As Mountain Valley heads down the home stretch, with just under seven weeks of school left, we continue to improve and work towards school excellence. A big project this year has been the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) Grant. If received, this grant will be the first step in providing a safe and updated school facility for our students, staff and community.  
The BEST Grant project began with an analysis of our current facility, which showed that the dollar amount needed to repair, upgrade and update Mountain Valley School would be cost prohibitive when compared to building a new school. Structural, roofing, plumbing, heating, ventilation, electrical and safety issues were some of the notable concerns with our current facility.    
Throughout the process, three community meetings were held to gather feedback and input regarding a new facility at Mountain Valley School. During those meetings, community members shared ideas, suggestions, questions and concerns. Collaboratively, a facilities master plan was developed to meet the needs of our students, staff and community.
A BEST Grant application was submitted to the Capital Construction Assistance Board at the Colorado Department of Education and is currently under review. A new school at Mountain Valley, as included in the application, would cost around $30 million, which includes a small 11percent match from the district. The 11 percent grant match is great news when compared to the state average BEST Grant match of 40 percent. Essentially, the district would only have to match eleven cents on the dollar.
Upon final review of the BEST Grant, Mountain Valley School will present the new facilities proposal to the Capital Construction Assistance Board in May at Denver. This is a time to tell our story and convince the board that our students, school and community are worth the investment towards a new school facility.
I am both excited and optimistic about the future of Mountain Valley School District. We have great students, staff and community who deserve a safe and up-to-date school.
Thank you for trusting me to help lead Mountain Valley towards a new and improved future.  
Travis Garoutte is the Superintendent/High School Principal.