Durango, Colorado, located in the southwestern corner of the state, is home to many world-class attractions, including: the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, the historic downtown, Vallecito Lake, the Durango Mountain Resort, and the Animas River. Durango is a popular tourist destination, drawing crowds for its mountain biking, skiing, fly fishing, and cultural history.

Needham Elementary

Current principal: Pete Harter

Current teachers: Dylan Brown, Alan Morris, and Sarah Strouthopoulous

Needham Elementary's goal is "independent, lifelong learning." The school, located in the heart of Durango, Colorado on Main Street, serves 458 students in grades K-5. Core reading groups offer personalized reading strategies for K-4, and Open Court Phonics Program supports reading instruction for K-3.

Needham boasts an active media center, a newly constructed multipurpose room, small additional group rooms, increased focus on writing and basic math, problem-solving, concept development, hands-on science, and integrated social studies. Needham also has supportive programs in music, library, computers, PE, Spanish, art, special education, cooperative services, gifted and talented, ELL, and Title 1. Needham is in it's 4th year of the Read to Achieve Grant, and 88% of teaching staff have earned Master's degrees.

Needham's current BOEP teachers include Sarah Strouthopolous and Dylan Brown in the 5th grade, and Alan Morris in the 3rd grade. All three teachers have seamlessly incorporated BOEP into their teaching this year, exploring activities in their school's "natural classroom" incorporating compasses, ecology, thermometers, observation skills, teambuilding, and much more.

Escalante Middle School

Current teachers: Dominic Schiavone and Oscar Trono

Current principal: Amy Kendziorski

At Escalante Middle School, located on the banks of the Animas River , below the Purple Cliffs, in Durango, their motto is "all children can learn and succeed--to this we are committed." Escalante has an enrollment of 469, serving grades 6-8, with 37 teachers supported by various trained special services staff.

The current teachers at Escalante are Dominic Schiavone, with 7th grade language arts on the Timberwolves Team, and Oscar Trono, with 6th grade science on the Falcons Team. Both teachers have instructed their co-workers and staff on wilderness first aid techniques and scenarios in 2 successful inservices this year, to ease field trip preparation into a public school setting. Dominic has also offered a 5 day backpacking trip for his students to Cedar Mesa in Utah, a 2 day trip to Spud Lake and Cascade Lodge, and an all day snow science day on snowshoes to Andrews Lake. Oscar has integrated BOEP to his fun, hands on science activities with his students, and is planning a river study unit on the Animas River natural study side (on Escalante's campus).

The campus of Escalante houses athletic fields, nature study trails, outdoor learning sites, a challenge ropes course. The middle school classrooms have been designed in clusters, or "teams," which creates cooperative learning enviroments, with each teacm having its own technology and classroom support. Each team teaches interdisciplinary units on river studies, Worlds Fair, History Day, multicultural issues, and more.