Great Things Going On
I want to commend Center Schools employees Joy Werner, Chris Vance, and Ashley Lane for the great work they did sharing out information with many San Luis Valley teachers on the new SLV Evaluation Calculator that allows educators to develop models by which they can be evaluated based on student academic performance and growth. I also want to thank all our Center Schools teachers for being active participants in this work and for diligently striving to complete the process during the time that was allotted on Friday. We are excited to be delving into this important work and based on what I have observed all over Colorado, I believe we are at the forefront when it comes to doing so. Lauren Krizansky from the Valley Courier was
on site and wrote a nice article about this work that appeared in the February 8th edition. You can view the article at this link, but will have to get a paper to see it in its entirety.
I would also like to thank Center Schools cafeteria staff members Jeannette Garcia, Veronica Tomas, and Veronica Gardea for making the special effort to feed all of our educator visitors on Friday. On very short notice, the three of them prepared a wonderful lasagna lunch for roughly 250 Valley teachers. Their effort, and the profits made from this meal, will benefit the students who participate in our high school activities programs. Thanks again!
I would also like to thank Center Schools cafeteria staff members Jeannette Garcia, Veronica Tomas, and Veronica Gardea for making the special effort to feed all of our educator visitors on Friday. On very short notice, the three of them prepared a wonderful lasagna lunch for roughly 250 Valley teachers. Their effort, and the profits made from this meal, will benefit the students who participate in our high school activities programs. Thanks again!
I would like to remind all Center Schools patrons of the fact that our school library also serves as a public library for area residents. Any person interested in checking out hard copy books, audiobooks, or videos, and folks who would like to peruse a wonderful selection of magazines, or to simply gain internet access by using our computers or wireless network, are welcome to come into the Fyock Community Library during regular operation hours. Our partnership with Saguache County to make our collection available to the entire community is one of the few such models in the state of Colorado. The library welcomes all public patrons each Monday and Thursday from 8 AM to 8 PM, on Tuesday and Wednesday from 8 AM to 6 PM, on Friday from 8 AM to 3 PM, and on Saturday from Noon to 5 PM.
On a final note I want to thank the Center High School Student Council for the wonderful Hawaiian Night festivities put on for the community this past Friday during our basketball games against Sierra Grande. Decorations and costumes could be seen everywhere and attendees had the opportunity to compete in hula-hoop and limbo contests, as well as for drawings of Hawaiian themed goody baskets. Thanks to all the students, staff members, and community members who came out to support our teams and enjoy such an event.
Big Things We are Working On
This week Center Schools teachers and parents will be having conferences to share and discuss general student progress, mid-year student achievement data, and student ICAP plans. Our schedule this week for elementary students will be to hold regular school sessions on Monday and Tuesday, to release students at 2 PM on Wednesday, and to have no school on Thursday and Friday. Middle and high school students will attend regular days on Monday and Tuesday, while having early release at 2 PM on Wednesday and Thursday, with no school on Friday. Parents, please be reminded that middle school and high school classes will be in session until 2 PM both Wednesday and Thursday and middle/high conferences begin at 3 PM. I would like to remind everyone that the reason we have no school on Friday is our teachers will be working back to back 12 hour days on Wednesday and Thursday in order to meet with as many parents as possible. If you have any questions about the actual parent-teacher conference schedule please contact the elementary office at 719-754-3982, or the middle-high office at 719-754-2232.
Another major item of interest this week will be the Center School Board’s consideration of my 2013-14 superintendent evaluation and possible future contract. Each year before March 1st the board is charged with evaluating me and considering a future contract. In preparation for my evaluation the board has already solicited feedback from nearly 80 Center Schools staff members regarding the work I have done during the past year relating to supporting the board of education in its governance of the school district, establishing and operating a district level collaborative leadership system to guide the district’s vision and academic improvement processes, guiding the establishment of a district vision, mission and set of core beliefs, then communicate and promote these purposes to the entire educational community, ensuring every teacher in every subject at every grade level has access to a quality curriculum aligned to current Colorado standards, ensuring every teacher in every subject at every grade level has access the resources they need to teach the curriculum, ensuring that student learning of the curriculum is measured summatively on a periodic basis and these learning results are used to drive future instructional improvement, ensuring that all teachers are guided by a building administrator who supports their professional growth and instructional improvement, supporting building administrators in their efforts to lead school improvement processes through the provision of quality building leadership development and effective evaluative feedback, supporting building administrators in requiring teachers to teach the curriculum in a way that continually measures student learning and engages all students, establishing processes to effectively allocate district resources and align their use to support the district’s academic improvement processes, ensuring there is effective supervision and operation of business, facilities, transportation, food service and technology departments, advocating for the greater political interests of the school district at the county, state and national level, and developing a trusting collaborative relationship with local, state and national teacher associations.
The Past Week
I took some personal leave time on Monday and Tuesday of last week. On Wednesday and Thursday I was in Denver for the Colorado Association of School Executives Winter Leadership Conference where I supported the presentation of a session on exploring the superintendency, met with legislators at the state capitol about upcoming school finance legislation, and had the pleasure of addressing the entire gathering of administrators as Colorado Superintendent of the Year. On Friday I was back in Center for our final San Luis Valley All Valley PLC session of the year. On Saturday afternoon I met in Center with our entire board of education while participating in a Colorado Association of School Boards instruction session on the legalities of operating a school board.
The Week Ahead
On Monday administrators from all over the San Luis Valley will be on campus to learn from one another how to better support improved instruction through classroom walkthrough processes. On Tuesday I will participate in my monthly marathon day of meetings beginning with the SLV Superintendents Advisory Council gathering in Alamosa, followed by the Center District Accountability Meeting, and then the regular monthly Center Schools Board of Education meeting. I’ll start the day on Wednesday in the building, but will end it in Nashville, Tennessee as I trek to the National Conference on Education where I will represent Colorado during the opening session as its superintendent of the year. At this annual event all 50 superintendents of the year are announced on stage. I will attend the conference Thursday through Saturday, and return home to Center on Sunday.
Thanks for listening once again.
George
Thanks for listening once again.
George