Escalante Middle School

Escalante Middle School Escalante is a school designed to meet the academic, social-emotional, and physical needs of all students. We will not publish, share, or sell email addresses.

As an Expeditionary Learning (EL) school, we strive each day to create a learning environment where all are welcomed, valued, respected, and safe. Reading, writing, mathematics, geography, science, and history are all taught using the team approach. We meet students' individual learning needs by challenging our instruction to address each students' learning style, abilities, strengths, and weaknes

ses. We use online and computer-based instruction, individualizing reading programs , and student learning groups based on similar academic abilities. Escalante offers a challenging array of exploratory courses, including keyboarding, art, technology, foreign language, band, orchestra, choir, PE, health, interpersonal skills, and computer instruction. Comment Policy:
The Durango School District 9-R welcomes your active participation on our website, and we encourage you to interact with us and each other using our comment system. Our goal is to create an open dialog among the many diverse voices in our community. It is our hope that you will read and comment on the material you find on the site. Privacy: A valid email address and real first and last name are required for commenting. Your first and last name will be shown alongside any comments you make. The provided name and email address may be used by the district to privately contact the commenter. All email, snail mail, phone numbers, and any private and personal information posted in any comment will be deleted as soon as possible to protect the privacy of the commenter or any other community member mentioned. Language and Manners: This site is 'family friendly'. Obscenity, profanity, and vulgar language are prohibited. Comments with such language or with links to such language will be rejected and/or deleted. Personal attacks in comments are also prohibited. This applies to discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity as well as insults against fellow commenters, district staff, or students. You may disagree with another person's ideas or opinions but please keep the comments respectful and family friendly. Continued personal attacks will result in the user being blocked from using the system. A Comment is Conversation: A comment which does not add to the conversation and runs off on tangents or kills the conversation may be edited or deleted. Comment Spam: Most comment spam will be automatically rejected by our system. Any spam that gets through will be marked and deleted. The users of the system may also flag a comment as being spam or inappropriate. These comments will be reviewed and deleted as needed. Continued comment spamming will result in the user being blocked from using the system. Noncommercial: Comments may not solicit or promote any business. The comments are to be used for noncommercial purposes only. Hold Harmless: All comments on this site are the responsibility of the commenter, not the school district, administrators, contributors, editors, or authors. By submitting a comment on our site, you agree that the comment content is your own, and to hold this site, durangoschools.org, and all entities and representatives harmless from any and all repercussions, damages, or liability. Blocking of Commenters: Anyone who violates this Comments Policy may be blocked from commenting or accessing the site at the discretion of the district. All Rights Reserved: Durango School District 9-R reserves the right to edit, delete, or mark as spam any and all comments. The district also reserves the right to block anyone from commenting on or accessing the website.

08/11/2026

πŸ›‹οΈβœ¨ The future is looking pretty groovy at DSD.

We recently stopped by Escalante Middle School and Durango High School for a sneak peek at some of the new furniture in our schools β€” and we’re getting definite retro-futuristic, Jetsons vibes. πŸš€

Think bright school colors, amoeba-shaped curvy tables, angular couches designed for conversation, balance stools, mobile charging stations, stackable rolling carts and flexible modular pieces that can move and change along with the learning happening around them.

Beyond looking cool, the new furniture is designed to make classrooms and shared spaces more flexible, collaborative and comfortable for today’s students and educators.

And it’s needed. Much of the furniture across our schools has served generations of students and was well past its useful life.

πŸ’™ We’re incredibly grateful to our community for passing the 2024 Investing in Our Schools Bond, making it possible to replace aging furniture with learning environments that better reflect DSD’s innovative, future-focused mission.

We can’t wait for our students and staff to try it out.


🎬 What does the Sundance Film Festival, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Adobe and Sony Pictures have to do with students...
08/10/2026

🎬 What does the Sundance Film Festival, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Adobe and Sony Pictures have to do with students in Durango? Potentially, quite a lot.

πŸ’° A new $250,000 state grant will help connect Durango School District’s creative Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs with professionals and organizations shaping some of the nation’s biggest creative industries. This can open doors that can be harder to access when you’re growing up hundreds of miles from a major industry hub.

Through Creative Educators Network, DSD teachers will tap into relationships with organizations including Adobe, Warner Bros. Discovery, The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Dolby and Avid. This will bring current industry knowledge, connections and opportunities back to students in Southwest Colorado.

And with the Sundance Film Festival moving to Boulder in 2027, the timing couldn’t be better. πŸŽ₯✨

For students interested in fashion, digital media, graphic design, filmmaking, business, multimedia production, set design and more, this is about turning creative talent into real career pathways. Our geography won't limit what they can imagine or who they can learn from.

πŸ—žοΈ Click the link for the full story.






Huge thanks to our partners for opening doors for our students in Durango:
πŸ’™ The Colorado Education Initiative
πŸ’™ Creative Educators Network

A $250,000 state grant will strengthen career-connected learning in digital media, graphic design, fashion design, business and construction trades.

πŸŽ‰ Save the date: Aug. 5! πŸŽ‰ Come celebrate the ribbon-cutting of Ignite Mobile Learning Lab, a new mobile STEAM classroom...
07/29/2026

πŸŽ‰ Save the date: Aug. 5! πŸŽ‰ Come celebrate the ribbon-cutting of Ignite Mobile Learning Lab, a new mobile STEAM classroom! Ignite is a partnership between Durango School District (DSD) and Durango Education Foundation (DEF).

Bring the family and be among the first to step aboard this one-of-a-kind learning space, explore hands-on activities in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Mathematics). You'll meet the Ignite team and see how this innovative classroom on wheels is bringing exciting learning experiences directly to students across our district.

πŸ—“οΈ Wednesday, Aug. 5
πŸ•” 5:45 p.m. Ribbon-Cutting; 6:15-7:15 p.m. Tours & Activities
πŸ“ Impact Career Innovation Center (Durango High School campus)

Enjoy:
✨ Tours of the mobile learning lab
πŸ§ͺ Interactive STEAM activities
🎢 Live music by Stillwater Music
πŸͺ Light refreshments
🫧 Fun for the whole family

Thanks to the generosity of local businesses, foundations, grant partners, and community donors, DEF raised $363,000 to bring this innovative classroom to life.

🚌 Learn more about Ignite: https://ow.ly/LrUq50ZutlC


πŸ€– Durango High School students recently led a hands-on robotics summer camp to introduce 6th- through 9th-grade students...
07/28/2026

πŸ€– Durango High School students recently led a hands-on robotics summer camp to introduce 6th- through 9th-grade students to engineering and to inspire future STEM leaders.

The main objective of the camp was for small student teams to design and build a FIRST Tech Challenge "starter bot." The completed robots were designed to launch large wiffle balls into a scoring chamber, similar to playing a game of robotic basketball. πŸ–₯️ πŸ› οΈ

Read the full story here: https://ow.ly/PpFh50ZsXo2


Is your child interested in fall sports at Durango High School, Escalante or Miller? Register by July 27 for football an...
07/25/2026

Is your child interested in fall sports at Durango High School, Escalante or Miller? Register by July 27 for football and golf, and by Aug. 3 for all other sports.

Learn more about Fall Sports & Activities Registration here: https://ow.ly/8cbT50ZsXn9

Every child attending a DSD school or childcare facility must have a complete immunization record or exemption submitted...
07/09/2026

Every child attending a DSD school or childcare facility must have a complete immunization record or exemption submitted to their school, or the child will be unable to attend school until they are compliant with this state law. The immunization record must be from the child's healthcare provider or other immunization provider, and must show that the child is up-to-date on all school-required vaccines, according to their age.

If you plan to have a Certificate of Nonmedical Exemption for your child, please note that the date of the exemption must be on or after July 1, 2026, for the 2026-27 school year.

Note: Starting in the 2026-27 school year, Colorado law will require students to have one dose of Tdap vaccine before their first day of seventh grade.

πŸ§‘β€βš•οΈLearn more about immunizations: https://www.durangoschools.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=512021&type=d&pREC_ID=1033567

🍎 Visit our Back to School Hub: https://www.durangoschools.org/apps/pages/backtoschool

πŸ† Four Escalante Middle School students qualified and two received national recognition at this year’s National History ...
07/08/2026

πŸ† Four Escalante Middle School students qualified and two received national recognition at this year’s National History Day Contest, held June 14-18 in Washington, DC.

Frank Schreiber and Mateo Spangler earned a National Contest Honorable Mention in the Junior Group Exhibit category for their project, titled "Taking Our Breath Away: Poor Farming Techniques and How They Led to Pneumonia in the Dust Bowl." Read about their project here: https://ow.ly/mscU50ZkO7a

πŸ™Œ The pair ranked among the top student historians in the nation after advancing through school, regional, and state-level contests. In total, DSD sent four Escalante students to the national competition (pictured, from left, in teal shirts): Schreiber, Spangler, Nolan Roper, and Macy Brown.

"We are proud of the hard work of all of our students who revised diligently from our school competition, to regionals and state," said EMS Social Studies Teacher Nevada Benton. "Only a select few make it to Nationals, and these boys ranked in the top of the nation." πŸŽ‰

🏈 Start your season strong with a free sports physical, courtesy of Mercy Sports Medicine. Open to middle and high schoo...
06/24/2026

🏈 Start your season strong with a free sports physical, courtesy of Mercy Sports Medicine. Open to middle and high school athletes, this annual event helps students prepare for the upcoming sports season with a professional, convenient check-up.

Physicals will be held at the Impact Career Innovation Center (2410 Main Ave., on the Durango High School campus) on the following dates:

βœ… Monday, July 27, 2-6 p.m.
βœ… Tuesday, July 28, 2-6 p.m.
βœ… Wednesday, July 29, 2-6 p.m.

Appointments are required, and spots are limited. A parent/guardian must attend with athletes under the age of 18. Schedule through Mercy here: https://www.vagaro.com/cl/35n1bZyhKJl1M-yQ2Uyo3917E0u~nB02XON5h9ix-Qs=

If you are unable to participate in Mercy's sports physicals on July 27-29, please note that Pediatric Partners of the Southwest's Durango High School location has set aside time specifically for athletics physicals on Wednesday, July 22, and Friday, July 24. Standard patient fees apply. Please call (970) 375-0100 to schedule an appointment.

From musical performances in the lobby to battling Sumo-Bots, Escalante Middle School was absolutely buzzing this aftern...
05/20/2026

From musical performances in the lobby to battling Sumo-Bots, Escalante Middle School was absolutely buzzing this afternoon! πŸŽΆπŸ€–

EMS welcomed current families and incoming 6th-graders for its annual Celebration of Learning. 🏫✨ It was an incredible showcase of student achievement, where students self-selected the specific academic work, art, and hands-on projects they wanted to share with our community. πŸ“‹πŸŽ¨

Our middle schoolers took the lead, practicing confident communication and other core Portrait of a Graduate skills before a live audience. πŸ—£οΈπŸŒŸ

Highlights included:

πŸ”Ή LIVE PERFORMANCES & INTERACTION: Beautiful music from the choir, orchestras, and Fiddles on Fire 🎻, student improv sessions 🎭, and National History Day documentaries. πŸ“– Ag students taking care of lambs. πŸ‘

πŸ”Ή STEM & TRADES IN ACTION: Intense Sumo-Bot battles, interactive math and financial literacy presentations, and a stunning showcase of craftsmanship from the woodworking program. πŸͺ΅βš‘

πŸ”Ή CREATIVE ARTS: A vibrant 6th-grade gallery walk in the Black Light Gallery, an album listening party hosted by the music production class, and historical time capsules. πŸ“ΈπŸŽ΅

πŸ”Ή DINNER IS SERVED: Attendees also enjoyed a free dinner prepared and served by Teacher Lu Boren’s Ag Class, featuring delicious dishes the students learned to cook over the school year. πŸ½οΈπŸ‘¨β€πŸ³

Thank you to all of the families and community members who dropped in to support our local students and watch their hard work come to life!❀️🍏


05/06/2026

🍎 This week, we celebrate the heart of Durango School District β€” our incredible teachers and staff.

Thank you for the early mornings, late nights, steady encouragement, creativity, patience, and care you pour into students every single day. Whether you work in classrooms, cafeterias, buses, offices, libraries, maintenance, technology, counseling, or behind the scenes, you make a difference for kids and families across our community.

Public education is powered by people who show up with heart, even during challenging times. We are grateful for each and every one of you. πŸ’™


Address

141 Baker Lane
Durango, CO
81303

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