Great Things Going On Now
I want to begin this week by thanking all of our staff for their hard work and long hours last week as we held Parent-Teacher Conferences.
On Wednesday and Thursday our staff members put in twelve-hour days and we had a great turnout by parents. Thanks to Director of Instruction Lori Cooper, teachers had plenty of mid-year student progress data to share with parents.
I also want to take a moment to recognize the folks in our transportation department who continually work behind the scenes to ensure our students are transported to and from school, activities and athletic contests in a safe manner. Director of Transportation Mike Phillips and has cadre of expert drivers serve our kids and our community well.
This week I would also like to mention the Fyock Community Library staff and the great job they do balancing the provision of services to children from preschool through 12th grade, to dozens of kids before school, at lunch-time and after school, and to community members all day long, in the evenings, and on weekends. Library Director Becky Reed and her staff make the media center a welcoming place for all to spend time, and they work hard to support the teaching of K-12 curriculum concepts when they work with students.
Finally, the community of Center has one again been blessed as a new crew of Americorps workers has recently arrived. We look forward to working with this fine young group during the next six weeks as they will participate in and support many community events, instruct our children, and bolster the school district. Thanks once again to Katrina Ruggles and her team of Vista support staff members, Greg Malbon, Matthew Platt, and Etienne Lombard, for doing the work that makes it possible to bring this outstanding resource to our community.
I also want to take a moment to recognize the folks in our transportation department who continually work behind the scenes to ensure our students are transported to and from school, activities and athletic contests in a safe manner. Director of Transportation Mike Phillips and has cadre of expert drivers serve our kids and our community well.
This week I would also like to mention the Fyock Community Library staff and the great job they do balancing the provision of services to children from preschool through 12th grade, to dozens of kids before school, at lunch-time and after school, and to community members all day long, in the evenings, and on weekends. Library Director Becky Reed and her staff make the media center a welcoming place for all to spend time, and they work hard to support the teaching of K-12 curriculum concepts when they work with students.
Finally, the community of Center has one again been blessed as a new crew of Americorps workers has recently arrived. We look forward to working with this fine young group during the next six weeks as they will participate in and support many community events, instruct our children, and bolster the school district. Thanks once again to Katrina Ruggles and her team of Vista support staff members, Greg Malbon, Matthew Platt, and Etienne Lombard, for doing the work that makes it possible to bring this outstanding resource to our community.
The Past Week
This past week I attended to a lot of work in the district while also traveling to Denver on Tuesday to attend the bi-monthly Colorado Safe Schools Resource Center Advisory Board meeting. I also travelled to Dolores on Friday to attend the Colorado Department of Education Rural Education Council meting as a representative of the San Luis Valley school districts. At the Rural Education Council meeting we addressed how rural school districts are defined, how rural educators who serve as both principal and superintendent should be evaluated, and we began to establish goals for our work for the remainder of 2013.
Big Things We Are Working On
The most important work the District been engaged in recently includes conducting a process by which to fill an open board of directors seat, beginning the process of conducting the annual superintendent evaluation, starting work aimed at establishing our plan for academic improvement for the 2013-14 school year, and planning how Race to the top of the Valley work will be conducted next year, and on which days.
Work on our improvement cycle this spring will require our Building Leadership Teams to review their school performance data, brainstorm areas that need focus, and then present action plans for improvement to our District Leadership Team. In May the District Leadership Team will finalize the district academic improvement plan and present it to the Board of Education. Upon approval by the Board, we will build a budget at the district level aimed at accomplishing the things we have set out to do to increase student achievement during the 2013-14 school year.
Work on our improvement cycle this spring will require our Building Leadership Teams to review their school performance data, brainstorm areas that need focus, and then present action plans for improvement to our District Leadership Team. In May the District Leadership Team will finalize the district academic improvement plan and present it to the Board of Education. Upon approval by the Board, we will build a budget at the district level aimed at accomplishing the things we have set out to do to increase student achievement during the 2013-14 school year.
The Week Ahead
This week I will travel to Denver for the monthly CEA, CASE, CASB Anchor group meeting. Tuesday will be my monthly marathon day of meetings including the San Luis Valley Superintendent Advisory Council meeting in Alamosa in the morning, then District Accountability and Board of Education meetings in Center in the evening. On Thursday and Friday I will be in Denver with Board President Michael Lobato attending the Colorado Association of Schools Boards legislative conference.
Video of Week
Mr. Schoenfelder’s Video Productions crew has been at it once again. This week they produced another news video. You can view it at this link: http://keepingourfocus.weebly.com/videos.html
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George