Great Things Going One
I want to begin this week by thanking all Skoglund Middle School and Center High School staff members for the great job they did conducting our first ICAP day of the school year. On early release Wednesdays throughout the school year students in grades 6-12 have the opportunity to focus on their Individual Career and Academic Plans. Last week our kids began this process for 2014-15 by participating in ICAP cohort ice breakers, taking a survey to help them determine their areas of potential career interest, listening to a guest speaker who spoke about the importance of focusing on academics to prepare for the future, and completing activities aimed at developing personal plans to prepare each student for their life after high school.
After our early morning ICAP sessions on Wednesday all Center Schools teachers met in Professional Learning Communities for the purpose of sorting through student achievement data to become more familiar with the needs of each child and to help focus instruction at the level where it is most needed. During this process middle-high teachers
After our early morning ICAP sessions on Wednesday all Center Schools teachers met in Professional Learning Communities for the purpose of sorting through student achievement data to become more familiar with the needs of each child and to help focus instruction at the level where it is most needed. During this process middle-high teachers
supported math and language arts instruction by digging through fall NWEA results, while elementary folks worked across curricular lines to identify the needs of children the staff members share.
On Thursday afternoon outgoing Colorado State Board of Education representative Elaine Gantz Berman stopped by our district to visit about classroom instruction, and student health and nutrition services. Center board president Michael Lobato took her on a tour of the campus, shared details about our outstanding academic growth and increase in accreditation status, and had her meet with director of food service Dianna Valenzuela and district nurse Alice Burch about their areas of expertise. Elaine was on a quick tour of southern Colorado school districts and it was very exciting for us to have her stop in to see what we are doing.
On Thursday afternoon outgoing Colorado State Board of Education representative Elaine Gantz Berman stopped by our district to visit about classroom instruction, and student health and nutrition services. Center board president Michael Lobato took her on a tour of the campus, shared details about our outstanding academic growth and increase in accreditation status, and had her meet with director of food service Dianna Valenzuela and district nurse Alice Burch about their areas of expertise. Elaine was on a quick tour of southern Colorado school districts and it was very exciting for us to have her stop in to see what we are doing.
Big Things We Are Working On
In the past couple of weeks we have welcomed several full-year Americorps staff members to the school district. Happily, this particular batch of hires includes recent Center High School graduates John Marquez and Baily Corbin who will be working on after school enrichment and tutoring projects for the benefit of kids. I’ll take some time in the next few weeks to introduce the community to the rest of the folks we recently brought on board.
Though it doesn’t seem like such a big thing because it is not glamorous, I would like to once again highlight the great work our teachers and administrators do week in and week out to prepare to effectively instruct all of our children. Beginning each Thursday, through our school email system, I am able to observe our staff members submitting their lesson plans to their respective principals to be reviewed for alignment to the curriculum and overall instructional effectiveness. By the beginning of the next week I am also able to observe the feedback each teacher received from their principal about their plans, with this sometimes requiring them to make slight revisions. This procedure may not seem important to the general public but it is absolutely fundamental to ensuring our teachers prepare themselves to instruct our curriculum well, and that they have a plan for engaging each student in daily lessons and measuring whether or not they learned what was taught. Having travelled all over the state of Colorado, and even to some far reaches of the globe, I can tell you not many school systems place such an intense focus on weekly preparation for instruction. TI believe this process is a big reason why we have continued to see strong learning growth in the students under our care.
Though it doesn’t seem like such a big thing because it is not glamorous, I would like to once again highlight the great work our teachers and administrators do week in and week out to prepare to effectively instruct all of our children. Beginning each Thursday, through our school email system, I am able to observe our staff members submitting their lesson plans to their respective principals to be reviewed for alignment to the curriculum and overall instructional effectiveness. By the beginning of the next week I am also able to observe the feedback each teacher received from their principal about their plans, with this sometimes requiring them to make slight revisions. This procedure may not seem important to the general public but it is absolutely fundamental to ensuring our teachers prepare themselves to instruct our curriculum well, and that they have a plan for engaging each student in daily lessons and measuring whether or not they learned what was taught. Having travelled all over the state of Colorado, and even to some far reaches of the globe, I can tell you not many school systems place such an intense focus on weekly preparation for instruction. TI believe this process is a big reason why we have continued to see strong learning growth in the students under our care.
The Past Week
This past week I presented information about Center Schools’ accreditation status to the folks at the Kiwanis Club of Center, met with Alondra Chaparro about our Early Steps to School Success program, hosted Sargent superintendent of schools Steve Marantino to share with him some of the great ways we are implementing the requirements of Colorado’s new educator effectiveness law as it applies to teacher and administrator evaluations, was interviewed by Mr. Schoenfelder’s video productions students about recent board of education happenings, spent a few hours on a Facetime call with teachers and administrators from the Sheridan School District who wanted to learn from us about our school turnaround and district accreditation successes, and conducted many duties in preparation for our visit by state board of education member Elaine Gantz Berman.
The Week Ahead
Though I travelled on personal leave time, this weekend I have already worked on bundling payroll items for Betty Casanova, our director of finace. I also worked on this weekly communication, reviewed lesson plans and lesson plan feedback being offered by principals to teachers, and caught up on a ton of email related to my job. During the upcoming week I look forward to my first meeting with Center’s new town administrator Jane Berry, finalizing revisions to our federal programs application, and working with our director of finance on technology department budgeting issues. On Thursday I will be travelling to Denver with board president Michael Lobato to attend an event being held at the Colorado History Museum called “The Future of Learning in Colorado.” Michael and I were invited to this by the Colorado Department of Education and the good folks at the Colorado Workforce Development Council and hope that our attendance will help key us toward directions we might take Center Schools long into the future.
Extra Points
This past weekend I had the immense pleasure of travelling to Oklahoma City to cheer on my wife (our district school and public library director) Rebecca Reed as she attempted to complete her very first Iron Distance triathlon. An event of this magnitude requires a person to swim 2.4 miles in open water, ride a bike for 112 miles, then endure a 26.2 mile (marathon length) run. Many of you may remember that just a year ago Becky came to this event to support me as I tackled these distances all in one day for the first time. I have no doubt folks think we are crazy for attempting such endeavors. However, as I have aged I have come to the realization that the simple process of setting what seems to be an impossible goal, building and executing a workable plan to achieve that goal, and then reaping the reward of crossing the finish line is simply a great thing for a person to do (be it in their personal or professional life). Since spectating this event can take up the better part of 18 hours, I was also able to spend a lot of time while Becky was on the course contemplating just how tough Ironman is, spending quality time with my daughter, and knocking out a ton of work on my computer. I can’t tell all of you how proud I am of the effort Becky put into this, both during Saturday's event and especially during the past 20 weeks of intense training. To me this serves as a fine example of what our employees do in Center Schools day in and day out on behalf of our children. They set high but achievable goals for the kids. They develop outstanding plans, execute those plans with fidelity, and tweak them based on the continuous feedback they receive. Now, based on the Colorado Department of Education accreditation process, and more importantly the data we collect that shows our kids are going forth from Center Schools and starting on the path to successful lives, our staff members are reaping the rewards of this excellent effort. On Saturday evening Becky wore her Center Schools ICAP shirt when she crossed the finish line. How appropriate was that! Individual Career and Academic Planning is all about our students determining what they want out of life, setting high goals for themselves, and making a plan to get there. In a social media post before race day Becky said she thinks she would not have been ready for the race if it were not for me. Well, Becky, I am not always great at setting goals. But pestering you to follow through on your plan for success was a complete natural for me. It’s my job. It’s kind of what I do. I’m so glad I could do it for you!
Congratulations Rebecca Reed, YOU are an Iron Woman!
Take some well deserved time to rest, but then lets talk in the car on the way home and conjure up our next ridiculous endeavor.
Thank you everyone for listening once again and for all the support you have voiced for me recently.
George
Congratulations Rebecca Reed, YOU are an Iron Woman!
Take some well deserved time to rest, but then lets talk in the car on the way home and conjure up our next ridiculous endeavor.
Thank you everyone for listening once again and for all the support you have voiced for me recently.
George