Cañon City thrives through adventurous spirit, dynamic people, innovative schools, and historic charm.
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
Chelsea Loder
Congratulations are due to Chelsea Loder who recently earned her National Board Certification. National Board Certification is a voluntary, advanced teaching credential that goes well beyond state licensure, focusing on national standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. The National Board certifies teachers who successfully complete its rigorous certification process. This certification is among the highest honor a teacher can receive during their career. As a result, Chelsea is eligible to receive a $1,600 stipend from the state of Colorado. Harrison Principal Marne Autobee says, "We are very proud of Chelsea Loder, and are so happy that she is committed to working with our Harrison students every day!"
Congratulations are also due to Cañon City High School Tiger Open Pathway student Ashlee Nix for securing the Eliza Pickrell Routt Award for her school. This award, created in 2016, is named after Eliza Pickrell Routt, the first woman registered to vote in Colorado after the state's passage of women's suffrage in 1893. Eliza dedicated herself to equal rights for women and the passage of women's suffrage, eventually helping Colorado become only the second state to allow women to vote, and the first by popular vote. was the first woman registered to vote in Colorado. The award is given to Colorado high schools that have 85% or more of eligible seniors registered to vote. In its first year of inception in 2016, two Colorado High Schools won the award. With more schools having gained knowledge of the award, they are now creating groups and clubs to work toward the goal of getting at least 85% of seniors registered to vote. Ashlee Nix was key to Cañon City High School earning this award because of her capstone project voter registration drive. Congratulations!
Congratulations are also due to Cañon City High School Tiger Open Pathway student Ashlee Nix for securing the Eliza Pickrell Routt Award for her school. This award, created in 2016, is named after Eliza Pickrell Routt, the first woman registered to vote in Colorado after the state's passage of women's suffrage in 1893. Eliza dedicated herself to equal rights for women and the passage of women's suffrage, eventually helping Colorado become only the second state to allow women to vote, and the first by popular vote. was the first woman registered to vote in Colorado. The award is given to Colorado high schools that have 85% or more of eligible seniors registered to vote. In its first year of inception in 2016, two Colorado High Schools won the award. With more schools having gained knowledge of the award, they are now creating groups and clubs to work toward the goal of getting at least 85% of seniors registered to vote. Ashlee Nix was key to Cañon City High School earning this award because of her capstone project voter registration drive. Congratulations!
Our Future Focus
Ashlee Nix
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a meeting with Cotopaxi Superintendent Danielle VanEsselstine, Fremont RE-2 Superintendent Brenda Krage, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Adam Hartman, and PCC-Fremont Executive Dean Mark Peacock about the possibility of creating a Rural Schools Innovation Zone. This would be under the guidance of Jack Becker, who assisted us in our Civic Canopy process, and Abigail Schaller from the Gates Foundation. A Rural Schools Innovation Zone would create a working collaborative of all the school districts and college programs in Fremont County, making it easier to cooperate and share programs, and what I think is just as important, to attract more economic investment into our area. We'll soon be meeting to discuss the next steps.
Compass Committee is poised to finalize our new Instructional Program Review process, to include student, parent, and teacher surveys as part of the process. Our hope is to schedule each of the school reviews at our meeting on Monday, January 13th.
I am in the process of developing a Memorandum of Understanding-Intergovernmental Agreement with the City Council in the hopes of getting a better handle on behaviors at Rudd Park. I appreciate the City's willingness to work with us on this.
Finally, I'm working with our Board of Education on a bit of a pet project, to modernize our Superintendent Contract. Our current contract language was established last century and could use some updating for the protection of the school district-superintendent relationship.
Compass Committee is poised to finalize our new Instructional Program Review process, to include student, parent, and teacher surveys as part of the process. Our hope is to schedule each of the school reviews at our meeting on Monday, January 13th.
I am in the process of developing a Memorandum of Understanding-Intergovernmental Agreement with the City Council in the hopes of getting a better handle on behaviors at Rudd Park. I appreciate the City's willingness to work with us on this.
Finally, I'm working with our Board of Education on a bit of a pet project, to modernize our Superintendent Contract. Our current contract language was established last century and could use some updating for the protection of the school district-superintendent relationship.
Override and Bond Progress
The new CCMS office structure is beginning to take shape.
A second story beam is installed at Washington.
Thanks to community support for our mill override in fall 2017 the district is in year two of an effort to put an instructional technology device in the hands of every student. As of now, we have implemented our program from 6th through 12 grades. This year we are diligently preparing elementary staff for K-5 students to receive Chromebooks. As part of this work, we'll soon have our partners from iLearn on campuses evaluating the work we have been doing. this will take place during the week of February 17-21.
Also, thanks to a stretch of good weather, construction is proceeding as scheduled. It's exciting to see the new Cañon City Middle School administrative wing taking shape in the are just to the north of the soon to be demolished 1970s wing. Visitors will also notice the new 8th-grade wing-commons area is nearly enclosed, with roofing material installed and brickwork rising on the west side. Over Christmas Break, we made the decision to approve a few more alternates to be included in the project. This means we'll now have the telescoping auditorium-style seating installed that we have been hoping for. I also understand Mr. Oliver and his staff are in the process of making some serious furniture purchase decisions.
The Washington Elementary project is moving ahead as planned. Last week we gave the staff permission to end school on May 20th as they and our district operations team will only have a limited time to pack up and move all useable items into their new building. We are doing this to avoid making bad decisions as to what to keep and move, and what to dispose of that might impact us for years to come.
One other bit of exciting news on the construction front is our construction partner GE Johnson's willingness to allow our students to take advantage of the major work taking place in their midst. GE Johnson has committed to joining our PaICE Intern-Apprentice program so they can host our students in internships during the 4th quarter of this school year and all of next year. They'll also be arranging for our welding classes to tour the construction sites again, and they have expressed a willingness to work with Director of Operations Jeff Peterson to provide services toward the construction of both our Advanced Manufacturing Lab and Greenhouse Project. I hear even members of their accounting team will offer presentations to our accounting and carpentry classes so students can see how these skills are applied in a real-world project. Finally, I understand GE Johnson is willing to join our Pathways Capstone panels next fall to discuss the many professional opportunities available in construction fields.
Also, thanks to a stretch of good weather, construction is proceeding as scheduled. It's exciting to see the new Cañon City Middle School administrative wing taking shape in the are just to the north of the soon to be demolished 1970s wing. Visitors will also notice the new 8th-grade wing-commons area is nearly enclosed, with roofing material installed and brickwork rising on the west side. Over Christmas Break, we made the decision to approve a few more alternates to be included in the project. This means we'll now have the telescoping auditorium-style seating installed that we have been hoping for. I also understand Mr. Oliver and his staff are in the process of making some serious furniture purchase decisions.
The Washington Elementary project is moving ahead as planned. Last week we gave the staff permission to end school on May 20th as they and our district operations team will only have a limited time to pack up and move all useable items into their new building. We are doing this to avoid making bad decisions as to what to keep and move, and what to dispose of that might impact us for years to come.
One other bit of exciting news on the construction front is our construction partner GE Johnson's willingness to allow our students to take advantage of the major work taking place in their midst. GE Johnson has committed to joining our PaICE Intern-Apprentice program so they can host our students in internships during the 4th quarter of this school year and all of next year. They'll also be arranging for our welding classes to tour the construction sites again, and they have expressed a willingness to work with Director of Operations Jeff Peterson to provide services toward the construction of both our Advanced Manufacturing Lab and Greenhouse Project. I hear even members of their accounting team will offer presentations to our accounting and carpentry classes so students can see how these skills are applied in a real-world project. Finally, I understand GE Johnson is willing to join our Pathways Capstone panels next fall to discuss the many professional opportunities available in construction fields.
Last Week
Last week I worked on several long-term large scale projects, touched base with certified and classified employee association leaders, participated in a director's meeting, prepared for our next Compass Committee meeting, attended a 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant exploratory meeting, worked on some legislative advocacy projects, facilitated a meeting that might lead to formal collaborative agreements between all Fremont County school districts, and began the process of conducting annual director evaluations.
This Week
Grade 6-12 school teams attended a Youth Connections Grant training back in September.
This Monday I'll publish another issue of Echoes, facilitate a Compass Committee meeting, participate in a board work session and meeting, On Tuesday I'll touch base with Director of Student Support Services Paula Buser and then the Cañon City Police Department before participating in a directors meeting and then a District Leadership meeting. On Wednesday I have a Fremont Economic Development Corporation Board meeting, a Cañon City Middle School meeting about staffing, and a Colorado Department of Education Coherence Lab session. On Thursday and Friday, we have folks from the Colorado Education Initiative in town to facilitate a Youth Connections Grant work session with our school and district teams. Throughout the week I'll also be on a number of legislative advocacy phone calls.
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
