Great Things Going On Now
Last week I had the pleasure of attending several elementary grade level team meetings where I observed teachers and administrators implementing Haskin’s new Response to Intervention process. At these meetings staff members are identifying student concerns (either those struggling to perform or behave at grade level, or those who appear to be performing far beyond grade level) and taking action to monitor or intervene in their education. I want to give a great big thank you to Haskin parent Dolores Neuerberg who is graciously volunteering her time to support this process by keeping track of the entire process for the teachers.
I would also like to offer give kudos to our building leaders who have already conducted 77 walkthrough observations during the first quarter and who continue to review teacher lesson plans on a weekly basis. From my standpoint it is fascinating to see the rich discussion our teachers and building leaders are having regarding these processes. I often observe teachers professionally seeking clarification regarding their lesson plan reviews or walkthrough feedback, and I often observe our administrators responding to these requests in supportive ways. I believe the culture of feedback and improvement we continue to create will greatly benefit our kids in the form of improved classroom instruction.
I would also like to take a moment to thank Melissa Garcia for the great work she has done to ensure we are conducting Lindamood-Bell interventions during and after school as is required by our agreement with LMB. Though our scheduling process is difficult, she is ensuring the kids who need interventions are properly grouped and she is supporting our LMB interventionists with continuous feedback and tips on how to be more effective for kids.
I would also like to offer give kudos to our building leaders who have already conducted 77 walkthrough observations during the first quarter and who continue to review teacher lesson plans on a weekly basis. From my standpoint it is fascinating to see the rich discussion our teachers and building leaders are having regarding these processes. I often observe teachers professionally seeking clarification regarding their lesson plan reviews or walkthrough feedback, and I often observe our administrators responding to these requests in supportive ways. I believe the culture of feedback and improvement we continue to create will greatly benefit our kids in the form of improved classroom instruction.
I would also like to take a moment to thank Melissa Garcia for the great work she has done to ensure we are conducting Lindamood-Bell interventions during and after school as is required by our agreement with LMB. Though our scheduling process is difficult, she is ensuring the kids who need interventions are properly grouped and she is supporting our LMB interventionists with continuous feedback and tips on how to be more effective for kids.
A gigantic thank you also goes out to the Saguache County Board of Commissioners who met this past Thursday to reconsider their decision regarding Secure Rural Schools funding. At their meeting the BOCC heard a presentation from Jarrod Biggs from the Department of Local Affairs who explained how Saguache can take SRS funding, pass dollars on to school districts, and leverage that into a great PILT (payment in lieu of taxes) payment next year that will benefit the Saguache County general fund. I am attaching this link to a Valley Courier article by Lauren Krizansky that explains the situation a whole lot better than I can. You can access this article here: The end result for Center Schools is that we anticipate receiving the SRS allotment that we had originally budgeted and we will likely receive more SRS dollars from the County for its current fiscal year. This has turned into a wonderful win-win situation for the County and the Saguache County School Districts.
If all the news above isn’t exciting enough, Center Schools recently learned that its district accreditation rating has improved from “Accredited with a Priority Improvement Plan” to “Accredited with an Improvement Plan.” Center’s 2012 one-year performance framework score improved 8.8 points over its 2011 three-year performance framework score. This is exciting news for the district because moving up to “Accredited with an Improvement Plan” moves Center out of the State’s five year corrective action cycle that would ultimately have caused the district to lose authority to make education program decisions locally.
If all the news above isn’t exciting enough, Center Schools recently learned that its district accreditation rating has improved from “Accredited with a Priority Improvement Plan” to “Accredited with an Improvement Plan.” Center’s 2012 one-year performance framework score improved 8.8 points over its 2011 three-year performance framework score. This is exciting news for the district because moving up to “Accredited with an Improvement Plan” moves Center out of the State’s five year corrective action cycle that would ultimately have caused the district to lose authority to make education program decisions locally.
The Past Week
Last Monday I got to meet with Kathy Gebhardt, the lead attorney in the Lobato v Colorado lawsuit. Among other things I had the pleasure of taking her on a tour of our new PK-12 facility. Kathy is one of the special people in the state that made our new building possible. Her work in the Giardino v Colorado school facilities lawsuit ultimately led to the passage of the Buidling Excellent Schools Today legislation that made our project possible.
On Tuesday I had a marathon day of meetings including an SLV Superintendent Advisory Council meeting, a Boettcher Teacher Program meeting, a District Accountability Committee meeting, and a Board of Education meeting to wrap up the day.
On Wednesday we had an Administrative Team meeting where we focused on lesson plan feedback, walkthrough processes, and timely communication. During our session principals from Las Animas middle/high and elementary school joined us to pick our brains about implementing the Focal Point curriculum and supporting teachers in planning and instruction. They even joined in with us while we conducted some classroom walkthroughs in the afternoon.
On Thursday I participated in a few classroom walkthroughs, tackled a ton of paperwork, and met with representatives from Adams State University and the Boetccher teacher program to prepare for offering some of our teachers as Boettcher Teacher Program mentors in the coming year.
On Friday I focused on Race to the top of the Valley work, addressing purchasing and reimbursement issues and preparing for an SLV superintendent PLVC session that will take place at the CASE superintendent conference in Springs this coming week.
On Tuesday I had a marathon day of meetings including an SLV Superintendent Advisory Council meeting, a Boettcher Teacher Program meeting, a District Accountability Committee meeting, and a Board of Education meeting to wrap up the day.
On Wednesday we had an Administrative Team meeting where we focused on lesson plan feedback, walkthrough processes, and timely communication. During our session principals from Las Animas middle/high and elementary school joined us to pick our brains about implementing the Focal Point curriculum and supporting teachers in planning and instruction. They even joined in with us while we conducted some classroom walkthroughs in the afternoon.
On Thursday I participated in a few classroom walkthroughs, tackled a ton of paperwork, and met with representatives from Adams State University and the Boetccher teacher program to prepare for offering some of our teachers as Boettcher Teacher Program mentors in the coming year.
On Friday I focused on Race to the top of the Valley work, addressing purchasing and reimbursement issues and preparing for an SLV superintendent PLVC session that will take place at the CASE superintendent conference in Springs this coming week.
Big Things We Are Working On
This week the San Luis Valley Superintendent Advisory Council made the decision to conduct the work necessary to prepare a Race to the Top District/Consortium grant. This opportunity could infuse San Luis Valley school districts with as much as 20 million dollars to support the process of adopting common core standards and assessments, improving student college and career readiness, aligning data systems that measure student learning, recruiting-developing-rewarding and retaining quality educators, conducting school turnaround initiatives, and focusing on personalized learning for all students. CDE and the Colorado Legacy Foundation will be supporting our grant writing efforts by assigning several people to support the process. I will be the “point person” from the San Luis Valley on this effort and will spend much of my weekly RtttV time during the next two months on this. This work will include phone conference meetings each Wednesday to communicate about the various parts of our grant writing effort.
Construction News
We are hoping to get a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy on Wednesday that will allow us to move items into our remodeled Adult Education/Vocational facility. We are also expecting our commons courtyard to have a concrete surface in time for our annual open house event this coming Wednesday and our cornerstone laying ceremony that will take place this Saturday. Our varsity gymnasium floor is in the process of being laid and we are told we should be able to use this facility by early October.
I have a light schedule early in the week during which I hope to work to organize my office, the auditorium, and the administration building lobby. As our only open facility at one time last summer we collected a lot of items that could not be stored anywhere else.
I have a light schedule early in the week during which I hope to work to organize my office, the auditorium, and the administration building lobby. As our only open facility at one time last summer we collected a lot of items that could not be stored anywhere else.
The Week Ahead
On Wednesday I’ll attend the now weekly Race to the Top District/Consortium grant writing meeting as well as our bi-weekly core construction meeting.
On Wednesday evening we’ll hold our annual open house event. This will kick off at 6 PM with a barbeque/potluck dinner in the commons, an opportunity for parents to see their student’s classrooms from 6:30 to 7 PM, and door prize drawings and a special performance of a melodramatic musical by the San Luis Valley Community Theater from 7 to 8:30 PM in the auditorium. Becky and I will perform in the melodrama, thank goodness only in a supporting roles, as Miz' Ida and Mayor Haggle.
On Thursday and Friday I will be attending the state superintendent conference in Colorado Springs.
On Saturday we will be holding a cornerstone and time capsule placement ceremony just outside our new commons area. The good folks from the Masonic Lodge in Center will be guiding the ceremony. The whole community is encouraged to attend!
Thanks for listening once again. Have a great week!
George
On Wednesday evening we’ll hold our annual open house event. This will kick off at 6 PM with a barbeque/potluck dinner in the commons, an opportunity for parents to see their student’s classrooms from 6:30 to 7 PM, and door prize drawings and a special performance of a melodramatic musical by the San Luis Valley Community Theater from 7 to 8:30 PM in the auditorium. Becky and I will perform in the melodrama, thank goodness only in a supporting roles, as Miz' Ida and Mayor Haggle.
On Thursday and Friday I will be attending the state superintendent conference in Colorado Springs.
On Saturday we will be holding a cornerstone and time capsule placement ceremony just outside our new commons area. The good folks from the Masonic Lodge in Center will be guiding the ceremony. The whole community is encouraged to attend!
Thanks for listening once again. Have a great week!
George