Great Things Going On
I would like to offer congratulations to Haskin Elementary vocal music teacher Gabriel Swanson and his grade K-5 students for putting on an outstanding winter concert this past Thursday. The music selection was wonderful, the kids performed expertly, the gymnasium was full, and the community truly enjoyed the performance. I would like to add additional kudos to Mr. Swanson, as I am not sure everybody realizes when he has a little down time in his daily schedule he also supports instruction by teaching Lindamood-Bell reading interventions and supporting in class reading instruction. Gabriel’s willingness to take on all of these tasks makes him a true asset to the Center School District.
Center School’s grade 5-12 instrumental music teacher Phillip Ortega also directed a winter performance for the community. His took place on Tuesday evening during our board of education meetings and, unfortunately, I was not able to enjoy it in person. However, I have heard his students played well and, short of perhaps needing to work on group transitions, the overall performance was wonderful. I think congratulations are due to Mr. Ortega on coaching such a wonderful performance out of his students on his first attempt!
Center School’s grade 5-12 instrumental music teacher Phillip Ortega also directed a winter performance for the community. His took place on Tuesday evening during our board of education meetings and, unfortunately, I was not able to enjoy it in person. However, I have heard his students played well and, short of perhaps needing to work on group transitions, the overall performance was wonderful. I think congratulations are due to Mr. Ortega on coaching such a wonderful performance out of his students on his first attempt!
On Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to attend the annual Academic Resource Center and Center Virtual Academy Christmas party. This is a tradition begun by former ARC director Sharon Hines that current director Joy Werner and Virtual Academy director Chris Vance have chosen to continue and expand upon. It was enjoyable to see so many of our self-paced mastery based learning students gathered together to celebrate the holiday season at this event.
On a final note this week, I want to offer my deepest congratulations to Haskin Elementary School assistant teacher John Noriega upon earning his bachelor of arts degree in education from Missouri Western State University. John, I know you have worked hard on this for many years. Great job!
On a final note this week, I want to offer my deepest congratulations to Haskin Elementary School assistant teacher John Noriega upon earning his bachelor of arts degree in education from Missouri Western State University. John, I know you have worked hard on this for many years. Great job!
Big Things We Are Working On
I want to thank our secondary level teachers for the extra time they put in this week completing a special training to administer mid-year NWEA tests on our grade 6-12 students. On Monday they had to come in to work at 7 AM to prepare to give the tests. Mid-year NWEA assessments offer us the opportunity to see how well our students are progressing at this point in the school year so we can make instructional adjustments to meet their needs during the second semester.
Center Schools’ vocational director Lori Cooper and CHS building trades teacher Mark Jones held a successful Building Trades Program Advisory Council meeting this past week. This committee gets together periodically to guide the work of the program and includes people from the community who work in the building trades industry.
Center Schools’ vocational director Lori Cooper and CHS building trades teacher Mark Jones held a successful Building Trades Program Advisory Council meeting this past week. This committee gets together periodically to guide the work of the program and includes people from the community who work in the building trades industry.
At our regular December board of education meeting last Tuesday the folks from Wall, Smith, Bateman, and Associates presented a clean audit to the board of education. Achieving this status of no findings is not easy and I want to thank director of finance Betty Casanova, and business office personnel J.J. Beiriger and Jessica Ornelas for the great work they did all year long making sure all needed information was available to our auditors. Our audit results showed Center Schools currently has total net assets of just under 29 million dollars, with general fund revenues coming in at around 5.7 million dollars (a decrease of roughly half a million dollars), and general fund expenditures totaling about 5.9 million dollars. The end cash position for the school district’s general fund decreased from a balance of $714,646 at the end of the 2013 fiscal year to $689,649 at the end of fiscal year 2014. Add to this our bond redemption and governmental designated purpose grants end of year balances and the district wrapped up the fiscal year with just under one million dollars in the bank.
Haskin Elementary School grade 3-5 principal Sarah Vance has been hard at work setting up a new after school literacy grant we will soon be participating in. This effort will offer after school reading group participation to many students who we don’t currently serve with our Lindamood-Bell after school academy. It also has a component that offers after school enrichment physical activity that all students will be able to take advantage of. The first big steps we will take include to hire a coordinator for this program, get them trained, then to get the program up and running by mid-January.
Haskin Elementary School grade 3-5 principal Sarah Vance has been hard at work setting up a new after school literacy grant we will soon be participating in. This effort will offer after school reading group participation to many students who we don’t currently serve with our Lindamood-Bell after school academy. It also has a component that offers after school enrichment physical activity that all students will be able to take advantage of. The first big steps we will take include to hire a coordinator for this program, get them trained, then to get the program up and running by mid-January.
The Past Week
On Monday morning I had an AmeriCorps state meeting about a recent state level site review, then I attended our quarterly building trades program advisory committee meeting. On Tuesday I began my day at the SLV Superintendent’s Advisory Council meeting in Alamosa, then I attended our December district accountability and regular December school board meetings. On Wednesday Center High School held an ACT prep day for students, I met with Alondra Chaparo about our Early Steps to School Success program, and I attended the ARC-Virtual Academy Christmas party. On Thursday I met with Moffat School District superintendent Kirk Bangart about our upcoming January 7th regional PLC session, and attended our annual Haskin Elementary School winter concert. On Friday I met with Katrina Ruggles about our current Americorps grant and spent the afternoon working on Race to the top of the Valley tasks. On Saturday I stopped in to watch some basketball at the Center Athletic Association JV Basketball Tournament, then enjoyed the fine weather we had while riding my bike in the Kiwanis Christmas Parade.
The Week Ahead
On Monday grade 6-12 teachers will be attending an early morning bullying prevention workshop at 7 AM. On Monday afternoon our Sunshine Club will be spreading Christmas cheer by hosting a holiday treat tasting event. Tuesday will allow me a lot of time to catch up on paperwork while on Wednesday I will travel to Alamosa to meet with several other school districts about a regional literacy grant we may be participating in. On Wednesday evening I have it on good information that Santa Claus will be making an appearance at the Fyock Community Library to support an Early Steps to School Success parent engagement session! Thursday is the last day of the first semester for all students, and on Friday teachers have a work-day. We’ll end our fall semester at Center Schools with a staff celebration on Friday afternoon.
Extra Points
Lots of neat things are going on at Skoglund Middle School under the leadership of new principal Luis Murillo.
For the first time in a long time we have organized lunch time intramural contests, with a team consisting of Luciano Chavez, Mario Chavez, Nathalia Avila, Pedro Gonzales, and Habran DeLaCruz winning the championship! After the winter break an indoor/outdoor soccer tournament will take place.
Additionally, the Skoglund Middle School student council has been very active, already hosting an evening dance this year, participating in the Kiwanis Christmas Parade, and treating students to a wildly fun pep assembly last Friday!
For the first time in a long time we have organized lunch time intramural contests, with a team consisting of Luciano Chavez, Mario Chavez, Nathalia Avila, Pedro Gonzales, and Habran DeLaCruz winning the championship! After the winter break an indoor/outdoor soccer tournament will take place.
Additionally, the Skoglund Middle School student council has been very active, already hosting an evening dance this year, participating in the Kiwanis Christmas Parade, and treating students to a wildly fun pep assembly last Friday!
Finally, middle school science teacher Mimi Dolan had her students complete and present science projects. In the process her students learned about Newton’s laws of motion and then created machines to demonstrate them. Children had to speak about the laws and explain related actions and reactions in their projects. Mr. Murillo even reported that, “after a few days of watching her students building their projects in her classroom I can honestly say we felt like there was a ghost present because every time something moved a light will come on or the water would turn on.”
Keep up the great work Skoglund staff!
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George
Keep up the great work Skoglund staff!
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George