Echoes from Cañon
Examples of Excellence
Pack 519 and 520 Scouts display the whisper phones they made for CCSD students.
On June 19th, a group of local Cub Scouts from Packs 519 and 520 were kind enough to assemble 200 whisper phones for the Cañon City School District. Whisper phones are tools that can be used by children in primary grades to help them child hear themselves reading, leading to improved word decoding awareness. This is important in developing fluent readers with strong comprehension.
Cub Scouting is a program for elementary age youth designed to build character and leadership qualities. Service projects are one way Cub Scouts learn to care about and contribute to their community. Key to this project was a generous donation of materials by Home Depot. Thank you Packs 519 and 520!
Early last week a police action near Cañon Exploratory School led to the need for us to open the school to families from a nearby apartment complex. I was out of state at the time, but want to thank Director of Operations Jeff Peterson, Director of Student Support Services Paula Buser, and CES Head Custodian Brian Salameno for quickly making the school accessible to those in need. This included making classroom space available, firing up our air conditioning system, gathering toys to keep children occupied, and providing food as needed. Special thanks also go out to the Cañon City Police Department for their careful resolution of the dangerous situation, and for clearly communicating their needs to us.
Director of Finance Buddy Lambrecht has spent the better part of the last six weeks preparing draft and final budget recommendations for our Board of Education. I want to personally thank Buddy for all his hard work, especially in relation to identifying available dollars for staff raises and addressing grant and bond funds so effectively. We are truly fortunate to have such a talented CFO working on our behalf!
Cub Scouting is a program for elementary age youth designed to build character and leadership qualities. Service projects are one way Cub Scouts learn to care about and contribute to their community. Key to this project was a generous donation of materials by Home Depot. Thank you Packs 519 and 520!
Early last week a police action near Cañon Exploratory School led to the need for us to open the school to families from a nearby apartment complex. I was out of state at the time, but want to thank Director of Operations Jeff Peterson, Director of Student Support Services Paula Buser, and CES Head Custodian Brian Salameno for quickly making the school accessible to those in need. This included making classroom space available, firing up our air conditioning system, gathering toys to keep children occupied, and providing food as needed. Special thanks also go out to the Cañon City Police Department for their careful resolution of the dangerous situation, and for clearly communicating their needs to us.
Director of Finance Buddy Lambrecht has spent the better part of the last six weeks preparing draft and final budget recommendations for our Board of Education. I want to personally thank Buddy for all his hard work, especially in relation to identifying available dollars for staff raises and addressing grant and bond funds so effectively. We are truly fortunate to have such a talented CFO working on our behalf!
The Focus of Our Work
Along with daily breakfast and lunch at CCHS, our nutrition team has been providing lunches around town.
Last Sunday through Wednesday in Orlando Florida a district team consisting of me, Assistant Superintendent Adam Hartman, CCHS Principal Bill Summers, CCMS Principal Tim Renn, Harrison Principal Marne Autobee, Harrison Assistant Principal Garrett Olguin, Harrison Teacher On Special Assignment Sheryl Wiseman, Cañon Exploratory School Principal Kelly Albrecht, and Mountain View Core Knowledge School Director Karen Sartori attended the annual Model Schools Conference. As a result of our attendance, we were able to validate the work we've been doing establishing a graduate profile aimed at developing specific traits and skills to prepare our students for an unknown future. We also spent time teasing our a draft set of core beliefs to share with the district and focused quite a bit on how to support classroom instruction that answers three key questions for students; what am I learning, why am I learning it, and how will I apply it? We look forward to sharing our learning with the entire district at our August 14th all-staff gathering.
Our graduate profile is really beginning to take shape!
Our Nutrition Services Department has been working extremely hard lately providing free summer breakfasts and lunches to children under the age of 19 this summer. Adults also can even enjoy these meals at a cost of just $2.00 for breakfast and $4.00 lunch. In the first month of the program, our team has prepared and served almost 10,000 meals, almost 500 per-day at multiple locations. Please note, due to an extended water outage related to construction at Cañon City High School, there will be no meal service on July 5th and 6th, and the program will move from CCHS to Cañon City Middle School on Monday, July 9th where it will continue through August 3rd. This summer meal program is made possible through support from the United States Department of Agriculture, serving communities with greater than 50% of students population qualifying for free and reduced meals during the school year.
Override Progress
Assistant Superintendent of Schools Adam Hartman is already hard at work setting up professional development opportunities related to instructional technology we'll put in place in grades 6-8 during the 2019-20 school year. Instructional Technology Coordinator Dan Coppa will be our point person, creating cohorts of middle school teachers and guiding them through this important work. Mr. Coppa will work closely with our partners at the iLearn Collaborative in support of this effort.
Bond Progress
New window and door installation is starting to take shape at Lincoln School of Science and Technology.
During our meeting last Monday, the Board of Education approved a resolution to sell bonds aimed at providing the match we need to access our Cañon City Middle School major campus upgrade project BEST Grant.
Later in the week Director of Finance Buddy Lambrecht met with representatives of Moodys to answer questions related to securing a favorable rating for the sale of these bonds. As of now, we expect them to be available for sale by July 17th.
Finally, last week we learned the Colorado Department of Education’s BEST program will arrange for and pay for ALTA and Environmental Site Assessment surveys on the Cañon City Middle School and Washington Elementary School campuses. ALTA Surveys are conducted for lenders to issue a title. This is a requirement of the BEST program and we expect the work to be completed by early October.
Later in the week Director of Finance Buddy Lambrecht met with representatives of Moodys to answer questions related to securing a favorable rating for the sale of these bonds. As of now, we expect them to be available for sale by July 17th.
Finally, last week we learned the Colorado Department of Education’s BEST program will arrange for and pay for ALTA and Environmental Site Assessment surveys on the Cañon City Middle School and Washington Elementary School campuses. ALTA Surveys are conducted for lenders to issue a title. This is a requirement of the BEST program and we expect the work to be completed by early October.
Last Week
Model Schools Conference attendees pose for a group picture. We kept losing Mr. Renn, so he is not pictured.
Last Sunday through Wednesday I attended the Model Schools Conference in Orlando, Florida with Assistant Superintendent of Schools Adam Hartman and a team of grade 6-12 school level administrators. While there, we learned about ways to meet the future needs of our students and a lot about how future careers are likely to change drastically. While there we finalized our portrait of a graduate related to the traits and skills we need to develop in our students. We also put together a draft set of core beliefs to guide staff in this work. On Sunday, before attending the opening general session in the evening, Mr. Hartman and I spent the better part of our day working on our annual Federal Programs Grant application. On Monday evening Adam and I phoned in to a regularly scheduled board work session and meeting. After the conference ended, I spent a number of hours on Thursday evening finalizing and submitting our Federal Programs application, returning my focus to my family vacation afterward.
This Week
Mr. Hartman and I attended the second June board meeting remotely from Orlando.
I'll spend the coming week and a half on a family vacation in Charleston, South Carolina and Indianapolis, Indiana visiting family, before returning to work on July 11th. However, I'll continue to stay on top of work correspondence, spending a little more than an hour each day doing so.
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
