Great Things Going On
Last week was Center High School Homecoming and I want to thank all the students and staff members for the great job they did promoting school spirit and honoring our past CHS graduates. Mr. Brandon Selby’s student council leaders planned a wonderful slate of spirit events including dress up days and a pep assembly, culminating with a wonderful parade held on Friday. I know that many students, parents, and class sponsors gave up a ton of their free time to work on parade floats late into each evening and I thank them for going the extra mile as usual.
Last Monday independent educational consultant Ted Knight came to Center Schools to work with with Skoglund Middle School principal Luis Murillo and Center High School principal Kevin Jones on best educational practices in regard to conducting classroom observations and offering feedback, supporting teacher lesson planning, aligning instruction to the new state assessment (PARCC), and using students achievement data to make important instructional decisions. Mr. Knight has been working with our secondary principals since 2010. During this visit we all had the opportunity to conduct numerous middle and high school classroom walkthrough observations where it was refreshing to hear from him that Skoglund Middle School and Center High School appear to still be headed in the right direction. Mr. Knight shared many positive comments about our wonderful staff and their commitment to instructional excellence. He also offered up several excellent coaching points that will lead us toward conversations with staff members aimed at instructional improvement throughout the rest of the school year.
As a result of this visit we would also like to recognize three of our new secondary level staff members who are off to a great start in their new roles in the Center School District. Stuart Church and Ashley Hodge make are our new middle and high school math teachers and Hannah Hays is our newest high school language arts teacher. Mr. Jones says they are all doing a great job following our core belief which states, “quality planning, instruction, and assessments lead to high achievement for ALL students.” All three teachers were given another round of intense walkthrough feedback on Monday and Ted Knight had a bunch of positive things to say about them. Most importantly, each took the instructional feedback offered and committed to using it to focus on further instructional improvement.
On Wednesday October 8th our K-5 students were given the opportunity to take a trip to a local pumpkin patch thanks to local farmers Jared and Steve Myers! Upon arrival our children were greeted by a field full of pumpkins just waiting to be picked. Each student was allowed to search the field for their perfect pumpkin and when they chose one they were to raise their hand so a volunteer could come and cut it from the vine. Haskin Elementary school 3-5 principal Sarah Vance reported the children were incredibly well behaved and extremely happy to acquire a pumpkin. She offered much thanks to the Myers family, Judy Lopez and her team of volunteers who helped arrange the trip, and to Mr. Ortega who planted each pumpkin seed by hand to help provide this amazing experience for children of the San Luis Valley.
Finally, I want to offer special thanks to Rebekah Marquez and Brenda Padilla, our Expelled and At-Risk Students Services Grant parent involvement staff, for the work they are doing encouraging Center Schools staff members to reach out and make positive contact to parents about their children. They have made this easier for teachers by creating a website that allows them to submit student information and details as to the great things each child is doing so letters with the great news can quickly be printed up and sent home to let parents know how their child is doing. School Districts tend to be pretty good at contacting parents when things are not going so well with their kids and this is a great way to remind families about the great things their children do at school every day.
Big Things We Are Working On
Last Wednesday evening Center School Board vice-president Yuri Cendejas and I attended a BOCES cost sharing brainstorming session in Alamosa. At this event we learned about ways the 14 SLV school district are working together to acquire and leverage grant dollars to improve classroom instruction, measure effectiveness of instruction, and to address the needs of some of the Valleys most challenging readers. We also discussed ways SLV BOCES member districts can participate in Colorado BOCES Association cooperative purchase programs to save dollars on things schools use every day. The highlight of the meeting was when SLV BOCES executive director Nita McAuliffe presented data showing the wonderful growth SLV special education students are making in reading thanks to the San Luis Valley’s expanded relationship with the Lindamood-Bell process that began at Haskin Elementary School. McAuliffe shared data that showed SLV special education students gaining greater than 5 percentage points in reading proficiency in the last year, while their math and writing scores are trending upward as well!
Many folks around town may be aware there are two board of education member recall movements currently underway. A group of citizens who call themselves the Center Committee for Truth and Transparency began circulating petitions to recall board members James Sanchez and Phil Varoz last Wednesday. Meanwhile, I understand both Sanchez and Varoz personally filed paperwork with the Saguache County Clerk to access petitions to recall board members Yuri Cendejas and Richie Barela. This will no doubt be quite a disruptive process in the community over the next several months, but is probably very necessary in terms of allowing the citizens of the Center School District to determine the future direction of the school system. I imagine any community member who would like to learn more about why all this is happening might be able to do so by reading several of my past issues of Keeping Our Focus (September 14 or October 5) or by attending the October 14th board of education meeting that has been moved to the Center Schools Auditorium because of the anticipation of a large crowd. That meeting begins at 8 PM.
The Past Week
On Monday I spent the better part of the day with independent consultant Ted Knight who was on campus to work directly with new Skoglund Middle School principal Luis Murillo and Center High School principal Kevin Jones on lesson plan feedback, classroom instruction feedback, analysis of student achievement data, and general issues related to becoming an outstanding principal. On Tuesday afternoon I was in Denver to chair the Colorado Safe Schools Resource Center advisory board meeting. I spent the day in the schools on Wednesday, and that evening I attended an SLV BOCES cost sharing meeting to explore ways to leverage resources and expertise with other San Luis Valley school districts. On Thursday and Friday I took personal leave time to prepare for and attend my son’s wedding.
The Week Ahead
On Monday I will be working on a lot of paperwork and items related to classified staff member evaluation processes. On Tuesday I will begin the day at the San Luis Valley Superintendent Advisory Council meeting in Alamosa. At these meetings we share information about educational opportunities around the Valley and we receive information from partners such as the Colorado Department of Education, Adams State University, and other local organizations. I will then return to Center for our October District Accountability Committee Meeting and end the day at our October Board of Education meeting. On Wednesday I will work in the office on post board meeting paperwork duties. On Thursday I have an important meeting with Century Link representatives to discuss the reliability of our district internet connection. There will be no school on Friday but Center Schools teachers will be joining many other Valley educators to meet at Sangre De Cristo Schools to share results and work on revising and validating quarterly assessments of the Colorado Sample Curriculum.
Extra Points
I want to take a moment this week to congratulate Center Post Dispatch reporter Teresa Benns on her receipt of the 2014 Jean Otto Friend of Freedom Award. The award honors the legacy of Jean Otto, a long-time editor and reader representative at the Rocky Mountain News who founded the Colorado Freedom of Information Center in 1987 and was a tireless advocate for First Amendment and freedom-of-information rights.
I understand Teresa was given this award because she and the Post-Dispatch have fought for many years to open governmental meetings and records in Center and Saguache County tot eh public. Post-Dispatch Publisher Jennifer Alonzo also was presented with the Friend of Freedom Award on Saturday for her work in this realm.
CFOIC President Steve Zansberg, a media law attorney whose firm is counsel for the Colorado Press Association, said Benns frequently contacts him and his partners with questions such as, “Do you think they’re breaking the law – again? Shouldn’t the public be entitled to see this document? Aren’t they required to hold that meeting in front of the people?”
Zansberg said, “we frequently find ourselves answering Yes to all her questions.’”
Having worked with Benns for many years, occasionally being on the unfortunate end of an article that has been embarrassing to me and/or the Center School District, and having been continually approached by her in search of information she needs to make sense of a community rumor or concern, I can say my respect and esteem for what she does has grown tremendously. I don’t always agree with Teresa. She doesn’t always get the facts 100 percent correct. However, I fear that if not for her the politics in our region would not be run in as transparent a way as they have been recently.
Democracy is a tricky thing. It needs watchdogs in the press such as Teresa Benns to work well.
Previous recipients of the Jean Otto Friend of Freedom Award include former Denver Post publisher Dean Singleton, Jeff Thomas and Pam Zubeck of The Gazette in Colorado Springs and the Ballantine family, owners of the Durango Herald.
This is quite an honor, Teresa. Congratulations!
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George
I understand Teresa was given this award because she and the Post-Dispatch have fought for many years to open governmental meetings and records in Center and Saguache County tot eh public. Post-Dispatch Publisher Jennifer Alonzo also was presented with the Friend of Freedom Award on Saturday for her work in this realm.
CFOIC President Steve Zansberg, a media law attorney whose firm is counsel for the Colorado Press Association, said Benns frequently contacts him and his partners with questions such as, “Do you think they’re breaking the law – again? Shouldn’t the public be entitled to see this document? Aren’t they required to hold that meeting in front of the people?”
Zansberg said, “we frequently find ourselves answering Yes to all her questions.’”
Having worked with Benns for many years, occasionally being on the unfortunate end of an article that has been embarrassing to me and/or the Center School District, and having been continually approached by her in search of information she needs to make sense of a community rumor or concern, I can say my respect and esteem for what she does has grown tremendously. I don’t always agree with Teresa. She doesn’t always get the facts 100 percent correct. However, I fear that if not for her the politics in our region would not be run in as transparent a way as they have been recently.
Democracy is a tricky thing. It needs watchdogs in the press such as Teresa Benns to work well.
Previous recipients of the Jean Otto Friend of Freedom Award include former Denver Post publisher Dean Singleton, Jeff Thomas and Pam Zubeck of The Gazette in Colorado Springs and the Ballantine family, owners of the Durango Herald.
This is quite an honor, Teresa. Congratulations!
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George