Echoes from Cañon
Examples of Excellence
At the end of a long week of work, the Cañon City High School Assessment for Learning Process team presents what it accomplished to staff representatives from Adams Westminster Schools.
I had the pleasure of spending this past Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in Arvada with Cañon City High School's Assessment for Learning Project team consisting of Bill Summers, Adam Hartman, Madison Tortessi, Michelle Curl, Ande Davis, Jennifer VanIwarden, Megan Clasby, Kristi Cushman, and Steven Carter. While there Bill and Adam guided our CCHS staff participants in outlining a 4-year process aimed at preparing students to be successful on capstone graduation projects. The product they created is simply outstanding. In fact, before leaving on Thursday afternoon we had the opportunity to share our work with an ALP team from Adams Westminster Schools, and they were quite impressed with the work we accomplished. A big advantage for us has been the fact that we already began developing a Graduate Profile this spring, and so we were able to jump right into capstone design work.
At our Monday Board of Education meeting, Lindamood-Bell's Co-Director of School Support Services Melissa Garner honored district literacy coaches Kelly Jones, Jessica Bray, Jessica Stevens, Lacey LeDoux, Cañon Exploratory School Special Education Teacher Erika Daley, and newly appointed Assistant Superintendent of Schools Adam Hartman with Leadership Awards. Melissa then shared results produced by this year's Lindamood-Bell reading intervention process. The news was great and, most important, Adam Hartman had the opportunity to share that Cañon City Schools has decreased the number of children in grades K-3 displaying a significant reading deficiency from 176 students back in the spring of 2016 to only 104 students this spring. This outstanding accomplishment is the result of hard work by our entire K-3 instructional staff implementing new reading resources, putting in place more engaging instructional techniques, and providing high-quality interventions for our most struggling students.
At our Monday Board of Education meeting, Lindamood-Bell's Co-Director of School Support Services Melissa Garner honored district literacy coaches Kelly Jones, Jessica Bray, Jessica Stevens, Lacey LeDoux, Cañon Exploratory School Special Education Teacher Erika Daley, and newly appointed Assistant Superintendent of Schools Adam Hartman with Leadership Awards. Melissa then shared results produced by this year's Lindamood-Bell reading intervention process. The news was great and, most important, Adam Hartman had the opportunity to share that Cañon City Schools has decreased the number of children in grades K-3 displaying a significant reading deficiency from 176 students back in the spring of 2016 to only 104 students this spring. This outstanding accomplishment is the result of hard work by our entire K-3 instructional staff implementing new reading resources, putting in place more engaging instructional techniques, and providing high-quality interventions for our most struggling students.
Assistant Superintendent of Schools Adam Hartman, Literacy Coaches Kelli Jones, Lacey LeDoux, Jessica Stevens, and Jessica Bray, and Cañon Exploratory School Special Education Teacher Erika Daley were presented Literacy Leadership Awards by Melissa Garner from Lindamood-Bell.
New Teacher Coach Jamie Davis shared a year's worth of progress in our New Teacher Mentoring Program with the Board of Education.
This week we learned Lincoln School of Science and Technology has been given preliminary approval for a $300,000 Colorado Health Foundation playground improvement they applied for this spring. I'm not sure about the timeline for installation, but I want to thank Tammy DeWolfe and Jamie Murray for their hard work on the application
Finally, on Monday New Teacher Support Coach Jamie Davis presented her wrap-up of another year helping new CCSD instructional staff navigate the district. Of most interest was evidence showing an average 117 point increase (on a 540 point scale) from mid to end-of-year professional practice ratings for each staff member she worked with. She also showed that the average 2nd-year teacher achieved a 58 point increase on their end of year 1 to end of year 2 evaluation rating. Thanks to Jamie, 84% of the new teachers we hired in the past two years are committed to continuing to work in our district.
Finally, on Monday New Teacher Support Coach Jamie Davis presented her wrap-up of another year helping new CCSD instructional staff navigate the district. Of most interest was evidence showing an average 117 point increase (on a 540 point scale) from mid to end-of-year professional practice ratings for each staff member she worked with. She also showed that the average 2nd-year teacher achieved a 58 point increase on their end of year 1 to end of year 2 evaluation rating. Thanks to Jamie, 84% of the new teachers we hired in the past two years are committed to continuing to work in our district.
The Focus of Our Work
Newly appointed Assistant Superintendent of Schools Adam Hartman being interviewed by Cañon City Daily Record reporter Chris Graham.
We made two significant personnel moves at last week's board of education meeting.
The first was changing Director of Instruction Adam Hartman's job title to Assistant Superintendent of Schools. Adam was upgraded to this position because we feel it's important that we clearly communicate who is in charge of the district whenever I'm absent, that Adam has what it takes to eventually be a great superintendent of schools, and so I can work to share everything I know about being a superintendent of schools with him so he can be ready to compete for my position in the future.
As a result of this change, Adam and I will revise our list of director/department assigned duties to expand his sphere of influence over instructional areas.
Adam will receive a salary commensurate with his new responsibilities, and the difference between what he's making now and what he'll make with this new title is being covered by dollars we had available this year for administrator raises, as well as funds currently available through our Early Literacy Grant.
I look forward to working with Adam in his new capacity.
The first was changing Director of Instruction Adam Hartman's job title to Assistant Superintendent of Schools. Adam was upgraded to this position because we feel it's important that we clearly communicate who is in charge of the district whenever I'm absent, that Adam has what it takes to eventually be a great superintendent of schools, and so I can work to share everything I know about being a superintendent of schools with him so he can be ready to compete for my position in the future.
As a result of this change, Adam and I will revise our list of director/department assigned duties to expand his sphere of influence over instructional areas.
Adam will receive a salary commensurate with his new responsibilities, and the difference between what he's making now and what he'll make with this new title is being covered by dollars we had available this year for administrator raises, as well as funds currently available through our Early Literacy Grant.
I look forward to working with Adam in his new capacity.
Jesse Oliver is now Cañon City Middle School's Assistant Principal!
On the same evening, Cañon City Middle School Teacher on Special Assignment Jesse Oliver was promoted to Assistant Principal. For the past three years, Jesse has pretty much been performing the duties of a middle school principal in his position as TOSA. We made this move This move because we recognize the outstanding work Mr. Oliver is doing establishing a student-centered climate and building trust with staff, parents, and children.
During the time Jesse has served as CCMS TOSA the school's population has grown from under 350 to over 400 students. We believe a population of 400 middle school students justifies additional administrative support.
Jesse is clearly key to the success of CCMS, and we hope this move shows our commitment to him long into the future. It is my belief Mr. Oliver has the skills needed to be an outstanding building leader some day.
Congratulations Mr. Oliver!
During the time Jesse has served as CCMS TOSA the school's population has grown from under 350 to over 400 students. We believe a population of 400 middle school students justifies additional administrative support.
Jesse is clearly key to the success of CCMS, and we hope this move shows our commitment to him long into the future. It is my belief Mr. Oliver has the skills needed to be an outstanding building leader some day.
Congratulations Mr. Oliver!
Bond Progress
As part of our multi-facility upgrade Cañon City High School is getting a more secure main entry installed.
As a matter of public information, I want to share information about the folks who are working on our summer multi-facility improvement project. Our general contractor is the GE Johnson Construction Company, RTA is our architectural firm, Bridgers and Paxton is providing engineering services, Olson is our plumbing and heating firm, MechOne is our sheet metal contractor, and Encore Electric is doing our wiring and switches. These folks have been hard at it since the day school ended back in May.
At our June 25th school board meeting, we intend to approve agreements allowing for a bond sale to take place so we can provide our local match for the Cañon City Middle School facility upgrade. On July 23rd we plan to approve an agreement to allow the State of Colorado to sell $6.2 million in bonds to provide our grant match for a new Washington Elementary School. The CCMS bonds should go on sale by the end of July. WThe Washington sale won't take place until the end of November.
At our June 25th school board meeting, we intend to approve agreements allowing for a bond sale to take place so we can provide our local match for the Cañon City Middle School facility upgrade. On July 23rd we plan to approve an agreement to allow the State of Colorado to sell $6.2 million in bonds to provide our grant match for a new Washington Elementary School. The CCMS bonds should go on sale by the end of July. WThe Washington sale won't take place until the end of November.
Last Week
On Monday I had a series of routine meetings, including a Board Work Session and our regular June meeting. On Tuesday I traveled to Denver with Director of Instruction Adam Hartman, Principal Bill Summers, and a team of Cañon City High School teachers to participate in the Colorado Education Initiative Assessment for Learning Program summer convening. This work continued through the end of the day Thursday. On Friday I attended a Building Excellent Schools Today new school grant kickoff meeting with Director of Finance Buddy Lambrecht, Director of Operations Jeff Peterson, Board President Larry Oddo, our Owner's Representatives from RLH Engineering, our Bond Counsel from Kutak-Rock Tom Peltz, and a slew of State of Colorado government representatives.
Melissa Garner, Co-Director of Educational Support Services at Lindamood-Bell, presented information to our board about how year two implementation of interventions progressed.
This Week
On Monday I have a series of routine meetings related to health and wellness, human resources, school records, and our School Resource Officer program. We'll also hold a late afternoon Superintendent Advisory Council meeting, and I'll end my day in a meeting about our high school Home Bi-Ed vocational construction program. I'll be out on vacation for the remainder of the week.
Thanks for listening once again and happy Father's Day!
George S. Welsh
Thanks for listening once again and happy Father's Day!
George S. Welsh