Great Things Going On
It was quite the busy week as Center Schools staff members had ample opportunity to focus on improving classroom instruction in many ways. It began on Monday with a site visit from the administrative team of Ellicott Schools. Our friends from the eastern plains came to Center to share what they know about using curriculum, planning for instruction, and how to support teachers toward improving instruction. During a round table discussion session our building leaders engaged with Ellicott’s folks to discuss the things we do in Center that have been most impactful toward increasing student achievement. Then on Monday afternoon our principals took their principals along on routine classroom walkthroughs to show the great work our teachers are doing and to share with them how we offer feedback aimed at making each teacher better.
This theme continued on Tuesday and Center High School principal Kevin Jones and Skoglund Middle School principal Carrie Zimmerman trekked to Del Norte Schools to meet and share the same concepts with principals from all over the San Luis Valley. The simple act of conducting a classroom walkthrough with a colleague, then professionally discussing what feedback should be offered to the teacher afterward, hones the skills of each instructional leader and creates a level of consistency much needed by teachers.
On Wednesday we continued our focus on improving our teaching as we conducted instructional walkthroughs again, this time with Center Schools staff members. On this day Center Schools teachers Daniel Newmyer, Scott Poole, Colleen Hurst, Jessica Stevens, Jan Vigil, Quinn Harmon, Zoraya Vazquez, Ashley Lane, Andrew Hawkins, and Lauren McEvoy each got to spend an hour visiting classrooms with building administrators. Having conducted many instructional visits as an administrator myself, it never ceases to amaze me just how much better teachers can be at picking out simple ways to improve lessons. Additionally, I can’t tell you how many of the teachers who went around on these observation walks also came back with ideas as to how they would improve their own instruction when they returned to their classroom. The culture we have created where teachers and administrators can continually think about how they can do what they do better is simply amazing, and the benefit of all of this goes directly to our kids through improved learning opportunities.
On Wednesday we continued our focus on improving our teaching as we conducted instructional walkthroughs again, this time with Center Schools staff members. On this day Center Schools teachers Daniel Newmyer, Scott Poole, Colleen Hurst, Jessica Stevens, Jan Vigil, Quinn Harmon, Zoraya Vazquez, Ashley Lane, Andrew Hawkins, and Lauren McEvoy each got to spend an hour visiting classrooms with building administrators. Having conducted many instructional visits as an administrator myself, it never ceases to amaze me just how much better teachers can be at picking out simple ways to improve lessons. Additionally, I can’t tell you how many of the teachers who went around on these observation walks also came back with ideas as to how they would improve their own instruction when they returned to their classroom. The culture we have created where teachers and administrators can continually think about how they can do what they do better is simply amazing, and the benefit of all of this goes directly to our kids through improved learning opportunities.
Finally, on Friday our building leaders attended an all San Luis Valley administrator PLC at the BOCES in Alamosa. At this session they worked with their Valley colleagues to gain a better and more consistent understanding about how to rate teachers on the new statewide teacher evaluation rubric. I attended the session and say Haskin Elementary School principals Kathy Kulp and Sarah Vance doing a great job facilitating group discussion. Because they work in Center they both already have two years experience using the new teacher evaluation tool.
While we were focusing on improving our instruction we also spent a great part of our week learning and reinforcing what we know about the importance of offering our kids the opportunity to move and reenergize while we teach them. We did this by having a bunch of our teachers participate in Get Moving training on Monday afternoon. Get Moving teaches that students learn best when they have opportunities to get their blood flowing through the use of occasional “brain breaks” that require them to periodically refocus their energy and increase their heart rate. If we were all to reflect how we best concentrate over long periods of time, most of us would come to the conclusion that getting up and moving around once in a while helps us to burn off some steam, and refocus our mental efforts on the task at hand. Kids are no different and the Get Moving program simply aims at giving teachers some effective tools to offer such physical activities in a way that enhances their learning as opposed to taking away from it.
Additionally, several Center Schools employees followed Monday’s training up by also attending the Healthy Schools, Healthy Kids seminar that was offered in Alamosa on Tuesday. PE teachers Andrew Hawkins, Annie Rice, and Lee Flood attended this session along with counselor Katrina Ruggles and Americorps Vista worker Courtney Lancaster through the University of Colorado at Boulder. At the event participants got to hear the research behind keeping kids moving and helping them to make good food choices. They also got to learn from each other about how to ensure all students get the opportunity to become active physically in school through PE programs, thoughtful recess activities, and the use of motion activities in core subject classrooms. Several Center Schools staff members took the lead when it came to presenting some of these sessions, including Mr. Hawkins and Mrs. Ruggles.
Big Things We Are Working On
At its regular October meeting last Tuesday the Center Schools Board of Education made the decision to purchase a residential structure for a number of reasons. On one hand, having an actual house for Center High School vocational building trades students to work on and improve will give each of them real world opportunities to engage in the tasks they are learning through the program they are enrolled. Additionally, by having the district own a residence we are hopeful we will be able to continue luring Americorps teams and Americorps Vista workers to support the work we are doing in Center. We estimate the value of a team of Americorps workers, if they were to stay in Center for an entire year, to be at $240,000 worth of free labor. We currently have five Americorps Vista workers serving for this entire school year in the Center School District, four of which will be living in the newly purchased house to start with. Because of their higher level of education and training, their estimated value to the school district can be placed at $190,000 for the year. Americorps teams and Vista workers support the Center School district by helping us to establish new programs, apply for much needed grant dollars, train teachers in new techniques (such as Get Moving), offer student enrichment and wellness programs, and support students toward the achievement of their postsecondary goals. In fact, just this spring Americorps Vista workers helped us to secure a $450,000 Expelled and At-Risk Student Services (EARSS) grant that will allow us to meet the needs of many of our most challenging students. The six-bedroom house has been purchased for the price it was appraised at, roughly $76,000. We are hoping by simply using the house to continue luring such valuable human resources to the district will have been worth the investment. However, we also suspect that if the vocational building trades program does a great job of fixing it up, the district will end up with a resource that is far more valuable than the money it originally invested in it.
The Past Week
On Monday I spent my time participating in the Center-Ellicott administrative knowledge sharing session. I also attended the Get Moving training that was offered to teachers after school. On Tuesday I started my day that the Healthy Schools, Healthy Students event, then attended the San Luis Valley Superintendent Advisory Council meeting, then returned to Center for our monthly board of education meeting. On Wednesday I guided five hours of instructional walks-classroom visits, and spent much of the evening and early morning on Thursday communicating the results of these visits to the teachers we dropped in on. Thursday allowed for me ample opportunity to catch up on a lot of paperwork, while on Friday I conducted Race to the top of the Valley duties while attending the All Valley Principal PLC session in Alamosa.
The Week Ahead
This Monday I have the pleasure of presenting to Katrina Ruggles’ Choices class about the process of goal setting. In the evening I will be attending the Kiwanis officer installation banquet while also running over to the Town and Country meeting to present information about Amendment 66. On Tuesday I will be in Denver for a CASE leadership development committee meeting. On Wednesday the folks from the Colorado Legacy Foundation will be conducting a site visit in Center regarding our Extended Learning Opportunities grant that is helping us place additional iPads in student hands. On Thursday I will likely work on October payroll even though it is Fall Break. On Friday I will fly to New Delhi, India to participate in the Global Education Leaders Program bi-annual gathering.
Extra Points
In September the Board of Education of the Center School District passed a resolution in favor of Amendment 66 by a 5-0 vote. Amendment 66 is a proposal currently in front of Colorado’s voters asking to generate nearly 1 billion dollars in new revenue from taxpayers to provide funding to implement reforms already put in place by the Colorado General Assembly, as well as a slate of new initiatives established through the passage of SB 13-213.
Based on an analysis of San Luis Valley Council of Governments demographic data, Amendment 66 will cause SLV taxpayers to contribute an additional $1.5 million to the state coffers through an income tax increase. In return the 14 school districts in the San Luis Valley will receive and extra $15 million annually to operate schools. The median household income in the Center School District is $33,672. This makes the average tax increase less than $50 per year per household, depending on where these households land after income deductions on their tax returns.
Total additional funding for the Center School District alone will be $1.76 million per year, increasing per pupil revenues from $7,524 to $9,953 per student.
The Center Schools Board of Education declared support for the measure, citing the Lobato v Colorado costing out study that concluded Colorado underfunds its K-12 education programs by 2.5 to 4.5 billion dollars, and because Center Schools is currently operating on $800,000 less state funding per year than it did in 2008-09.
New reforms that will be put in place due to the passage of Amendment 66 include eliminating the current cost of living factor (a positive thing for rural schools with low property wealth like Center), allocating more dollars for at risk children (such as English Language Learners, Special Education students, and student who qualify for free or reduced lunch due to family poverty, another benefit to Center), fully funding all day Kindergarten, fully funding preschool for all at-risk children, pumping nearly half a billion new dollars into the Building Excellent Schools Today program, and significantly increasing funding for Special Education and Gifted and Talented programs.
The Center Schools Board of Education says it will likely invest extra funding dollars received if 66 passes in an effort to retain the many highly qualified staff members it has recently acquired and developed, as well as by hiring additional ones to meet the needs of kids by reducing growing class sizes, by keeping staff members highly trained in newly learned instructional processes including the continual training of new staff members, by offering extended day and extended year instruction for all students who need it, by continuing to invest in up to date instructional technology for the benefit of student learning, by setting aside the dollars necessary to properly maintain its brand new facility, and by finally building sufficient reserves for the district to prepare for the next economic rainy day.
The primary argument against providing additional revenues to support schools being voiced is that simply throwing money at the problems does not work. However, the Center Schools Board of Education cites how it was recently able to raise the accreditation status of Haskin Elementary School from Turnaround, the lowest possible rating in the state, to Performing, the highest possible rating in the state, thanks to an infusion of 1.5 million dollars through a federal turnaround schools grant.
George
Based on an analysis of San Luis Valley Council of Governments demographic data, Amendment 66 will cause SLV taxpayers to contribute an additional $1.5 million to the state coffers through an income tax increase. In return the 14 school districts in the San Luis Valley will receive and extra $15 million annually to operate schools. The median household income in the Center School District is $33,672. This makes the average tax increase less than $50 per year per household, depending on where these households land after income deductions on their tax returns.
Total additional funding for the Center School District alone will be $1.76 million per year, increasing per pupil revenues from $7,524 to $9,953 per student.
The Center Schools Board of Education declared support for the measure, citing the Lobato v Colorado costing out study that concluded Colorado underfunds its K-12 education programs by 2.5 to 4.5 billion dollars, and because Center Schools is currently operating on $800,000 less state funding per year than it did in 2008-09.
New reforms that will be put in place due to the passage of Amendment 66 include eliminating the current cost of living factor (a positive thing for rural schools with low property wealth like Center), allocating more dollars for at risk children (such as English Language Learners, Special Education students, and student who qualify for free or reduced lunch due to family poverty, another benefit to Center), fully funding all day Kindergarten, fully funding preschool for all at-risk children, pumping nearly half a billion new dollars into the Building Excellent Schools Today program, and significantly increasing funding for Special Education and Gifted and Talented programs.
The Center Schools Board of Education says it will likely invest extra funding dollars received if 66 passes in an effort to retain the many highly qualified staff members it has recently acquired and developed, as well as by hiring additional ones to meet the needs of kids by reducing growing class sizes, by keeping staff members highly trained in newly learned instructional processes including the continual training of new staff members, by offering extended day and extended year instruction for all students who need it, by continuing to invest in up to date instructional technology for the benefit of student learning, by setting aside the dollars necessary to properly maintain its brand new facility, and by finally building sufficient reserves for the district to prepare for the next economic rainy day.
The primary argument against providing additional revenues to support schools being voiced is that simply throwing money at the problems does not work. However, the Center Schools Board of Education cites how it was recently able to raise the accreditation status of Haskin Elementary School from Turnaround, the lowest possible rating in the state, to Performing, the highest possible rating in the state, thanks to an infusion of 1.5 million dollars through a federal turnaround schools grant.
George