Echoes from Cañon
Our Mission
The Cañon City School District is future-focused, providing innovative educational opportunities to successfully prepare all students to meet any challenge they may face.
The Cañon City School District is future-focused, providing innovative educational opportunities to successfully prepare all students to meet any challenge they may face.
Our Core Beliefs
1. We meet the social-emotional needs of all students, putting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs before Bloom’s Taxonomy.
2. We believe learning growth matters most, requires risk-taking, and the work we do in our schools has the greatest impact on this.
3. We’re future-focused, believing the development of certain traits and skills will best prepare our students for ever-changing careers.
4. We emphasize what is good for kids over the needs and comfort of adults.
1. We meet the social-emotional needs of all students, putting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs before Bloom’s Taxonomy.
2. We believe learning growth matters most, requires risk-taking, and the work we do in our schools has the greatest impact on this.
3. We’re future-focused, believing the development of certain traits and skills will best prepare our students for ever-changing careers.
4. We emphasize what is good for kids over the needs and comfort of adults.
Our Core Beliefs in Action
Board Secretary-Treasurer Robin Reeser honored Lloyd Harwood and Larry Oddo at our All-Staff Kickoff meeting.
At our annual All-Staff Kickoff meeting on Monday, August 12th, Lloyd Harwood and Larry Oddo were honored for their eight-years of service on our Board of Education. Board Secretary-Treasurer Robin Reeser shared these comments about their work:
Lloyd Harwood is wrapping up his eighth year of service on the Cañon City Board of Education. He began service with the goal of positively transforming Cañon City High School and improving the condition of facilities throughout the district. Though during the first four years of his work he was faced with the daunting task of cutting the budget year after year due to the imposition of the Negative Factor, Lloyd's advocacy for focusing on people and valued programs helped the district to maintain workable classroom populations and sustain the best performing arts programs in the stats.
Thanks to his four-year participation on the Cañon 2020 visioning committee, and his desire to see planned changes through, Cañon City High School is now a career pathways school, offering rigorous, relevant, and relationship-based instruction focused on everchanging career opportunties. In fact, this work has been so impactful that the Colorado Education Initiative declared CCHS an Exemplar High School, one to be watched, visited, and learned from by everyone in the state! Additionally, thanks to Mr. Harwood’s persistent legislative advocacy aimed at expanding funding for Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today program, funding was available to award Cañon City Schools grants to significantly upgrade five of its campuses, completely replace a structurally damaged elementary, and to remodel and renovate a beloved structure on the Cañon City Middle School campus. Between BEST and local taxpayer contributions, the total value of these improvements amounts to just under $70 million!
Lloyd Harwood is wrapping up his eighth year of service on the Cañon City Board of Education. He began service with the goal of positively transforming Cañon City High School and improving the condition of facilities throughout the district. Though during the first four years of his work he was faced with the daunting task of cutting the budget year after year due to the imposition of the Negative Factor, Lloyd's advocacy for focusing on people and valued programs helped the district to maintain workable classroom populations and sustain the best performing arts programs in the stats.
Thanks to his four-year participation on the Cañon 2020 visioning committee, and his desire to see planned changes through, Cañon City High School is now a career pathways school, offering rigorous, relevant, and relationship-based instruction focused on everchanging career opportunties. In fact, this work has been so impactful that the Colorado Education Initiative declared CCHS an Exemplar High School, one to be watched, visited, and learned from by everyone in the state! Additionally, thanks to Mr. Harwood’s persistent legislative advocacy aimed at expanding funding for Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today program, funding was available to award Cañon City Schools grants to significantly upgrade five of its campuses, completely replace a structurally damaged elementary, and to remodel and renovate a beloved structure on the Cañon City Middle School campus. Between BEST and local taxpayer contributions, the total value of these improvements amounts to just under $70 million!
Board Treasurer Shad Johnson presented keynote remarks to our entire staff.
Larry Oddo is also wrapping up his eighth year of service on the Cañon City Board of Education. For the past four years, he has filled the role of board president.
A one-time accountant who is now a valued community business operator, during his first four years of service to the Board Mr. Oddo’s talent was instrumental to our navigation of the imposition of Negative Factor budget cuts related to the Great Recession. Thanks to his guidance, Cañon City Schools retained its focus on providing programs most valued by the community while also retaining the great people needed to effectively educate our students. That we survived this difficult period of time with manageable classroom populations, strong arts programs, and some of the best vocational education opportunties students can receive in the state, is a testament to Larry's personal vision.
In the past several years Mr. Oddo was instrumental in the success of both an override and bond question that provided desperately needed funds to implement a one-to-one technology initiative, upgrade five school campuses, replace or remodel two aging school facilities, and improve compensation levels for all district employees.
While participating in annual salary negotiations in Spring 2016, Mr. Oddo's made a personal declaration that the highest priority of the district ought to be to make up the six experience steps that had to be frozen during the Great Recession. Since then, this dream has been accomplished, and thanks to his deep involvement and understanding of our annual budget, this year for the first time in memory every employee in the school district now has access to a basic health insurance plan premium covered entirely by the school district!
On a final note about Larry and Lloyd, if the most important thing a school district can do is to be successful according to its state's measure for accreditation, in our case our District Performance Framework rating, then Lloyd and Larry can be deemed as successful as any other individual board members in the history of Colorado.
They have been the core members of a governance team that took the Cañon City School District from an Accredited on Priority Improvement rating in 2011, and on the state's accountability clock facing a possible takeover by CDE, to a fully accredited rating for the past four years running. We know of only three school districts in the entire state that have made this much improvement!
What’s even more impressive is their willingness to look beyond District Performance Framework and toward a future guided by the implementation of instructional pillars, the codifying of core beliefs, and the development of the key traits and skills we all know our children need to be successful no matter what they face in life.
For many years our motto has been Learning For Life. Larry and Lloyd have, perhaps, done more than any other individuals in our community to make this a reality.
A one-time accountant who is now a valued community business operator, during his first four years of service to the Board Mr. Oddo’s talent was instrumental to our navigation of the imposition of Negative Factor budget cuts related to the Great Recession. Thanks to his guidance, Cañon City Schools retained its focus on providing programs most valued by the community while also retaining the great people needed to effectively educate our students. That we survived this difficult period of time with manageable classroom populations, strong arts programs, and some of the best vocational education opportunties students can receive in the state, is a testament to Larry's personal vision.
In the past several years Mr. Oddo was instrumental in the success of both an override and bond question that provided desperately needed funds to implement a one-to-one technology initiative, upgrade five school campuses, replace or remodel two aging school facilities, and improve compensation levels for all district employees.
While participating in annual salary negotiations in Spring 2016, Mr. Oddo's made a personal declaration that the highest priority of the district ought to be to make up the six experience steps that had to be frozen during the Great Recession. Since then, this dream has been accomplished, and thanks to his deep involvement and understanding of our annual budget, this year for the first time in memory every employee in the school district now has access to a basic health insurance plan premium covered entirely by the school district!
On a final note about Larry and Lloyd, if the most important thing a school district can do is to be successful according to its state's measure for accreditation, in our case our District Performance Framework rating, then Lloyd and Larry can be deemed as successful as any other individual board members in the history of Colorado.
They have been the core members of a governance team that took the Cañon City School District from an Accredited on Priority Improvement rating in 2011, and on the state's accountability clock facing a possible takeover by CDE, to a fully accredited rating for the past four years running. We know of only three school districts in the entire state that have made this much improvement!
What’s even more impressive is their willingness to look beyond District Performance Framework and toward a future guided by the implementation of instructional pillars, the codifying of core beliefs, and the development of the key traits and skills we all know our children need to be successful no matter what they face in life.
For many years our motto has been Learning For Life. Larry and Lloyd have, perhaps, done more than any other individuals in our community to make this a reality.
Our Future Focus
This is one site under consideration to house a new preschool program. Located on the CCHS campus, this would allow high school students in Early Childhood classes to practice what they are learning and earn college credit.
As a result of the passage of the Colorado full-day kindergarten funding program, dollars once allocated to Full-Day Kindergarten ECARE have been distributed to school districts and early childhood councils to support expanded preschool opportunties. Cañon City has been awarded 87 slots, most of which will filter into our current preschool system. However, Cañon City Schools has an opportunity to open as many as two district-based preschool programs. Several of our schools have expressed interest in supporting this effort and we are in the process of making plans to open some sites as early as Fall 2020. We also view this as an opportunity to attract and retain staff, having high-quality childcare based within the school district.
Effective this school year, standards for being placed on the Cañon City High School honor have been changed per board of education approval. They will be as follows:
Gold Honor Roll: 4.0 GPA or higher, Silver Honor Roll: 3.7 to 3.99 GPA, and Bronze Honor Roll: 3.3 to 3.69 GPA
This change was predicated on the need for Cañon City High School to maintain a competitive reputation among 4-year colleges and universities, as well as better reflecting the impact of weighted grades on student transcripts. These changes continue our commitment to rigor and relevance, recognize more clearly the academic success of our students, and we believe they will foster a culture of hard work and achievement.
Effective this school year, standards for being placed on the Cañon City High School honor have been changed per board of education approval. They will be as follows:
Gold Honor Roll: 4.0 GPA or higher, Silver Honor Roll: 3.7 to 3.99 GPA, and Bronze Honor Roll: 3.3 to 3.69 GPA
This change was predicated on the need for Cañon City High School to maintain a competitive reputation among 4-year colleges and universities, as well as better reflecting the impact of weighted grades on student transcripts. These changes continue our commitment to rigor and relevance, recognize more clearly the academic success of our students, and we believe they will foster a culture of hard work and achievement.
Override Progress
The biggest news on this front is our hope that our Chromebook order for 6th through 9th graders will arrive within the next few days so they can be prepared for distribution during the first week of school. We have been told they shipped on August 8th.
Bond Progress
As of now, this is all that remains of the 1925 circa CCMS gymnasium/auditorium.
The circa 1925 Cañon City Middle School gymnasium and auditorium were demolished last week, then a lot of material was lifted onto the circa 1970 gym roof in preparation for re-roofing, HVAC system replacement, and installation of new skylights. We also believe our asbestos clean up project is finally done, as we are just waiting on air quality test results so we can get back to excavating the east side of the construction project. Related to the CCMS project, we are also now occupying our new district grounds shop and Computer Recycling/A+ classroom. The district will formally celebrate this milestone on Monday, August 26th.
The great news about the Washington project is that there really is no big news. This means all is proceeding as planned with footers being poured, stem walls following them, and plumbing and electrical stub outs getting put in place. Our first cement slab pour is slated to happen soon.
The great news about the Washington project is that there really is no big news. This means all is proceeding as planned with footers being poured, stem walls following them, and plumbing and electrical stub outs getting put in place. Our first cement slab pour is slated to happen soon.
Last Week
One of the most enjoyable aspects of new staff orientation is the annual scavenger hunt! This lucky group of new employees struck pay dirt by finding the superintendent, assistant superintendent, and a board member all in one room!
Last week I wrote another installment of Echoes, participated in a Colorado Rural Alliance podcast about how marijuana taxes are invested in education, conducted a series of expulsion follow-up/placement determination meetings, presented our vision and mission at our new certified staff orientation, met with representatives from the Green Thumb Initiative about a greenhouse to be located at Cañon City High School, and prepared for our annual all-staff gathering on Monday August 12th.
This Week
On Monday we have our annual all-staff kickoff meeting as well as a regular board meeting and work session. On Tuesday we have a Superintendent's Advisory Council meeting after which I'll make my way to Denver for a quarterly Colorado Safe Schools Resource Center Advisory Board meeting. On Wednesday I have a rural alliance conference call, a Building Excellent Schools Today tour of construction sites with our new CDE support liaison, lunch with Todd Reynolds our GE Johnson construction project manager, and a series of routine parent meetings. On Thursday we have our annual classified staff orientation session and on Friday a well-coordinated substitute training session. I also have a future Abbey land use informational meeting on Friday afternoon to attend.
Other Voices
Board President Larry Oddo addresses the entire staff.
At this year's All-Staff Kickoff meeting Board President Larry Oddo shared these thoughts with our educators:
On behalf of the board, welcome to 2019 All Staff Kickoff and Dance Party! I’m pretty sure that entrance is a perfect teaser for Billy Staples’ PD session Creating a Culture of Error because there was so much wrong there that I don’t even know where to begin. That session looks like a good one folks, be sure to check it out.
With me today are Lloyd Harwood, Mary Kay Evans, Shad Johnson, and Robin Reeser. We are your board of education and we are happy to be here with you today and every day.
There are lot’s of exciting things to be happy about. New schools including a school based health center, progress with our pathways curriculum, gains in literacy, Chromebooks in student hands, expansion of career and technical offerings, statewide and even national recognition for our work in social and emotional learning, and the solidification of our Core Four in how we operate and make decisions.
Later this morning we are going to give some particular attention to Core Belief Number 3! We’re future-focused, believing the development of certain traits and skills will best prepare our students for ever-changing careers.
George, Adam, and Shad will share a little about what we believe Learning for Life really means. SPOILER ALERT! It means sharing with our kids the traits and skills you all have and display daily, because you are the most innovative, tenacious, courageously purposeful, agile, civil, integrous, and knowledgeable educational staff in the state of Colorado. We are so proud of what you already do for our kids and have full faith and confidence that you will meet the continuing challenges and changes facing educators to make Canon City Schools the best they can be, now and into the future!
Now, on a personal note, as our terms are up in November, this is Lloyd’s and my last all-staff gathering. It’s been our honor to serve the children, parents, taxpayers, and staff of this district for the past 8 years. Thank you for supporting us in that time, it wasn’t always easy, for us or for you. But we could not have envisioned a better ending to our journey: an extremely functional board with a clear vision, inspirational leadership, with a clear direction, at the top and throughout the district, and an energized staff capable of pulling off just about anything.
We’re happy, and we hope you’re happy too!
Have a great year and please, please, please vote for your new board members in November!
Thank you Larry, and thank you all for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
On behalf of the board, welcome to 2019 All Staff Kickoff and Dance Party! I’m pretty sure that entrance is a perfect teaser for Billy Staples’ PD session Creating a Culture of Error because there was so much wrong there that I don’t even know where to begin. That session looks like a good one folks, be sure to check it out.
With me today are Lloyd Harwood, Mary Kay Evans, Shad Johnson, and Robin Reeser. We are your board of education and we are happy to be here with you today and every day.
There are lot’s of exciting things to be happy about. New schools including a school based health center, progress with our pathways curriculum, gains in literacy, Chromebooks in student hands, expansion of career and technical offerings, statewide and even national recognition for our work in social and emotional learning, and the solidification of our Core Four in how we operate and make decisions.
Later this morning we are going to give some particular attention to Core Belief Number 3! We’re future-focused, believing the development of certain traits and skills will best prepare our students for ever-changing careers.
George, Adam, and Shad will share a little about what we believe Learning for Life really means. SPOILER ALERT! It means sharing with our kids the traits and skills you all have and display daily, because you are the most innovative, tenacious, courageously purposeful, agile, civil, integrous, and knowledgeable educational staff in the state of Colorado. We are so proud of what you already do for our kids and have full faith and confidence that you will meet the continuing challenges and changes facing educators to make Canon City Schools the best they can be, now and into the future!
Now, on a personal note, as our terms are up in November, this is Lloyd’s and my last all-staff gathering. It’s been our honor to serve the children, parents, taxpayers, and staff of this district for the past 8 years. Thank you for supporting us in that time, it wasn’t always easy, for us or for you. But we could not have envisioned a better ending to our journey: an extremely functional board with a clear vision, inspirational leadership, with a clear direction, at the top and throughout the district, and an energized staff capable of pulling off just about anything.
We’re happy, and we hope you’re happy too!
Have a great year and please, please, please vote for your new board members in November!
Thank you Larry, and thank you all for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
