Garfield Re-2 School District
Superintendent Message
![Honoring Leadership, Celebrating Progress, and Fostering Momentum]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1744651002/garfieldre2net/aucabjd2ykf6b1ra7jit/kirkbanghart.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1744651002/garfieldre2net/aucabjd2ykf6b1ra7jit/kirkbanghart.jpg","width":500}])
Kirk Banghart
January offers an important opportunity to reflect on where we are, where we are headed, and the leadership that helps guide our work every day. It is also National School Board Appreciation Month, and I want to begin the new year by recognizing and thanking the dedicated individuals who serve our community through their service on the Garfield Re-2 Board of Education.
Our Board, President Fathom Jensen, Vice President Chance Jenkins, Secretary Cassie Haskell, Treasurer Megan Heil, and Board Member Steve Beaulieu, provides steady leadership and thoughtful guidance for Garfield Re-2. They ensure that long-term decisions remain centered on students while upholding our shared vision. That clarity of governance creates stability, trust, and focus across our system. Most importantly, it allows the important work of teaching and learning to thrive.
- DO
Kirk Banghart
As we turn the corner into a new year, there is a continued and steady sense of momentum across Garfield Re-2. It grows from the combination of our long-standing traditions, the stability of our shared values, and the fresh perspectives that keep us moving forward. The upcoming winter break offers all of us a welcome moment to pause, reflect, and return renewed for the work ahead.
- DO
- Superintendent
Kirk Banghart
In school districts, progress rarely happens all at once. It builds slowly at first, then more noticeably as students grow, staff work together, and a community leans into shared values and expectations. Over the past week, the signs of our growing momentum were illustrated by our students and staff nearly everywhere I looked.
Theresa Hamilton
This week, I shared that Garfield Re-2 has asked the Roaring Fork School District, Two Rivers Community School’s authorizing district, to follow Colorado law and discontinue transporting students who live within the Garfield Re-2 School District to their campus.
I understand how this situation impacts families. When you’ve relied on a bus route to get your child safely to and from school, any change can be inconvenient and concerning. Families choose schools for deeply personal reasons, and I respect those choices.
- DO
Kirk Banghart
In education, it's easy to get caught up in what we can’t do. There’s never enough time, and never enough resources. In Garfield Re-2, we focus on what we can do every day by creating opportunities for our students and families, and finding efficiencies that keep our district strong and moving forward. That’s what momentum looks like.
One of the best examples of that momentum is the expansion of our preschool program. Thanks to state partnerships, local collaboration, and the dedication of our early childhood teams, Garfield Re-2 now serves over 300 of our youngest learners—more than ever before. Every classroom we open gives families in western Garfield County greater access to high-quality, early learning right here at home.
Kirk Banghart
There is even more to celebrate this fall in Garfield Re-2. The Colorado Department of Education has given our district an Accredited rating on the 2025 Preliminary District Performance Framework. That means the hard work of our teachers, staff, and students is paying off. Our district score increased to 56.9 points, up from 51 in 2022, and 7 out of 10 schools achieved the second-highest rating on their School Performance Frameworks.
Kirk Banghart
There are two days in every school year when the energy practically hums through the hallways—when the grown-ups arrive with fresh focus and the students are buzzing with anticipation. One is the first day of school. The other is the last.
Despite the hours of preparation that went into launching the 2025–26 school year - the planning with our administration teams, the week of introduction to our new teachers, and the professional development provided to ALL staff - the start of the school year in Garfield Re-2 didn’t look quite like we planned.
Kirk Banghart
Truth be told, all of my first 27 days here have been amazing. As the new Superintendent of Garfield Re-2, I’d be lying if I said the days haven’t started to blur together. The phrase “drinking from a firehose” doesn’t even begin to capture it—but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Even amid all the meetings, learning curves, and discoveries, I’m filled with gratitude to be back on the Western Slope. This region has always been where I find peace. I’ve been a teacher, a principal, a superintendent and the leader of a state-wide organization in a variety of locations across Colorado. I spent 10 years guiding rafts down the Colorado River with Adventure Bound, navigating high-water rapids and soaking in the awe of these mountains and valleys. I’ve hiked these trails and fished these streams. This is home.
- DO
- Superintendent