Echoes from Cañon
Examples of Excellence
Director of Instruction Adam Hartman, External Consultant Molly Merry, School Psychologist Jesse Hamilton, and Principal Kelly Albrecht observe middle school instruction during Cañon Exploratory School's annual instructional site visit.
Director of Instruction Adam Hartman guides Instructional Leader PLC discussion.
On Monday we conducted Cañon Exploratory School's annual site visit. Concept founder Molly Merry served as our external consultant on this visit. While there we observed the staff expertly using its new math resources. We also learned about great results special education and Title 1 staff are getting through the implementation of Lindamood-Bell reading interventions. Incredibly, 71 of 72 reading focus students show they are closing learning gaps with their peers. In multi-age classrooms there was blending of learning with personal technology devices, and mid-year student achievement data is as strong as we have seen in the district this year. Instruction at the middle school level is much improved and CES's classified staff is top notch, be it the dedicated work of building secretary Shirlee Brulee, instructional paraprofessionals deeply engaged with students and implementing reading intervention processes with fidelity, or outstanding work by nutrition services and operations staff. By all appearances Cañon Exploratory School is on an outstanding trajectory.
On Tuesday Adam Hartman once again guided the work of our Instructional Leader Professional Learning Community. This time he initiated an invigorating conversation about what our kids will need to know and do to be successful in the ever-changing future they face. This work will tie into an upcoming board retreat and visioning process that could eventually define how we teach in Cañon City Schools.
Our technology team has struggled all week addressing issues on our student desktop computers. These were caused by a network filter update that did not play well with current management software. I know this has been frustrating for staff and students, but want to offer appreciation for the professional manner with which it was addressed by our technology team.
On Wednesday we conducted Cañon City High School's annual site visit. A particular area of interests was progress being made by the Building Leadership Team toward the school's improvement goals. We noted broad-based staff and student participation in BLT, and a plethora of accomplishments in the last year. These include structuring a four career pathway model, creating an outstanding Base Camp experience for Freshmen, the establishment of the Tiger Open Pathway, adoption and implementation of a 5-semester block, establishment of a state model intern and apprentice experience, and an increase of 14 class offerings to benefit students. Along the way, the school has bolstered security efforts, rerouted traffic for safety and efficiency, established work and Saturday tutoring sessions, trained staff in Project Based Learning strategies, and have simply created a more student-centered, inclusive school environment. In the coming year CCHS is adding an additional 12 courses, considering a later start to benefit student sleep patterns, and embarking on multi-year student-centered scheduling. Add to this the work the staff has been doing to prepare to put a technology device in the hands of every student next August. In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined a school could come so far in such a short period of time.
On Tuesday Adam Hartman once again guided the work of our Instructional Leader Professional Learning Community. This time he initiated an invigorating conversation about what our kids will need to know and do to be successful in the ever-changing future they face. This work will tie into an upcoming board retreat and visioning process that could eventually define how we teach in Cañon City Schools.
Our technology team has struggled all week addressing issues on our student desktop computers. These were caused by a network filter update that did not play well with current management software. I know this has been frustrating for staff and students, but want to offer appreciation for the professional manner with which it was addressed by our technology team.
On Wednesday we conducted Cañon City High School's annual site visit. A particular area of interests was progress being made by the Building Leadership Team toward the school's improvement goals. We noted broad-based staff and student participation in BLT, and a plethora of accomplishments in the last year. These include structuring a four career pathway model, creating an outstanding Base Camp experience for Freshmen, the establishment of the Tiger Open Pathway, adoption and implementation of a 5-semester block, establishment of a state model intern and apprentice experience, and an increase of 14 class offerings to benefit students. Along the way, the school has bolstered security efforts, rerouted traffic for safety and efficiency, established work and Saturday tutoring sessions, trained staff in Project Based Learning strategies, and have simply created a more student-centered, inclusive school environment. In the coming year CCHS is adding an additional 12 courses, considering a later start to benefit student sleep patterns, and embarking on multi-year student-centered scheduling. Add to this the work the staff has been doing to prepare to put a technology device in the hands of every student next August. In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined a school could come so far in such a short period of time.
External Consultant Ted Knight, Principal Bill Summers and Board Member Kristyn Econome learn more about the Tiger Open Pathways program from a student.
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Adam Hartman, Ted Knight, Bill Summers, Kristyn Econome, and Board Member Mary Kay Evans observe engaging instruction in Madison Tortessi's class.
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The Focus of Our Work
Cañon City High School teacher Scott Witkowski guides a Professional Learning Community to begin an online Blended Learning class.
Our Board of Education is entertaining moving toward an hour later start for high school students next year and will begin making its decision by hearing a presentation from high school staff representatives at its March 12th meeting. The board will consider this information and then solicit public opinion during its March 26th meeting before making a final decision. I encourage anyone interested in this matter to attend both meetings so they can first be informed about why this proposal has come before the board.
School safety is important for the community. In the aftermath of events in Florida, we have been deluged with questions about what we are doing, and what we might do better, to ensure the safety of children in our schools. As a result, we have decided to organize a School Safety Town Hall on April 9th. Participants will learn more about local school safety and security response and prevention efforts. The event is open to anyone and will feature a panel discussion with school officials, law enforcement, and service agencies. There will be plenty of time for question and answer. The event will begin at 7:00 PM at the Cañon City School District Administration Building located at 101 N. 14th Street.
Finally, the Board of Education held a special work session this week to finalize my annual evaluation. They took into consideration my personal reflections about my job performance, survey responses from more than 200 staff and community members, and their own perspective in finalizing the document. During our work session on March 12th, the Board will share their findings with me and offer clear guidance as to what their priorities are for my work effort in the coming year.
School safety is important for the community. In the aftermath of events in Florida, we have been deluged with questions about what we are doing, and what we might do better, to ensure the safety of children in our schools. As a result, we have decided to organize a School Safety Town Hall on April 9th. Participants will learn more about local school safety and security response and prevention efforts. The event is open to anyone and will feature a panel discussion with school officials, law enforcement, and service agencies. There will be plenty of time for question and answer. The event will begin at 7:00 PM at the Cañon City School District Administration Building located at 101 N. 14th Street.
Finally, the Board of Education held a special work session this week to finalize my annual evaluation. They took into consideration my personal reflections about my job performance, survey responses from more than 200 staff and community members, and their own perspective in finalizing the document. During our work session on March 12th, the Board will share their findings with me and offer clear guidance as to what their priorities are for my work effort in the coming year.
Override Progress
Cañon City High School teacher Daniel Coppa brought CASB Student Leaders to visit Senator Grantham in his office.
At its early release professional development session last Wednesday, Cañon City High School staff began taking an online introduction to blended learning course. This is one of three distance learning opportunities CCHS teachers are expected to complete before students receive their Chromebooks in August.
This week we also decided to conduct a pilot use of Gaggle Safety Management software to assist in keeping Cañon City students safe when they use district assigned technology tools. Gaggle provides screening software and safety representatives who review digital content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to assure student safety. The product uses algorithms to identify inappropriate words and images in Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, and more. Trained staff then apply district-approved policies to intervene when necessary, alerting school and first response officials if there is an imminent threat to a child. If anyone would like to learn more about our Gaggle implementation I encourage you to contact Paula Buser, Director of Student Support Services at 719-276-5715 or Shaun Kohl, Chief Information Officer at 719-276-5708.
This week we also decided to conduct a pilot use of Gaggle Safety Management software to assist in keeping Cañon City students safe when they use district assigned technology tools. Gaggle provides screening software and safety representatives who review digital content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to assure student safety. The product uses algorithms to identify inappropriate words and images in Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, and more. Trained staff then apply district-approved policies to intervene when necessary, alerting school and first response officials if there is an imminent threat to a child. If anyone would like to learn more about our Gaggle implementation I encourage you to contact Paula Buser, Director of Student Support Services at 719-276-5715 or Shaun Kohl, Chief Information Officer at 719-276-5708.
Bond Progress
This week we began planning for asbestos removal related to window replacement in a number of our buildings. This means we'll establish a bidding process to select a firm.
On Tuesday we hold an important Design-Build team meeting on to lay out the scope and schedule for our more extensive multi-facility repair projects we'll be working on this summer.
On Tuesday we hold an important Design-Build team meeting on to lay out the scope and schedule for our more extensive multi-facility repair projects we'll be working on this summer.
Last Week
Last week we held a regular board meeting and work session on Monday and conducted two full-day mid-year school site reviews. I had a day full of meetings on Tuesday, including SAC, Middle School ICAP, Regional Health and Wellness, and an Instructional Leader PLC. On Thursday and Friday I was in Denver at the CASB Winter Legislative Conference, a highlight of which was spending time with Senator Grantham and Representative Wilson, who were kind enough to meet with some of our CASB student leaders who came up to tour the capitol and experience the legislature on Friday.
Cañon City High School CASB Student Leaders join Senator Grantham at his Senate podium.
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Representative Wilson took time to explain the historic events that were about to unfold in the House of Representatives.
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This Week
We have our Washington Elementary site visit on Monday. On Tuesday I'll start the day on KRLN's Morning Line, hold a Superintendent's Advisory Council meeting, then spend time in a lengthy Design-Build team meeting. I'll end the day in Springs at the monthly Pikes Peak Alliance meeting. On Wednesday I'll hold central office and operations staff meetings. On Thursday we'll hold our McKinley site visit and I'll end the day at CCHS Technology Deployment and Canon 2020 meetings. Bill Summers, Adam Hartman, Lisa Tedesko and I were invited to attend a Fremont Economic Development Council Technology Sector Meeting on Friday.
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh