Great Things Going On Now
Kudos go out this week to Center Schools instrumental music director Kate Newmyer and the students of the Center Schools instrumental music program for presenting an outstanding spring music concert this past Monday. It is simply amazing how Mrs. Newmyer’s program continues to improve by leaps and bounds year after year.
I would also like to thank Center Schools independent counselor Katrina Ruggles and her army of helpers and volunteers who put on an excellent career fair for our middle and high school students this past week. Our students benefitted greatly from the opportunity to explore the many careers that were represented.
I am long overdue in thanking Skoglund Middle School principal Carrie Zimmerman for the great work she does promoting our merit programs at the middle and high school levels. Her weekly merit race updates are fun and informative and I believe they motivate students to work harder on their behavior and academics for the benefit of themselves and their classmates.
We received news this week that Center High School junior Alexa Lobato will have the honor of carrying the Colorado flag at this week’s International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment Project Olympiad (ISWEEEP) opening ceremonies. Congratulations Alexa on being selected to represent our great state!
I would also like to thank Center Schools independent counselor Katrina Ruggles and her army of helpers and volunteers who put on an excellent career fair for our middle and high school students this past week. Our students benefitted greatly from the opportunity to explore the many careers that were represented.
I am long overdue in thanking Skoglund Middle School principal Carrie Zimmerman for the great work she does promoting our merit programs at the middle and high school levels. Her weekly merit race updates are fun and informative and I believe they motivate students to work harder on their behavior and academics for the benefit of themselves and their classmates.
We received news this week that Center High School junior Alexa Lobato will have the honor of carrying the Colorado flag at this week’s International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment Project Olympiad (ISWEEEP) opening ceremonies. Congratulations Alexa on being selected to represent our great state!
Big thanks also go out to Haskin Elementary Lindamood-Bell site coordinator Melissa Garcia and the many Haskin Elementary Lindamood-Bell after school reading academy instructors for the wonderful “Shooting Star” event they held in honor of the Haskin students who have shown tremendous growth in their reading abilities. These students and staff members worked extremely hard all year on targeted reading interventions and we look forward to seeing how much growth has been achieved when TCAP and end of year NWEA scores are soon available.
Finally, I want to honor Center High School students Brisya Archuleta, Gabriela Bucio, Kevin Garcia and Alyna Martinez for the great work they did on an Anti Bullying article recently posted to the sanluisvalleyhealth.org website. You can view their work at this link: http://sanluisvalleyhealth.org/who-is-affected-by-bullying/
Finally, I want to honor Center High School students Brisya Archuleta, Gabriela Bucio, Kevin Garcia and Alyna Martinez for the great work they did on an Anti Bullying article recently posted to the sanluisvalleyhealth.org website. You can view their work at this link: http://sanluisvalleyhealth.org/who-is-affected-by-bullying/
The Past Week
During the past week I attended the West Slope Superintendent Conference in Grand Junction on Monday and Tuesday where I had the opportunity to learn more about the Colorado Department of Education’s efforts to support districts with implementation of their three key reform efforts: new standards, school accreditation, and educator quality. I also learned what the finance picture is likely to look like for Center Schools in the coming year. While in Grand Junction I also attended a Colorado Association of Secondary School Principals regional meeting with Colorado Association of School Executives executive director Bruce Caughey.
On Wednesday I met with Town of Center officials to clarify responsibilities regarding upkeep of the Center Community Park. I also met with SLV BOCES director of migrant education Dr. Mary Valerio to plan for the use of migrant funding for middle school summer school programs. Wednesday ended with a wonderful San Luis Valley Teacher of the Year Banquet where we got to honor Russ Braiden as the Center Schools Teacher of the Year.
I was back on the road on Thursday to attend another CASSP regional meeting, this time in Pueblo.
I was back on the road on Thursday to attend another CASSP regional meeting, this time in Pueblo.
On Friday I spoke about school finance issues at the Great Futures gathering in Denver, then dropped in to visit RTI Coordinator Susan Banning and Second Grade Teacher Jessica Stevens at the CEA delegate assembly. My week ended on Friday evening at the Colorado Association of School Executives annual awards gathering at the Brown Palace in Denver.
Big Things We Are Working On
Center Schools has spent the last year as a Colorado Department of Education Senate Bill 191 pilot district. This year this has given us the opportunity to utilize and provide feedback about the new administrator evaluation process. During the 2012-13 school year we will have the opportunity to test and offer feedback about the new state teacher evaluation system. This new teacher evaluation system will go into full effect in all districts in Colorado during the 2013-14 school year.
It is the time of year when we work to finalize our academic improvement plans for the upcoming school year. To do this I will be engaging with our school building leadership teams and our district leadership team to decide what staff development activities we will put in place to guide our future improvement.
The finalization of our academic improvement plan will guide our budgeting process for the upcoming school year, as we will invest our dollars in ways to guarantee we can achieve our improvement plan goals.
It is the time of year when we work to finalize our academic improvement plans for the upcoming school year. To do this I will be engaging with our school building leadership teams and our district leadership team to decide what staff development activities we will put in place to guide our future improvement.
The finalization of our academic improvement plan will guide our budgeting process for the upcoming school year, as we will invest our dollars in ways to guarantee we can achieve our improvement plan goals.
Construction News
Most Center Schools employees are in the process of packing for our upcoming move to the new building. The new varsity gym walls are being installed and roof rafters should follow shortly. Building administrators are in the process of making decisions about phase 2 and 3 furniture, fixtures and equipment purchases. We are even at the point of making final decisions on building signage.
The Week Ahead
On Monday I will be at the Colorado Department of Education Rural Council meeting that takes place in Parachute. I’ll be back in Center on Tuesday for spring contract negotiations and the Haskin Elementary building leadership team meeting.
On Wednesday I will be spending the morning working on end of year teacher evaluations with building administrators, then I will attend our bi-weekly construction meeting in the afternoon.
I’m back on the road on Thursday, this time to Colorado Springs to attend a Secure Rural Schools arbitration session with the Saguache County Commissioners.
I will proceed to Denver on Friday to chair the quarterly Colorado Association of School Executives Coordinating Council meeting.
On Wednesday I will be spending the morning working on end of year teacher evaluations with building administrators, then I will attend our bi-weekly construction meeting in the afternoon.
I’m back on the road on Thursday, this time to Colorado Springs to attend a Secure Rural Schools arbitration session with the Saguache County Commissioners.
I will proceed to Denver on Friday to chair the quarterly Colorado Association of School Executives Coordinating Council meeting.
Extra Points
This past week Education News Colorado published an informative article about recent turnaround efforts taking place at Haskin Elementary School. The story is titled “Grant spurs big changes in tiny Center.” EdNews reporter Nancy Mitchell spent six hours in the district back in early March to research the article. This story is part of a series that EdNewsColorado has been publishing regarding the progress of turnaround schools all over the state. You can read it at the following link: http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2012/04/24/37180-grant-spurs-big-changes-in-center
Mitchell’s article does a good job of describing the many instructional changes that have taken place in the Haskin building. End of year 1 assessment scores in spring 2011 showed modest gains were made in achievement. However, the article states that preliminary indicators for year 2 growth, including mid-year NWEA testing, DIBBELS assessments, and Lindamood-Bell testing, show that the school is on track toward even greater growth. Because of this preliminary data Center Schools is looking forward to the upcoming May release of 2012 3rd grade TCAP reading results, as well as the rest of the assessment results that will be made public in late July.
Thanks for listening again and have another great week.
George
Mitchell’s article does a good job of describing the many instructional changes that have taken place in the Haskin building. End of year 1 assessment scores in spring 2011 showed modest gains were made in achievement. However, the article states that preliminary indicators for year 2 growth, including mid-year NWEA testing, DIBBELS assessments, and Lindamood-Bell testing, show that the school is on track toward even greater growth. Because of this preliminary data Center Schools is looking forward to the upcoming May release of 2012 3rd grade TCAP reading results, as well as the rest of the assessment results that will be made public in late July.
Thanks for listening again and have another great week.
George