Great Things Going On Now
There are a lot of great things to share this week so please bear with me!
As many of you know we had a little more than an emergency drill at Haskin Elementary School this week. We believe a power surge from outside the building caused a rooftop heating unit in the gymnasium to short out and put off smoke. District nurse Alice Burch made the immediate decision to pull the fire alarm when and the entire elementary staff did a fantastic job getting our kids safely out of the building.
I want to offer a gigantic thank you to the Center Police and Fire Departments for responding so quickly to our situation and letting us know it was safe to re-enter the building. I also want to thank the Center Utility Crew for responding immediately and getting power turned on to the school in such a quick fashion.
The GE Johnson construction folks were also a big help, sending electricians over to help investigate and support our custodial staff in identifying and repairing problem.
Finally, a big thanks goes out to Rich Brandt and the entire custodial crew for reacting to the emergency so quickly, identifying the problem, and getting the school back up and running quickly. We could have lost a full day of instruction because of the issue but due to the great effort of many people we only lost 2 hours and had one heck of a realistic drill!
Continuing on the topic of Haskin Elementary School, the building experienced a mid-year review visit on Friday and our partners at Focal Point were extremely impressed with what they saw.
As many of you know we had a little more than an emergency drill at Haskin Elementary School this week. We believe a power surge from outside the building caused a rooftop heating unit in the gymnasium to short out and put off smoke. District nurse Alice Burch made the immediate decision to pull the fire alarm when and the entire elementary staff did a fantastic job getting our kids safely out of the building.
I want to offer a gigantic thank you to the Center Police and Fire Departments for responding so quickly to our situation and letting us know it was safe to re-enter the building. I also want to thank the Center Utility Crew for responding immediately and getting power turned on to the school in such a quick fashion.
The GE Johnson construction folks were also a big help, sending electricians over to help investigate and support our custodial staff in identifying and repairing problem.
Finally, a big thanks goes out to Rich Brandt and the entire custodial crew for reacting to the emergency so quickly, identifying the problem, and getting the school back up and running quickly. We could have lost a full day of instruction because of the issue but due to the great effort of many people we only lost 2 hours and had one heck of a realistic drill!
Continuing on the topic of Haskin Elementary School, the building experienced a mid-year review visit on Friday and our partners at Focal Point were extremely impressed with what they saw.
First I would like to report that Haskin’s mid-year NWEA assessment results showed that EVERY grade level met or exceeded their growth goals in EVERY subject area tested! In addition, many grade levels surpassed their end of year goals during their mid-year assessment! I have never seen such great mid-year NWEA results from a building!
Upon quickly walking through many Haskin classes on Friday, Focal Point staff were complimentary of the behavior Haskin students are displaying, of the way Teachers are clearly addressing the curriculum, and the way Teachers are engaging all their students in learning. One of the Focal Point consultants who had not been in the building since fall 2010 said it was like visiting a completely different school.
The Haskin staff held a meeting earlier this week where each grade level and department had the opportunity to celebrate the great things they see going on. As you can imagine, most grade levels had something nice to say about student achievement results. Some staff members reported that their students struggled quite a bit with behavior earlier in the year but this is much improved due to recent changes in discipline procedures. The Grade 2 staff reported that their end-of-year goal for sight words was 400. However, as of now the student with the lowest achievement has already mastered 433 words! They are, of course, re-assessing this goal.
Haskin Elementary Music Teacher Gabriel Swanson reported that at the end of first-quarter, only 10% of his students passed the new district music assessment. However, at the end of second-quarter 50% passed! Mr. Swanson said he has had a huge learning curve, moving from working with middle/high students in his former school to working with elementary student now. He credited receiving much support from administrators and Haskin staff members to help him make solid progress in his new role.
On a final note about Haskin I would like to welcome our new Fourth Grade Teacher Karen Carnahan to the staff. We thank you fro stepping in at mid-year and look forward to the good work you’ll do for our children!
I’m going to save my impressions of the Skoglund Middle School and Center High School mid-year progress evaluations until next week. I look forward to reporting this progress to you in next week’s edition.
Upon quickly walking through many Haskin classes on Friday, Focal Point staff were complimentary of the behavior Haskin students are displaying, of the way Teachers are clearly addressing the curriculum, and the way Teachers are engaging all their students in learning. One of the Focal Point consultants who had not been in the building since fall 2010 said it was like visiting a completely different school.
The Haskin staff held a meeting earlier this week where each grade level and department had the opportunity to celebrate the great things they see going on. As you can imagine, most grade levels had something nice to say about student achievement results. Some staff members reported that their students struggled quite a bit with behavior earlier in the year but this is much improved due to recent changes in discipline procedures. The Grade 2 staff reported that their end-of-year goal for sight words was 400. However, as of now the student with the lowest achievement has already mastered 433 words! They are, of course, re-assessing this goal.
Haskin Elementary Music Teacher Gabriel Swanson reported that at the end of first-quarter, only 10% of his students passed the new district music assessment. However, at the end of second-quarter 50% passed! Mr. Swanson said he has had a huge learning curve, moving from working with middle/high students in his former school to working with elementary student now. He credited receiving much support from administrators and Haskin staff members to help him make solid progress in his new role.
On a final note about Haskin I would like to welcome our new Fourth Grade Teacher Karen Carnahan to the staff. We thank you fro stepping in at mid-year and look forward to the good work you’ll do for our children!
I’m going to save my impressions of the Skoglund Middle School and Center High School mid-year progress evaluations until next week. I look forward to reporting this progress to you in next week’s edition.
The Past Week
This week I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in the district focusing on mid-year Building and Building Principal evaluations, as well as our construction project. I also attended the monthly San Luis Valley Superintendent Advisory Council meeting, as well as the Center Schools District Accountability and Center Schools Board of Education meetings.
Big Things We Are Working On
We are still in the throws of our annual financial audit. I believe Wall, Smith and Bateman staff members will be in the district this week to do some site work.
Work will continue this week on mid-year Building Principal evaluations as I will meet face to face with Kathy, Carrie and Kevin about their status.
It is also time once again for the Board of Education to conduct my annual Superintendent evaluation. Yuri Cendejas, our Board Secretary, will be contacting many staff members in the next few weeks for feedback regarding my performance.
Work will continue this week on mid-year Building Principal evaluations as I will meet face to face with Kathy, Carrie and Kevin about their status.
It is also time once again for the Board of Education to conduct my annual Superintendent evaluation. Yuri Cendejas, our Board Secretary, will be contacting many staff members in the next few weeks for feedback regarding my performance.
Construction News
On Wednesday I had a wonderful walkthrough of the construction site with our architects. We are in the process of making some key decisions about what the final appearance of the building will be on the inside. Our goal is to add some final “signature items” to the decor that people will refer to when describing what was accomplished with Center’s building project.
One of the most exciting aspects of my latest site visit was seeing the front of the library and front of the school wing unmasked for the first time. Our architects, at the request of community members, tied a few design features of our 1918 building to the outer skin and it was beautiful to see the new diamond shaped medallions for the first time. I have included pictures of this aspect of our current building in comparison to what the community will soon see on the new. The new medallions have not been cleaned yet, but they look great!
One of the most exciting aspects of my latest site visit was seeing the front of the library and front of the school wing unmasked for the first time. Our architects, at the request of community members, tied a few design features of our 1918 building to the outer skin and it was beautiful to see the new diamond shaped medallions for the first time. I have included pictures of this aspect of our current building in comparison to what the community will soon see on the new. The new medallions have not been cleaned yet, but they look great!
I would like to offer a chance for staff and community members to tour the building at this phase. I have blocked out some time on Thursday January 26th to conduct a 3:45 PM to 4:30 PM tour, as well as a 4:30 PM to 5 PM tour. If you would like to come along to see the progress send me an email at [email protected]. I should have room for 15 people at each time slot.
A big construction topic that is on the minds of many of our staff members is what our process for closing down school in May and moving into the new building will be like. May 15th will be our last day for staff to work this year and when people leave they will need to have the items they want moved to the new school boxed and labeled for the transition. The district will provide packing materials and instructions, and boxed items will be relocated to a staging area, then moved to their destination once we get official approval for occupancy. Our calendar committee may want to think about scheduling an extra day or two at the beginning of the year for people to set up their workspaces. Teachers won’t have to worry about furniture, as new items will already be installed in their classrooms when they arrive.
A big construction topic that is on the minds of many of our staff members is what our process for closing down school in May and moving into the new building will be like. May 15th will be our last day for staff to work this year and when people leave they will need to have the items they want moved to the new school boxed and labeled for the transition. The district will provide packing materials and instructions, and boxed items will be relocated to a staging area, then moved to their destination once we get official approval for occupancy. Our calendar committee may want to think about scheduling an extra day or two at the beginning of the year for people to set up their workspaces. Teachers won’t have to worry about furniture, as new items will already be installed in their classrooms when they arrive.
Our Core Beliefs
I want to share with you an experience I had when we conducted a quick walkthrough of Skoglund Middle School Science Teacher Lisa Renner’s class this past Friday.
Lisa was teaching a lesson on the difference between predation and competition among species. Her learning objective was excellent! It was posted for all the class to see, and every kid we asked knew what they were expected to learn that day. Lisa also had a clear way to measure what every student retained during the class period through her wonderfully communicated demonstration of learning. If that were not enough, while we watched Lisa teach we saw her using at least three different multiple student engagement strategies so EVERY child in the class was involved in thinking and learning.
I want to point out that Lisa’s actions on Friday clearly lined up with our district core beliefs.
Through engaging instruction Lisa lived up to our belief that it is our purpose is to increase academic achievement for ALL students.
Her quality teaching that held everyone accountable for learning showed that with our support ALL children can achieve at high levels.
The preparation she put into teaching this lessons clearly aligned with our belief that quality planning, instruction, and assessments lead to high student achievement for ALL.
Though Lisa had to perform with four observers in her class she proved there is NO excuse for poor quality instruction.
By holding every child responsible for what was being taught she was preparing ALL our students to be successful in life.
By holding herself and her students accountable to such a high standard of performance she lived up to her responsibility in relation to our belief that EVERYONE must be committed to the pursuit of excellence.
Thank you Lisa for modeling and living up to our core beliefs this past week!
Lisa was teaching a lesson on the difference between predation and competition among species. Her learning objective was excellent! It was posted for all the class to see, and every kid we asked knew what they were expected to learn that day. Lisa also had a clear way to measure what every student retained during the class period through her wonderfully communicated demonstration of learning. If that were not enough, while we watched Lisa teach we saw her using at least three different multiple student engagement strategies so EVERY child in the class was involved in thinking and learning.
I want to point out that Lisa’s actions on Friday clearly lined up with our district core beliefs.
Through engaging instruction Lisa lived up to our belief that it is our purpose is to increase academic achievement for ALL students.
Her quality teaching that held everyone accountable for learning showed that with our support ALL children can achieve at high levels.
The preparation she put into teaching this lessons clearly aligned with our belief that quality planning, instruction, and assessments lead to high student achievement for ALL.
Though Lisa had to perform with four observers in her class she proved there is NO excuse for poor quality instruction.
By holding every child responsible for what was being taught she was preparing ALL our students to be successful in life.
By holding herself and her students accountable to such a high standard of performance she lived up to her responsibility in relation to our belief that EVERYONE must be committed to the pursuit of excellence.
Thank you Lisa for modeling and living up to our core beliefs this past week!
The Week Ahead
Monday will be pretty darn busy as we finalize and submit our Unified Improvement Plan to CDE, work on audit items related to federal programs, attend a district health advisory committee meeting, and participate in a Haskin Elementary Building Leadership Team meeting.
We will be focusing on construction on Tuesday and Wednesday as we work on a plan for selling items we won’t need in the new facility, continue to finalize furniture purchase decisions, and conduct our weekly core construction team meeting.
Other big items for the week include conducting final mid-year evaluation meetings with Building Principals, participating in our monthly Monte Vista-Center Administrator Professional Learning Community meeting, and making a Denver and back trip on Friday to participate in the monthly Colorado Association of School Executives Legislative Committee meeting.
We will be focusing on construction on Tuesday and Wednesday as we work on a plan for selling items we won’t need in the new facility, continue to finalize furniture purchase decisions, and conduct our weekly core construction team meeting.
Other big items for the week include conducting final mid-year evaluation meetings with Building Principals, participating in our monthly Monte Vista-Center Administrator Professional Learning Community meeting, and making a Denver and back trip on Friday to participate in the monthly Colorado Association of School Executives Legislative Committee meeting.
Extra Points
Four of the last six times that my favorite NFL team the New England Patriots have played the Denver Broncos, the Broncos beat the Patriots and I had to endure a phone call or voice mail from our thirty year veteran Language Arts Teacher and Broncos season ticket holder Diane Parker.
In front of everyone in the district I just want to point out that I was big enough not to return such a call to Diane after the Bronco season ended last night.
It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done :-)
This being said I would like to add that I have really never been much of a Bronco fan. However, I very much enjoyed the wonderful run Tim Tebow led the team on this season and I actually found myself pulling for the guys in orange many times during Saturday’s game.
I may have to take a trip to a psychiatrist soon, but I think the real reason I found my emotions torn during the game was stated best by Elementary Library Technician Cheryl Garcia. At a staff meeting earlier this week she said watching Tim Tebow lead the Broncos into the playoffs against all odds, through hard work, courage and faith, helps us all believe we can do things we may not have believed we could.
I can certainly root for a team whose leader displays these characteristics. I also believe that is exactly what many of you are already doing here in the Center School District.
Thanks for once again listening and have a great week.
George
In front of everyone in the district I just want to point out that I was big enough not to return such a call to Diane after the Bronco season ended last night.
It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done :-)
This being said I would like to add that I have really never been much of a Bronco fan. However, I very much enjoyed the wonderful run Tim Tebow led the team on this season and I actually found myself pulling for the guys in orange many times during Saturday’s game.
I may have to take a trip to a psychiatrist soon, but I think the real reason I found my emotions torn during the game was stated best by Elementary Library Technician Cheryl Garcia. At a staff meeting earlier this week she said watching Tim Tebow lead the Broncos into the playoffs against all odds, through hard work, courage and faith, helps us all believe we can do things we may not have believed we could.
I can certainly root for a team whose leader displays these characteristics. I also believe that is exactly what many of you are already doing here in the Center School District.
Thanks for once again listening and have a great week.
George