Great Things Going On
One of our major areas of focus this year in the Center School District has been improving our Response To Intervention process for K-12 students. RTI is designed to be conducted to help us meet the needs of our most challenging students, whether they struggle with performance below grade level or are gifted. Susan Banning does a fantastic job of managing this process for Center High School and Skoglund Middle School. Ms. Banning works with classroom teachers and administrators to ensure kids in grades 6-12 are getting the individualized instructional services they need. At Haskin Elementary School Principal Kathy Kulp and Instructional Coach Sarah Vance have been making sure this process works, with lots of help from parent volunteer extraordinaire Dolores Neuerberg. Because of this focused effort, and by paying attention to following a specific process, I believe our challenged and gifted students are getting better services this year than they ever have in the past.
This past week the district calendar committee met to put together a proposal for our board of education to consider for the 2013-14 school year. As always, thanks to great pre-committee work by Director of Instruction Lori Cooper, the process went smoothly. It is looking like kids will start school on Monday August 12th. We’ll have a week-long break at Thanksgiving, the usual two weeks over the winter holidays, and our spring break should line up with all the other districts in the San Luis Valley (last week of March). Our last day of school for kids should be Thursday May 22nd. I would also like to thank Center High School science teacher Russ Braiden for agreeing to chair the committee and coordinate the process.
This past week the district calendar committee met to put together a proposal for our board of education to consider for the 2013-14 school year. As always, thanks to great pre-committee work by Director of Instruction Lori Cooper, the process went smoothly. It is looking like kids will start school on Monday August 12th. We’ll have a week-long break at Thanksgiving, the usual two weeks over the winter holidays, and our spring break should line up with all the other districts in the San Luis Valley (last week of March). Our last day of school for kids should be Thursday May 22nd. I would also like to thank Center High School science teacher Russ Braiden for agreeing to chair the committee and coordinate the process.
On Thursday I had the opportunity to stumble upon a bunch of Skoglund Middle School students being treated to a Dairy Queen lunch by Mrs. Zimmerman. It seems they were Skoglund Spotlight Students for the month of March. I would like to congratulate them for their accomplishment, but I also want to thank Mrs. Zimmerman for the care she takes to honor our kids who are doing great things.
Finally I would like to take a moment this week to praise and show appreciation for our building secretarial staff. Marsha Felmlee and Debra Lujan manage the Skoglund Middle School and Center High School Office while Brenda Montoya and Lupita Ortega do this for Haskin Elementary School. These ladies continually do a great job communicating with our community, supporting our teachers so they can focus on instruction, solving problems so our principals can spend time supporting teachers, and keeping track of kids through attendance, scheduling and grading processes. Our buildings are great places to be and this is due in great part to the wonderful work our office staff does!
Finally I would like to take a moment this week to praise and show appreciation for our building secretarial staff. Marsha Felmlee and Debra Lujan manage the Skoglund Middle School and Center High School Office while Brenda Montoya and Lupita Ortega do this for Haskin Elementary School. These ladies continually do a great job communicating with our community, supporting our teachers so they can focus on instruction, solving problems so our principals can spend time supporting teachers, and keeping track of kids through attendance, scheduling and grading processes. Our buildings are great places to be and this is due in great part to the wonderful work our office staff does!
The Past Week
We had a bit of a short work week, only having students from Wednesday through Friday. On Tuesday I was in Denver for a Colorado Safe Schools Resource Center Advisory Board meeting. On Wednesday I spent quite a bit of time in the buildings, but also went to Alamosa to learn more about how our district can prepare students for upcoming job opportunities that could be the result of the construction of the proposed Solar Reserve electrical generation plant in the northeast portion of our district. We also had a board of education work session on Wednesday evening during which our board directors spent some time learning how to utilize their laptops and iPads for the conduct of board work. On Thursday I spent time in classrooms. On Friday I conducted Race to the top of the Valley work, while also working on technology planning financial projects.
Big Things We Are Working On
The biggest things we are working on right now are the development of the 2013-14 school year calendar, and our 2013-14 academic improvement plan. We’ll begin building the improvement plan this coming Wednesday when our District Leadership Team gets together to meet.
The Coming Week
On Monday I will spend a lot of time in buildings while also taking a late afternoon-evening trip to Colorado Springs to watch Daniel Newmyer receive his Alan Shepard Technology in Education award.
I’ll be back in the Valley on Tuesday for our monthly Superintendent Advisory Council meeting, our District Accountability Committee meeting, and our regular monthly Board of Education meeting.
Wednesday is an early release day for students, while teachers will be working in Professional Learning Communities. I will attend an All Valley Teacher of the Year selection committee meeting on Wednesday evening.
On Thursday I will attend an Even Start board meeting in Alamosa, and our District Leadership Team meeting in Center.
On Friday I will be in Denver to meet with the Colorado Legacy Foundation about our San Luis Valley Extended Learning Opportunities grant, and then I will attend the Colorado Association of School Executives Legislative committee meeting in the afternoon. The major focus of this meeting will be the revised school finance act.
I’ll be back in the Valley on Tuesday for our monthly Superintendent Advisory Council meeting, our District Accountability Committee meeting, and our regular monthly Board of Education meeting.
Wednesday is an early release day for students, while teachers will be working in Professional Learning Communities. I will attend an All Valley Teacher of the Year selection committee meeting on Wednesday evening.
On Thursday I will attend an Even Start board meeting in Alamosa, and our District Leadership Team meeting in Center.
On Friday I will be in Denver to meet with the Colorado Legacy Foundation about our San Luis Valley Extended Learning Opportunities grant, and then I will attend the Colorado Association of School Executives Legislative committee meeting in the afternoon. The major focus of this meeting will be the revised school finance act.
Extra Points
I would like to remind everyone that the Center Schools Board of Education will be conducting business on Wednesday April 10th from 10 AM until 2 PM in the Fyock Community Library. Parents, students, community members, and staff members are welcome to stop in to visit with board members at this time to share their thoughts and to build relationships.
Thank you for listening once again!
George
Thank you for listening once again!
George