Board of Education will hold the special meeting on August 4 at 6:00 p.m. at the Administration Office at 1605 Brodie Avenue.

Potential candidates can also receive information about the district’s financial condition and other facts by visiting the website at www.estesschools.org.

Park School District R-3 Board of Education is seeking letters of intent from prospective candidates to fill a Board seat vacated by Becky Johnson. The prospective candidate will serve the remainder of Mrs. Johnson’s term through November, 2009. A candidate must be a registered voter and a resident of the school district for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the nomination. Additional qualifications will include leadership ability, communication skills, and awareness of educational issues.

The letter of intent should be complete with name, address, phone number, e-mail address, qualifications, and availability. All letters of intent should be received in the Park R-3 administration office at 1605 Brodie Avenue by 4:00 p.m. Monday, June 15, 2009.

If you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact any Board of Education member or call the district office at 586-2361, ext. 3001.

An intrepid group of twenty-three 8th grade students from Estes Park Middle School are heading to Washington DC for an exciting and educational field trip. The trip will be lead by Mr. Jeff Arnold, 8th grade history teacher, an awesome teacher who has been taking students on this trip for many years. Students who are now grown and graduated from Estes Park High School will attest to what a valuable and memorable learning experience this trip was for them.

The students will leave from Denver on Saturday, June 6th and spend four jam packed days in Washington, returning home on Tuesday June 9th. They will visit sights such as the Washington Monument, the Smithsonian Museum, the White House, Mount Vernon, the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Memorial, Capitol Hill, the World War II and Vietnam Memorials, the Washington Zoo, and much, much more. As you may well imagine, this trip is costly, and students work hard to try to raise money to pay for their trip. So far they have sold Gold C Coupon books and Butter Braids (which they are selling again). They also will be selling Duck Race tickets very soon.

Recently, Chris and John Cozad from Village Pizza volunteered to hold a DC Trip fundraiser for the kids at Village Pizza. The event will be held on Sunday, March 8th from 11 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. 10% of all the sales that day will be donated to the kids going on the DC Trip. So, come on out on Sunday, March 8th and enjoy some delicious Village Pizza and support our kids!