Great Things Going On Now
As I walked through buildings early this past week I had the pleasure of stumbling into the buddy reading program being conducted by Haskin Elementary School Kindergarten and 3rd Grade instructional staff. During this class time 3rd Graders work one to one with Kindergarteners to support their practice on reading key site words. I can’t tell you how neat it is to see our children modeling such academic leadership to our littlest ones. A big thanks goes out to our 3rd Grade Teachers Christa Seitz, Christine Mikeljack and Meagan Long and to our Kindergarten Teachers Alexandra Gonzales, Nicole Neufeld and JoAnn Lopez for bringing our kids together like this for such wonderful learning and leadership purposes!
Last week I reported on the Healthy Schools Champion Awards received by Center High School and Skoglund Middle School. This week Valley Courier Reporter Lauren Krizansky wrote a nice article about the selection process. You can access it at this link http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=75&story_id=24468
Last week I reported on the Healthy Schools Champion Awards received by Center High School and Skoglund Middle School. This week Valley Courier Reporter Lauren Krizansky wrote a nice article about the selection process. You can access it at this link http://www.alamosanews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=75&story_id=24468
Having a healthy school climate means paying careful attention to the way students interact with each other. As part of Center High School’s recent anti-bullying efforts students Ofelia Gonzalez, Kevin Garcia, Brisya Archuleta and Gabriela Bucio wrote a nice article for the SanLuisValleyHealth.org website titled “Be a Buddy, Not a Bully.“ The article can be accessed at this link http://sanluisvalleyhealth.org/be-a-buddy-not-a-bully/
Continuing, I would like to express my appreciation for the great job Center High School Social Studies Teacher Scott Poole has been doing in his role. Scott has been encouraging his students to become involved in civic processes by having them attend district accountability, school board, and town council meetings. His 12th Grade Government class even sponsored and organized a town election candidate forum. This week Center High School Principal Kevin Jones also reported to me about the dynamite lessons he has been observing when spot checking Scott’s instruction. Keep up the great work Mr. Poole!
Continuing, I would like to express my appreciation for the great job Center High School Social Studies Teacher Scott Poole has been doing in his role. Scott has been encouraging his students to become involved in civic processes by having them attend district accountability, school board, and town council meetings. His 12th Grade Government class even sponsored and organized a town election candidate forum. This week Center High School Principal Kevin Jones also reported to me about the dynamite lessons he has been observing when spot checking Scott’s instruction. Keep up the great work Mr. Poole!
Congratulations are due to the many Center Schools Instrumental Music students who participated in the annual Solo and Ensemble festival at Adams State College. Aidee Vallez, Aneesah Cook and Rebecca Paez each received Superior ratings for their performances. Fidel Villa, Gaby Bucio, Camille Ruggles, Alexis Sanchez, Carmen Ruggles, Victoria Montoya, Elise Rodriguez, Shannon Weatherford, Daisy Rascon, Ingrid Hernandez, Jasmine Garcia, Jordan Lobato, Mason Torr, Nancy Salto, Megan McKibbon and Genesis Villa all received Excellent ratings for their performacnes. A big thank you goes out to Center Schools Instrumental Music Teacher Kate Newmyer for her hard work in preparing our students for the festival and Haskin Elementary School Music Teacher Gabriel Swanson for being kind enough to accompany many of our kids.
During spring break four Center High School students competed in the Colorado State Science and Engineering Fair. In order to qualify these students had to win the SLV Regional Science Fair in their respective categories. At the competition Genesis Villa and Jasmine Garcia, both Freshmen, earned an Honorable Mention in Senior Division Physics. Sophomore Nicholas Lobato earned an Honorable Mention in Senior Division Animal Science and a $5000 scholarship to Adams State College. Finally, Junior Anna Kulp won 2nd Place in Senior Division Earth and Space Science and a $5000 scholarship to Adams State College. Thanks go out once again to Center High School Science and Math Teacher Daniel Newmyer and Center High School Math Teacher Diego Martinez for all the hard work they put into this program for the benefit of our students.
On Friday we had the pleasure of being visited by a team of San Luis Valley El Pomar Council members who were exploring the progress being made by some of the programs they have been kindly supporting in the Center community. During the visit Center Recreation Director Jonathon Mack reported how El Pomar funds are helping to equip our Pee Wee sports programs. Center Librarian Rebecca Reed discussed how El Pomar funds are impacting the public library collection, especially items used by our adult and Spanish language populations. However, the highlight of the tour was probably the site visit to our adult education program that is currently housed in our alternative school building. This program, coordinated by Richard Blakeslee, serves 22 adults in the Center community. It supports participants with English language instruction and general coursework that prepares them for success on the GED test. The age range of participants is from 24 to 56 years old. During the visit it was shared that somewhere between 15 and 20 Center area adults have earned their GED diplomas through their participation in the program. Five of the participants are even preparing for citizenship. One will be completing the process at the end of April and one became a citizen last February.
During spring break four Center High School students competed in the Colorado State Science and Engineering Fair. In order to qualify these students had to win the SLV Regional Science Fair in their respective categories. At the competition Genesis Villa and Jasmine Garcia, both Freshmen, earned an Honorable Mention in Senior Division Physics. Sophomore Nicholas Lobato earned an Honorable Mention in Senior Division Animal Science and a $5000 scholarship to Adams State College. Finally, Junior Anna Kulp won 2nd Place in Senior Division Earth and Space Science and a $5000 scholarship to Adams State College. Thanks go out once again to Center High School Science and Math Teacher Daniel Newmyer and Center High School Math Teacher Diego Martinez for all the hard work they put into this program for the benefit of our students.
On Friday we had the pleasure of being visited by a team of San Luis Valley El Pomar Council members who were exploring the progress being made by some of the programs they have been kindly supporting in the Center community. During the visit Center Recreation Director Jonathon Mack reported how El Pomar funds are helping to equip our Pee Wee sports programs. Center Librarian Rebecca Reed discussed how El Pomar funds are impacting the public library collection, especially items used by our adult and Spanish language populations. However, the highlight of the tour was probably the site visit to our adult education program that is currently housed in our alternative school building. This program, coordinated by Richard Blakeslee, serves 22 adults in the Center community. It supports participants with English language instruction and general coursework that prepares them for success on the GED test. The age range of participants is from 24 to 56 years old. During the visit it was shared that somewhere between 15 and 20 Center area adults have earned their GED diplomas through their participation in the program. Five of the participants are even preparing for citizenship. One will be completing the process at the end of April and one became a citizen last February.
The Past Week
All schools in Center are in the process of conducting end of year benchmark testing to see how much students have grown in their core academic learning. At Haskin Elementary School this means student are being tested in DIBELS, with Lindamood-Bell diagnostic tools and through NWEA. Skoglund Middle and Center High School students will be taking NWEA tests.
On Monday I had the pleasure of taking Center Town and Country Women’s Club members on a tour of new facility. They were appreciative of the opportunity and most interested in how they can continue to support our school-public library.
Center Schools Instrumental Music Teacher Kate Newmyer once again coordinated an opportunity for Haskin Elementary School NEHS students to attend “An Audience with an Astronaut” in Colorado Springs. Through this program Haskin students got the opportunity to hear a presentation from and meet with a real live NASA astronaut.
On Thursday I got a lot done on my trip to and from Denver. I began the day in Pueblo meeting with Wendy Dunaway from the Colorado Department of Education who was very helpful in guiding me through changes needed in our district Unified Improvement Plan. I then proceeded to Denver to attend the monthly CASE, CASB, CEA Anchor Group meeting. On my way out of Denver I had the opportunity to meet with our Architects, Greg Cromer and Jay Ireland, about some construction details.
On Monday I had the pleasure of taking Center Town and Country Women’s Club members on a tour of new facility. They were appreciative of the opportunity and most interested in how they can continue to support our school-public library.
Center Schools Instrumental Music Teacher Kate Newmyer once again coordinated an opportunity for Haskin Elementary School NEHS students to attend “An Audience with an Astronaut” in Colorado Springs. Through this program Haskin students got the opportunity to hear a presentation from and meet with a real live NASA astronaut.
On Thursday I got a lot done on my trip to and from Denver. I began the day in Pueblo meeting with Wendy Dunaway from the Colorado Department of Education who was very helpful in guiding me through changes needed in our district Unified Improvement Plan. I then proceeded to Denver to attend the monthly CASE, CASB, CEA Anchor Group meeting. On my way out of Denver I had the opportunity to meet with our Architects, Greg Cromer and Jay Ireland, about some construction details.
Big Things We Are Working On
This week the major focus will be on end of year evaluations of the progress of our buildings and their leaders. Focal Point partners will be on site Monday to conduct classroom visits and principal reviews. The rest of the week will be spent finalizing administrator evaluations.
Construction News
The highlight of the construction week was getting to take Center Schools Interim Director of Finance Betty Casanova, Center Schools Transportation Director Mike Phillips and retired Center Schools Director of Finance Peg Dalby on a tour of the new facility. These three individuals have dedicated upwards of 60 years of their lives to the service of the Center Schools community and it was wonderful to allow them a peek into our soon to be realized future.
Though our old varsity gymnasium only disappeared from the construction site a few weeks ago significant progress can be seen toward the building of our new varsity gym, as foundations are already being poured.
Though our old varsity gymnasium only disappeared from the construction site a few weeks ago significant progress can be seen toward the building of our new varsity gym, as foundations are already being poured.
Our Core Beliefs
As part of our end of year building review process I am pleased to say that current results of our surveys show that 95% of Haskin Elementary, 94% of Skoglund Middle School, and 100% Center High School staff respondents answered that they at least “mostly” understand the district’s core beliefs. This is good progress since we just adopted these beliefs last spring and at that time only 70% of district staff respondents felt they understood them.
The Week Ahead
The major items on my calendar for this week include year end reviews of building and administrator performance, a Monte-Center administrator PLC session on Monday, a BEST Health Insurance meeting on Tuesday, participation in the Governor’s TBD state feedback tour on Wednesday, a special BOE meeting on Thursday, and attendance at a pilot district SB 191 teacher evaluation meeting in Salida on Friday.
Extra Points
A lot of attention is now being directed toward the federal school improvement grant process at the national level and I noticed the Denver Post had an article this morning that talks about the program from the “thirty thousand foot level.” If you would like to see what is being said nationwide about the process schools like Haskin Elementary have been going through you can access this article at http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20399300/depth-analysis-federal-school-grant-program-shows-mix
Thanks for listening again and have another great week.
George
Thanks for listening again and have another great week.
George