Great Things Going On
This past week the Colorado Department of Education released results of the 2014 3rd grade TCAP reading assessment. Overall we were pleased with the achievment of our Haskin Elementary Students, as our proficiency increased 5 points over what it was last year. We were and especially excited at the fact that not a single Haskin 3rd grader scored unsatisfactory on the test. This is the first time we have ever accomplished this as a district! Many of you might remember that as recently as 2010 only 28% of our students scored proficient on this test. Since our turnaround process took hold we have improved our achievement to above the 60 percent proficiency rate for three straight years at this level.
Somewhat related to our 3rd grade TCAP reading results, early this week we had visitors on the Haskin campus who drove 11 hours from a district in Wyoming to learn how we are applying the work of Lindamood-Bell in our school. During the visit our friends from Wyoming observed small group intervention instruction and dropped in on classrooms where Lindamood-Bell whole group instruction was taking place.
This week I would like to thank our grade 6-12 RTI coordinator Susan Banning for all she has done this year to keep our students on track to promote to the next grade level, secure their high school credits, or to actually graduate from high school. In just the past week Susan met with 56 of our students about attendance issues, grades, and class performance. After doing so these young men and women were clear as to what work they need to do to finish the spring semester successfully, especially seniors, many who may be a bit on the bubble when it comes to meeting their graduation requirements. Thank you Susan for dong this important work!
Thanks to the collaborative work of Center’s director of instruction Lori Cooper, all 14 San Luis Valley school districts will be provided with an English Language Development Standards Framework Training of Trainers. This will take place from June 30 through July 2. The session will be free of charge for those in the San Luis Valley Title III consortium. Thanks Lori for working to secure such opportunities to our teachers, as well as those throughout our region!
Thanks to the collaborative work of Center’s director of instruction Lori Cooper, all 14 San Luis Valley school districts will be provided with an English Language Development Standards Framework Training of Trainers. This will take place from June 30 through July 2. The session will be free of charge for those in the San Luis Valley Title III consortium. Thanks Lori for working to secure such opportunities to our teachers, as well as those throughout our region!
Many of you may have noticed we have finally installed an additional bollards fence on the west side of the school along Sylvester Road. Shortly after school construction was completed the Town of Center came to us with a concern that cars could skid off the road into the retention ditch and we were requested to do something about it. This past fall construction trades teacher Mark Jones and his class began the work of installation, but were stalled when we were struck by an early winter. However, they just completed the task this past week and the finished product looks every bit as good as the original fence that was installed professionally.
This week Katrina Ruggles announced that this summer we will be receiving another full Americorps crew! We are excited to have this help and look forward to their working with our children during summer school!
Finally, congratulations are due to the Center Vikings varsity baseball team for winning the regional baseball tournament with victories over Antonito and Sargent this past Friday. The team has been selected as the number 11 seed and will play number 6, Lutheran, this Saturday, 12:30 PM, at Hobbs Field at the Runyon Complex in Pueblo. CHS also has several athletes who have qualified for this coming week's state track meet in field and relay events!
This week Katrina Ruggles announced that this summer we will be receiving another full Americorps crew! We are excited to have this help and look forward to their working with our children during summer school!
Finally, congratulations are due to the Center Vikings varsity baseball team for winning the regional baseball tournament with victories over Antonito and Sargent this past Friday. The team has been selected as the number 11 seed and will play number 6, Lutheran, this Saturday, 12:30 PM, at Hobbs Field at the Runyon Complex in Pueblo. CHS also has several athletes who have qualified for this coming week's state track meet in field and relay events!
Big Things We Are Working On
The Colorado Legislature wrapped up its work for 2014 last week and the passage of the School Finance and Student Success acts should result in an additional $400,000 of funding for the Center Consolidated School District. This has given director of finance Betty Casanova enough accurate information to begin building a recommended budget to be placed before the board of education during the course of their next several meetings. We are required as a district to produce a preliminary budget by June 1st and a final budget for the 2014-15 school year by July 1st. Other key budget issues we’ll be addressing include our federal requirement to expand health coverage to all full time employees, deciding on what level of employee staffing we are able to afford, and determining how many, if any, revenue dollars to budget from the federal Secure Rural Schools program.
I met this past week in a negotiations session with representatives from the Center Education Association and during our time together we developed a plan to provide individual healthcare plans for all Center Schools full time employees. Our current anticipated cost to the district for this coverage is in the neighborhood of $215,000. The details of this plan will be presented to the board of education at our meeting this Tuesday.
Early this week we’ll be screening applicants, checking backgrounds, and scheduling interviews to fill our Skoglund Middle School principal position opening. We are hoping to hold interviews on Monday May 19th and to make a recommendation for hire to the board of education by the end of that week.
I met this past week in a negotiations session with representatives from the Center Education Association and during our time together we developed a plan to provide individual healthcare plans for all Center Schools full time employees. Our current anticipated cost to the district for this coverage is in the neighborhood of $215,000. The details of this plan will be presented to the board of education at our meeting this Tuesday.
Early this week we’ll be screening applicants, checking backgrounds, and scheduling interviews to fill our Skoglund Middle School principal position opening. We are hoping to hold interviews on Monday May 19th and to make a recommendation for hire to the board of education by the end of that week.
The Past Week
On Monday we conducted end of year building reviews while also providing great coaching for our principals to finalize their 2014-15 academic improvement plans. On the same day I also attended a special Early Steps to School Success luncheon event in Alamosa. On Tuesday I conducted some Race to the top of the Valley consortium work while also touring several Early Steps to School Success national observers around our building. On Wednesday I met with CEA leaders in our traditional spring negotiations session, and on Thursday and Friday I had the pleasure of helping to supervise the annual 5th grade trip to the Denver Museum of Science and Nature. While on the trip I did my best to keep up to date on district email tasks.
The Week Ahead
On Monday end of year activities such as awards and recognition ceremonies will continue. During the school day middle and high school academic awards will be distributed, while in the afternoon and evening sports awards an major academic awards and scholarships will be handed out. On Tuesday I have my monthly marathon of meetings as I will attend the San Luis Valley superintendents advisory council meeting in the morning, our May district accountability meeting in the afternoon, and our regular May board of education meeting in the evening. Wednesday is our last ICAP/early release day of the year. On Thursday our 8th graders will be going to Denver on their annual class trip while most other students will be taking their 4th quarter assessments. Friday is the last day of school for the Center High School Class of 2014. On this day I will also be attending a CDE study group webinar on competency based education. Saturday May 17th is our annual Academic Resource Center-Center Virtual Academy graduation ceremony.
Thanks for listening once again!
George
Thanks for listening once again!
George