Keeping Our Focus
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    • 2015 >
      • Binational Educator Exchange
      • January 11, 2015
      • January 18, 2015
      • January 25, 2015
      • February 1, 2015
      • February 8, 2015
      • February 15, 2015
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      • May 24, 2015
      • May 31, 2015
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      • June 14, 2015
      • June 21, 2015
      • June 28, 2015
    • 2014 >
      • 2014 In Review Part 1
      • 2014 In Review Part 2
      • 2014 Accreditation
      • Sanchez-Varoz Documents
      • Superintendent Work Calendars
      • Alternative to Expulsion Policy
      • Superintendent Job Performance Surveys
      • January 6, 2014
      • January 12, 2014
      • January 19, 2014
      • January 26, 2014
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      • July 27, 2014
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      • August 24, 2014
      • September 1, 2014
      • September 7, 2014
      • September 14, 2014
      • September 21, 2014
      • September 28, 2014
      • October 5, 2014
      • Extra Points 10-5-14
      • October 13, 2014
      • October 19, 2014
      • October 26, 2014
      • November 2, 2014
      • November 9, 2014
      • November 16, 2014
      • November 23, 2014
      • November 30, 2014
      • December 7, 2014
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      • December 21, 2014
    • 2013 >
      • January 6, 2013
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      • January 27, 2013
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      • February 24, 2012
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      • July 21, 2012
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      • August 26, 2013
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      • October 6, 2013
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      • October 27, 2013
      • November 3, 2013
      • November 11, 2013
      • November 18, 2013
      • December 1, 2013
      • December 8, 2013
      • December 15, 2013
      • 2013 in Review
    • 2012 >
      • 2012 in Review
      • Class of 2012 Graduation Video
      • 3rd Grade TCAP Release
      • December 16, 2012
      • December 9, 2012
      • December 1, 2012
      • November 11, 2012
      • November 4, 2012
      • October 27, 2012
      • October 14, 2012
      • October 7, 2012
      • September 30, 2012
      • September 23, 2012
      • September 19, 2012
      • September 9, 2012
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      • August 26, 2012
      • August 19, 2012
      • August 12, 2012
      • August 5th, 2012
      • July 29, 2012
      • July 22, 2012
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      • June 17, 2012
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      • May 27, 2012
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      • April 29, 2012
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      • April 8, 2012
      • April Fools
      • Mar 25, 2012
      • Mar 18, 2012
      • Mar 11, 2012
      • Mar 4, 2012
      • Feb 26, 2012
      • Feb 19, 2012
      • Feb 12, 2012
      • Feb 5, 2012
      • Jan 29, 2012
      • Jan 22, 2012
      • Jan 15, 2012
      • Jan 8, 2012
    • 2011 >
      • 2011 in Review
      • Dec 25, 2011
      • Dec 18, 2011
      • Dec, 11, 2011
      • Dec 4, 2011
      • Nov 27, 2011
      • Nov 13, 2011
    • Lobato Decision >
      • Lobato Update

Great Things Going On

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I am truly pleased to announce that Center High School principal Kevin Jones has been named High School Principal of the Year for 2015 by the Colorado Association of School Executives.  Kevin was invited to Denver a week ago Thursday to interview for this honor.  As always, he humbly passed on the credit for the many successes Center High School has achieved under his watchful eye to the outstanding staff he works with here at the school.  In my opinion he is absolutely right.  What I think Mr. Jones has been best at in his career as a school principal has been attracting, hiring, and retaining high quality staff members, and then offering them the support they need to do their jobs excellently.  Kevin, as your one time administrative mentor I can’t tell you just how truly proud I am for you and how happy I am for your staff in carrying you to this great honor.

Congratulations are also in order for Trinidada Bucio, Fernando Gonzalez, Joel Abril, and Efrain Ledezma.  Each year Center High School social studies teacher Scott Poole’s  classes participate in the nation wide Stock Market Experience Game in which economics classes compete against one another by buying simulated stocks and bonds. Our students have been doing this the past four years and this year these four finished in the top 15 in the State of Colorado.  They will be honored in Denver on May 8th for their accomplishments in the contest. Congratulations!

I also want to thank Center High School counselor Adele Alfson and her People for a Cause organization for conducting a personal care items drive and collecting roughly 250 items to donate to the Center Community Food Bank to be used by folks in need.  I also understand the classrooms in the high school hallway were the largest contributors at 87 items.  Thanks to all of you for once again helping those in need!

Finally, I would like to take a moment to congratulate the following Center Schools students for the outstanding job they did at the regional Solo and Ensemble Competition last week; Aaliyah Garcia on Tenor Sax, Gloria Dominguez on Clarinet, Adrian Martinez on Marimba, Alexis Sanchez-Duran on Flute, Camille Ruggles on Flute, Carmen Ruggles on Alto Sax, and Miguel Gomez on Snare Drum.   Solo and Ensemble is a festival in which many San Luis Valley schools participate. Students practice and perform a solo piece of music in front of judges who score them.  The judge panels are usually made up of college music professors.  Performing in this setting can be very nerve racking for our students.   However, the Solo and Ensemble Festival is a great way to showcase the talents of our students and Center Schools instrumental music director Phillip Ortega was very pleased to announce that all Center students received a score of either a 1 (Superior) or a 2 (Excellent).  These are the highest scores students can possibly receive from the judges. Mr. Ortega said, “Our students were very professional and represented our school well and the professors were very impressed with how well the students played and presented themselves.”  Mr. Ortega also thanked K-5 music director Gabe Swanson for offering his time to accompany the students on the piano. 

Big Things We Are Working On

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The Center Schools Calendar Committee will meet this week to prepare a draft document o be considered for adoption by the Center Schools Board of Education at a special meeting to be held on Tuesday April 28th.

We were also quite pleased to hear last week that Congress passed a bill that will fund the Secure Rural Schools Act retroactive to 2014, and for the 2015 budget year.  This is important for the Center School District as we budgeted a significant amount of these dollars to come our way last year but had still not received them.  


The Past Week

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I spent the greater part of last Monday meeting with principals about their annual evaluations.  On Monday afternoon I also travelled to Alamosa to serve on the San Luis Valley Teacher of Year interview committee.  On Tuesday I attended the San Luis Valley Superintendent Advisory Council meeting in Alamosa.  That afternoon and evening I attended our monthly District Accountability Committee and April board of education meetings.  On Wednesday I participated in a regional superintendent PLC session at Sargent Schools.  On Thursday I had lots of time to tackle routine work tasks in my office. 

The Week Ahead

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On Monday I will be doing work in preparation for our district calendar committee meeting and I will take video productions students to Adams State University to broadcast the Center High School baseball game.  My monthly Early Steps to School Success meeting was moved from last week to Tuesday.  On Wednesday we have another ICAP/Early Release PLC day.  Our calendar committee meeting takes place Wednesday afternoon, and on Wednesday evening we will host a parent education event with nationally known educational speaker Fabian Ramirez.   I will attend the SLV Teacher of Year banquet on Wednesday evening to honor Katrina Ruggles as our Center Schools teacher of the year.  On Thursday and Friday our District Leadership Team will be attending a workshop in Alamosa to gain some leadership team training and to engage with other district leaders from the San Luis Valley about regional collaboration efforts.  Some Center Schools students will participate in a trip to Denver on Thursday to attend the Colorado Rockies Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math event.  On Thursday evening I will be attending a reception in Denver for Healthy Schools Champions recipients.  On Friday I’ll attend the Colorado Education Initiative Healthy Schools Summit, the CDE Rural Education Council meeting, and the CASE awards ceremony in where Kevin Jones will be recognized as the Colorado High School Principal of the Year.    I will finally end my work week on Saturday participating in the events where we’ll name our baseball field after long time Center High School baseball coach Lloyd M. Garcia.

Thanks for listening once again.

George