Echoes from Cañon
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
Last summer Director of Student Support Services Paula Buser explained how new secure entries are navigated by parents.
In light of this past weekend's unfortunate events in Texas and Ohio, I've been reflecting on the great work many folks have been doing in the Cañon City School District to both prevent such tragedies and to react to them, should such an occurrence happen in one of our facilities. Readers might recall that last summer Cañon City High School, Cañon Exploratory School, Harrison K-8, Lincoln School of Science and Technology, and McKinley Elementary School had increased safety measures put in place including the construction of secure entries, installing blue-button panic systems, and updating classroom and hallway windows and building access points. This summer we're constructing new buildings for students at Cañon City Middle School and Washington Elementary. Each will have state of the art security features. Thanks to a $500,000 grant we received from the state last year, we're adding to our security tool bag by upgrading surveillance cameras at every school, adding additional two-way radios to our current stock, installing stop-arm cameras on every school bus, and providing additional equipment to building security staff. Before school starts we'll
Transportation Manager Kris Westhoff installs a new school bus stop-arm camera.
even go as far as to conduct a functional lockdown exercise on one of our school campuses in order to ensure first responders and district staff are well aware of crisis plan procedures.
Each of these efforts is key to responding to any tragedy that might befall us. However, in Cañon City Schools we know our first line of defense is our first core belief, "we meet the social-emotional needs of all students, putting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs before Bloom’s Taxonomy." Thus, every day we monitor the social-emotional wellness of our students and we do our best to react swiftly should we find something is not quite right. You can help us to do this work by reporting any concerning behavior you see to the district office or one of our building leaders, or by filing an anonymous report to Safe2Tell online or by calling 877-542-7233.
Each of these efforts is key to responding to any tragedy that might befall us. However, in Cañon City Schools we know our first line of defense is our first core belief, "we meet the social-emotional needs of all students, putting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs before Bloom’s Taxonomy." Thus, every day we monitor the social-emotional wellness of our students and we do our best to react swiftly should we find something is not quite right. You can help us to do this work by reporting any concerning behavior you see to the district office or one of our building leaders, or by filing an anonymous report to Safe2Tell online or by calling 877-542-7233.
Our Future Focus
The Cañon City Schools nutrition staff is hard at work preparing for another great year. Nutrition Services Manager Jeannelle Grooms wanted to share a few important updates with the community:
New this year, all K-12 students who qualify for free or reduced meals will be eligible to receive breakfast and lunch at no charge every school day. Applications are available at all schools, the administration office, and at www.ccsnutrition.org. Whether you plan to take advantage of this opportunity or not, we encourage all families to apply.
Harrison K-8 and Washington Elementary will continue to offer breakfast at no charge to all students through Colorado's Breakfast After The Bell program. Legislation allows this program to be offered because more than 70% of students at these schools qualify for free or reduced meals.
Cañon Exploratory School, Cañon City High School, Cañon City Middle School, Lincoln School of Science and Technology, and McKinley Elementary will offer breakfast at no charge to students who qualify for free and reduced benefits. At these schools grades K-8 paid breakfast will cost just $1.25 and high school paid breakfast will cost $2.00.
All Schools will offer lunch at no charge to all students who qualify for free or reduced meal benefits. K-8 paid lunch is $2.50 this year and high school paid lunch is $2.75.
Please feel free to call our nutrition office at 719-276-5814 if you need more information.
At our Superintendent Advisory Council meeting on Tuesday, we discussed our annual two-way radio distribution process, issues surrounding filling our School Resource Officer slots, general construction updates, our special services secretary replacement process, and possibilities for taking advantage of some of the 87 new preschool slots we'll have available through the fall of 2020 thanks to the full funding for all-day kindergarten legislation that passed this spring.
On Thursday evening six potential school board candidates attended our New School Board Member Academy. During this session, current board of education members were able to share thier vision for the school distrcit, and what they have learned about operating as a governance team over the past 8 years.
New this year, all K-12 students who qualify for free or reduced meals will be eligible to receive breakfast and lunch at no charge every school day. Applications are available at all schools, the administration office, and at www.ccsnutrition.org. Whether you plan to take advantage of this opportunity or not, we encourage all families to apply.
Harrison K-8 and Washington Elementary will continue to offer breakfast at no charge to all students through Colorado's Breakfast After The Bell program. Legislation allows this program to be offered because more than 70% of students at these schools qualify for free or reduced meals.
Cañon Exploratory School, Cañon City High School, Cañon City Middle School, Lincoln School of Science and Technology, and McKinley Elementary will offer breakfast at no charge to students who qualify for free and reduced benefits. At these schools grades K-8 paid breakfast will cost just $1.25 and high school paid breakfast will cost $2.00.
All Schools will offer lunch at no charge to all students who qualify for free or reduced meal benefits. K-8 paid lunch is $2.50 this year and high school paid lunch is $2.75.
Please feel free to call our nutrition office at 719-276-5814 if you need more information.
At our Superintendent Advisory Council meeting on Tuesday, we discussed our annual two-way radio distribution process, issues surrounding filling our School Resource Officer slots, general construction updates, our special services secretary replacement process, and possibilities for taking advantage of some of the 87 new preschool slots we'll have available through the fall of 2020 thanks to the full funding for all-day kindergarten legislation that passed this spring.
On Thursday evening six potential school board candidates attended our New School Board Member Academy. During this session, current board of education members were able to share thier vision for the school distrcit, and what they have learned about operating as a governance team over the past 8 years.
The Board of Education conducts a New Board Member Academy for interested candidates.
Override Progress
We received good news on the Chromebook delivery front this week. Director of Technology Shaun Kohl reported that student Chromebooks for the middle and high school should ship on August 8th. Delivery will take a few days, but it now looks like we might be able to get them out to middle school students much sooner than we were anticipating.
Bond Progress
The Cañon City Middle School Auditorium/Gymnasium is inching closer to demolition.
Workers are picking up the pace on the west side of the Cañon City Middle School construction site, with our first floor pour taking place last week and all preparations finally in order for the demolition of the old auditorium/gymnasium complex.
Power has been turned on at the new district grounds facility, and it appears crews are going through a final check and punch list process prior to our taking occupancy of it.
Meanwhile, the Washington site continues to experience intensive groundwork preparation, constant pouring of foundations and installation of stem walls, and installation of plumbing and electrical stub outs.
Power has been turned on at the new district grounds facility, and it appears crews are going through a final check and punch list process prior to our taking occupancy of it.
Meanwhile, the Washington site continues to experience intensive groundwork preparation, constant pouring of foundations and installation of stem walls, and installation of plumbing and electrical stub outs.
Last Week
Last week we held our annual administrator retreat on Monday, a Superintendent Advisory Council meeting and a key personnel customer service training on Tuesday then had an extended all-staff gathering presentation planning session on Wednesday, a New Board Member Academy on Thursday, and Gateway to College before school planning meetings on Friday. We also made suggested adjustments to annual our federal programs application, while also completing several other administrative tasks.
This Week
This week I'll write another installment of Echoes, participate in a Colorado Rural Alliance podcast, conduct a series of expulsion follow-up/placement determination meetings, present our vision and mission at the new teacher orientation, take a tour our construction sites with our new CDE Capital Construction Program Representative, hold a technology visioning committee meeting, and work to prepare for our annual all-staff gathering that take place on Monday August 12th.
Other Voices
Garrett Olguin
This is a special message from Lincoln School of Science and Technology Principal Garrett Olquin:
Dear Lincoln Community,
Due to a district-level transportation scheduling mistake, Lincoln School of Science & Technology must adjust its school day start and end times for the 19/20 school year.
As a result, our school day will begin at 8:30 AM each day and dismiss at 3:45 PM on Mondays through Thursdays. On early-release Fridays, we will dismiss at 1:45 PM.
Please also note both the first and last days of school this year are half-days. On these days Lincoln will dismiss at 12:45 PM. Breakfast will be served on these two days as usual, but lunch will NOT be served.
We appreciate everyone's understanding and sincerely apologize for the changes.
Student Supervision begins and Breakfast Served - 8:00 AM
School Start Time - 8:30 AM
School Dismissal Time - 3:45 PM
Friday Early Release Time - 1:45 PM
First and Last Half-Day Release - 12:45 PM
Garrett Olguin,
Principal
. . . and thanks once again for listening again!
George S. Welsh
Dear Lincoln Community,
Due to a district-level transportation scheduling mistake, Lincoln School of Science & Technology must adjust its school day start and end times for the 19/20 school year.
As a result, our school day will begin at 8:30 AM each day and dismiss at 3:45 PM on Mondays through Thursdays. On early-release Fridays, we will dismiss at 1:45 PM.
Please also note both the first and last days of school this year are half-days. On these days Lincoln will dismiss at 12:45 PM. Breakfast will be served on these two days as usual, but lunch will NOT be served.
We appreciate everyone's understanding and sincerely apologize for the changes.
Student Supervision begins and Breakfast Served - 8:00 AM
School Start Time - 8:30 AM
School Dismissal Time - 3:45 PM
Friday Early Release Time - 1:45 PM
First and Last Half-Day Release - 12:45 PM
Garrett Olguin,
Principal
. . . and thanks once again for listening again!
George S. Welsh
