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
Kaylee Brewer's "Speak"
Congratulations are due Cañon City High School student Kaylee Brewer for earning an Honorable Mention Award at the Colorado State Scholastic Art competition! Her piece, titled "Speak", was up against over 1000 entries from hundreds of students in the drawing category. "Speak" will be on display, along with other Scholastic Art winners, through March 28th at The History Colorado Center. You can support all students by going to see the show from 10 AM to 5 PM daily. You can also visit this website: https://www.coloradoartawards.org/2020-awards to view Kaylee's work and the rest of the winners online. Congratulations Kaylee!
Middle School students at Harrison, as part of the Individual Career and Academic Planning process, participate in several college visits each year. Last week most 7th graders, as well as 6th and 8th-grade band students, had the opportunity to visit Colorado College, while also attending a college music performance. What a great example of being future-focused!
Last week the staff at Lincoln School of Science and Technology honored outstanding growth and achievement for students in grades K-2 during their second-trimester academic awards ceremony.
Finally, last week Cañon City High School teacher Shane Thornton had the opportunity to take his Capstone and Career Prep class to the county courthouse. While there, students observed court hearings, learned about job opportunities, discussed possible Capstone projects that involve the courts, and learned about their rights as individuals. Students even had a question and answer session with a public defender, the District Attorney, the Juvenile Court Judge, the District Judge, the transport team, custodians, and many other people of importance in county government.
Middle School students at Harrison, as part of the Individual Career and Academic Planning process, participate in several college visits each year. Last week most 7th graders, as well as 6th and 8th-grade band students, had the opportunity to visit Colorado College, while also attending a college music performance. What a great example of being future-focused!
Last week the staff at Lincoln School of Science and Technology honored outstanding growth and achievement for students in grades K-2 during their second-trimester academic awards ceremony.
Finally, last week Cañon City High School teacher Shane Thornton had the opportunity to take his Capstone and Career Prep class to the county courthouse. While there, students observed court hearings, learned about job opportunities, discussed possible Capstone projects that involve the courts, and learned about their rights as individuals. Students even had a question and answer session with a public defender, the District Attorney, the Juvenile Court Judge, the District Judge, the transport team, custodians, and many other people of importance in county government.
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The Lincoln secod trimester awards ceremony, and CCHS students learn about county court
Harrison students visit Colorado College
Our Future Focus
The Lincoln School visitation team
This week we conducted instructional program reviews at Lincoln School of Science and Technology, Cañon City Middle School, and McKinley Elementary. We saw many wonderful things while observing instruction and discussing each school's progress toward improvement. This week I'm sharing reflections on what we saw at Lincoln and CCMS. Next week we'll highlight our McKinley visit.
While at Lincoln we saw . . .
-Improved learning targets.
-Wide-ranging staff participation in the self-assessment. This greatly increased knowledge of the expectations of the process.
-Outstanding personalized traits and skills branding by the school.
-Inclusion of various instructional staff in presentations to our core visiting group, exemplifying shared decision-making and shared ownership.
-Broad-based staff participation in the Lincoln revisioning process, which led to an outstanding product!
-Impactful involvement of the PTO in the revisioning process.
-Lincoln was chosen as the Fremont County DHS organization of the month!
-Descriptions of the staff’s immediate responsiveness to parent concerns and requests.
-The empowerment of special education staff, including paraprofessionals, to improve the operation of the Students with Severe Needs program.
-A clear message from top to bottom that staff are welcome and encouraged to become leaders within the school.
-Seamless use of School Health Professional and Gateway to Success support services for kids in need.
-The cultivation of an environment that promotes positive risk-taking.
-Powerful anecdotes of staff going above and beyond the call of duty and living by the district's core beliefs.
-Some of the best differentiation of instruction we have seen, specifically among the first-grade team.
-A professional staff attitude where everyone simply does what they know they are supposed to be doing.
-A special focus on social-emotional wellness through the development of a clothes closet and backpack meals programs.
-A family atmosphere among the staff.
-Expert use of restorative behavior modification practices by the administration, as required per the Discovery culture model.
-Excellent use of PDSA's to formatively assess student progress in reading.
While at Lincoln we saw . . .
-Improved learning targets.
-Wide-ranging staff participation in the self-assessment. This greatly increased knowledge of the expectations of the process.
-Outstanding personalized traits and skills branding by the school.
-Inclusion of various instructional staff in presentations to our core visiting group, exemplifying shared decision-making and shared ownership.
-Broad-based staff participation in the Lincoln revisioning process, which led to an outstanding product!
-Impactful involvement of the PTO in the revisioning process.
-Lincoln was chosen as the Fremont County DHS organization of the month!
-Descriptions of the staff’s immediate responsiveness to parent concerns and requests.
-The empowerment of special education staff, including paraprofessionals, to improve the operation of the Students with Severe Needs program.
-A clear message from top to bottom that staff are welcome and encouraged to become leaders within the school.
-Seamless use of School Health Professional and Gateway to Success support services for kids in need.
-The cultivation of an environment that promotes positive risk-taking.
-Powerful anecdotes of staff going above and beyond the call of duty and living by the district's core beliefs.
-Some of the best differentiation of instruction we have seen, specifically among the first-grade team.
-A professional staff attitude where everyone simply does what they know they are supposed to be doing.
-A special focus on social-emotional wellness through the development of a clothes closet and backpack meals programs.
-A family atmosphere among the staff.
-Expert use of restorative behavior modification practices by the administration, as required per the Discovery culture model.
-Excellent use of PDSA's to formatively assess student progress in reading.
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While at Lincoln School of Science and Technology we observed the Students with Severe Needs Physical Education cladd, and while at Cañon City Middle School we were impressed with the many Kagan engagement strategies on display
CCHS student and Compass Committee member Sean Williamson participated in the CCMS visit (pictured with Principal Jesse Oliver and Assistant Principal Russ Braiden
At CCMS we saw . . .
-Expert implementation of major changes in the curriculum while also implementing a one-to-one device program.
-Navigating the difficulties of the building construction process by remaining focused on instructional improvement.
-A focus on the improvement of learning targets.
-Impressive improvements in student behavior and referral incidents. We specifically took note that referrals are down by 58%, suspensions are down by 57% ( a total of 96 fewer suspensions compared to last year at this time), and last year students were suspended out of school for a total of 366 days while so far this year that total is only 41. Outstanding!
-Before a child is ever referred to the office, staff reach out to parents in an effort to help them support good student behavior.
- The staff's increased effort to use Infinite Campus to communicate with parents.
-Teachers instructing kids on how to navigate Infinite Campus to track their own grades.
-Smooth first-year implementation of the BIMAS screener leading to the identification of students who need, and now are getting counseling.
-Many great examples of ready to go Kagan lesson engagement structures in classes.
-Hundreds of kids who simply love being in school.
-The school is right where it needs to be in its year one Chromebook implementation.
-Teachers are not only creating rubrics but teaching them to students so they have a clear understanding of academic expectations.
-How staff instructional learning walks are paying off with teachers immediately applying practices learned in their own classrooms.
-Outstanding examples of teacher-created e-learning day instruction.
-An extremely inclusive Students with Severe Needs program. So much that it was hard to catch a kid or staff member in the sensory room because they were out in regular classroom settings.
-Expert and highly dedicated classroom paraprofessionals supporting instruction in numerous classrooms.
-How staff is starting to embed the development of traits and skills into daily learning targets and lesson plans.
-An outstanding level of parent participation in the school perception survey.
-Expert implementation of major changes in the curriculum while also implementing a one-to-one device program.
-Navigating the difficulties of the building construction process by remaining focused on instructional improvement.
-A focus on the improvement of learning targets.
-Impressive improvements in student behavior and referral incidents. We specifically took note that referrals are down by 58%, suspensions are down by 57% ( a total of 96 fewer suspensions compared to last year at this time), and last year students were suspended out of school for a total of 366 days while so far this year that total is only 41. Outstanding!
-Before a child is ever referred to the office, staff reach out to parents in an effort to help them support good student behavior.
- The staff's increased effort to use Infinite Campus to communicate with parents.
-Teachers instructing kids on how to navigate Infinite Campus to track their own grades.
-Smooth first-year implementation of the BIMAS screener leading to the identification of students who need, and now are getting counseling.
-Many great examples of ready to go Kagan lesson engagement structures in classes.
-Hundreds of kids who simply love being in school.
-The school is right where it needs to be in its year one Chromebook implementation.
-Teachers are not only creating rubrics but teaching them to students so they have a clear understanding of academic expectations.
-How staff instructional learning walks are paying off with teachers immediately applying practices learned in their own classrooms.
-Outstanding examples of teacher-created e-learning day instruction.
-An extremely inclusive Students with Severe Needs program. So much that it was hard to catch a kid or staff member in the sensory room because they were out in regular classroom settings.
-Expert and highly dedicated classroom paraprofessionals supporting instruction in numerous classrooms.
-How staff is starting to embed the development of traits and skills into daily learning targets and lesson plans.
-An outstanding level of parent participation in the school perception survey.
The Cañon City Middle School visitation team
Our Focus on Safety and Wellness
Last week I directly experienced the inconvenience being caused by the Coronavirus outbreak. After arriving in Austin, Texas on Friday afternoon to attend the SXSW EDU conference, it was announced by city officials the conference would be canceled due to several large scale sponsors pulling out and the fear an event that attracts folks from all over the world might contribute to the spread.
Because of the rise in concern and broad media coverage regarding the COVID-19 virus, we're sharing information to heighten awareness as well as offering strategies for individuals to take action to stay healthy.
To follow the latest developments, use the link below provided to us by the Fremont County Department of Public Health & Environment (FCDPHE). This site provides the most up-to-date information pertaining to COVID-19. Here is the link: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/2019-novel-coronavirus
Of course, Cañon City Schools will follow FCDPHE and CDPHE’s guidance for COVID-19. Additionally, we are developing a backup plan to continue educating students should there be a local breakout leading to a large scale quarantine. This will be accomplished via e-learnign at the grade 6-12 level, and possibly delivery means for grades K-5
If you have any questions about how the district is handling such matters, you can reach out directly to Director of Student Support Services Paula Buser at 719-276-5715. We also encourage you to explore our COVID-19 information web page at https://www.canoncityschools.org/apps/pages/Coronovirus_COVID-19
Meanwhile, PROPER HAND WASHING IS STILL THE BEST PREVENTIVE MEASURE. WE'VE PROVIDED THIS IMAGE AS A REMINDER HOW TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE HAND WASHING.
Because of the rise in concern and broad media coverage regarding the COVID-19 virus, we're sharing information to heighten awareness as well as offering strategies for individuals to take action to stay healthy.
To follow the latest developments, use the link below provided to us by the Fremont County Department of Public Health & Environment (FCDPHE). This site provides the most up-to-date information pertaining to COVID-19. Here is the link: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/2019-novel-coronavirus
Of course, Cañon City Schools will follow FCDPHE and CDPHE’s guidance for COVID-19. Additionally, we are developing a backup plan to continue educating students should there be a local breakout leading to a large scale quarantine. This will be accomplished via e-learnign at the grade 6-12 level, and possibly delivery means for grades K-5
If you have any questions about how the district is handling such matters, you can reach out directly to Director of Student Support Services Paula Buser at 719-276-5715. We also encourage you to explore our COVID-19 information web page at https://www.canoncityschools.org/apps/pages/Coronovirus_COVID-19
Meanwhile, PROPER HAND WASHING IS STILL THE BEST PREVENTIVE MEASURE. WE'VE PROVIDED THIS IMAGE AS A REMINDER HOW TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE HAND WASHING.
Last Week
Last weekend I wrote another installment of this blog. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we conducted the Lincoln School of Science and Technology, Cañon City Middle School and McKinley Elementary School Instructional Program Reviews. On Thursday we shifted our focus to exploring a formal collaboration between us and the RE-2 and RE-3 school districts. On Friday I traveled to Austin, Texas to attend the SXSW EDU conference.
This Week
We have been meeting about developing a Fremont County School District collaborative
Despite the cancellation of SXSW EDU, I'll remain in Austin, Texas through the end of the day on Tuesday, returning to Cañon that evening as originally planned. On Wednesday I'll participate in an Opportunity Coalition legislative advocacy call, meet with Colorado Education Initiative leaders about some potential future projects, and end the day meeting with certified employee association leaders to plan this year's Master Agreement negotiations. On Thursday I'll join in on the Pikes Peak Alliance legislative advocacy call, conduct an expulsion follow-up hearing, meet with City leaders about Rudd Park issues, meet with GE Johnson staff to set up internship opportunities for our high school students, and I'll end the day participating in a Cañon City High School Assistant Principal interview process. On Friday I'll attend the Upper Arkansas Technology Sector meeting at Emergent Campus in Florence.
Other Voices
Mr. Olguin observes small group learning stations
Last Monday we conducted the Lincoln School of Science and Technology's annual Instructional Program Review. After our visit, Principal Garrett Olquin shared this nice message with his staff.
Dear Lincoln Staff,
I can't honestly thank you for your hard work just today during our Instructional Program Review, because you all work hard for Lincoln students every day. As I told many of you before today, all you needed to do was your normal daily routine. No dog and pony show needed. You are the real deal all the time, and today was no exception. Well done!
I know it can be a bit unsettling to have so many people observing your work with kids. However, you and your students didn't miss a beat. The team today was impressed with the programs within our school and the efforts on behalf of ALL staff for our kids. The Pillars of Instruction were on full display and it was abundantly clear to the team that the Lincoln staff is a family that takes care of the social-emotional needs of kids first and foremost.
Thank you to Alyssa Altnau, Nicole Clark, Kirsten Trainor, Dwayne Walter, and Shantell Lynch for exemplifying Core Belief #2 by taking a risk and joining the team in the Conference Room to share on a few specific topics. I really appreciate your willingness to do that and commend your leadership. A big thank you to Lacey Ledoux for helping me put the finishing touches on today's visit and for her leadership throughout the day. We are without a doubt better as a whole because of you and your expertise in literacy instruction, Lacey. Because the whole staff did such a fantastic job of working as a team to complete our self-evaluation a while back with all those blue, green, yellow, and red index cards, I was able to confidently put a presentation together that encompassed who we are as a school. So, what's next for us as we wrap up the last third of our year together?
Garrett Olguin
. . . and thanks to all for listening once again.
George S. Welsh
Dear Lincoln Staff,
I can't honestly thank you for your hard work just today during our Instructional Program Review, because you all work hard for Lincoln students every day. As I told many of you before today, all you needed to do was your normal daily routine. No dog and pony show needed. You are the real deal all the time, and today was no exception. Well done!
I know it can be a bit unsettling to have so many people observing your work with kids. However, you and your students didn't miss a beat. The team today was impressed with the programs within our school and the efforts on behalf of ALL staff for our kids. The Pillars of Instruction were on full display and it was abundantly clear to the team that the Lincoln staff is a family that takes care of the social-emotional needs of kids first and foremost.
Thank you to Alyssa Altnau, Nicole Clark, Kirsten Trainor, Dwayne Walter, and Shantell Lynch for exemplifying Core Belief #2 by taking a risk and joining the team in the Conference Room to share on a few specific topics. I really appreciate your willingness to do that and commend your leadership. A big thank you to Lacey Ledoux for helping me put the finishing touches on today's visit and for her leadership throughout the day. We are without a doubt better as a whole because of you and your expertise in literacy instruction, Lacey. Because the whole staff did such a fantastic job of working as a team to complete our self-evaluation a while back with all those blue, green, yellow, and red index cards, I was able to confidently put a presentation together that encompassed who we are as a school. So, what's next for us as we wrap up the last third of our year together?
- Our intermediate kids will demonstrate what they've learned on the CMAS tests after Spring Break.
- Once we find out our FTE allotment, we'll need to come together to do scheduling for the 20/21 year.
- Soon I want to meet with anyone who is willing to discuss ideas for what to do with our Promethean Boards.
- Daniel Coppa will continue working with us on sharpening our skills with ClassFlow.
- We'll have to make a final decision and make a recommendation for our STEMscopes pilot.
- I'll be asking teams to come together to interview candidates for the vacancies created by our retirees.
- The re-creation/construction of Classroom 13 will begin over Spring Break to maximize our classroom space and ultimately allow for an SSN Sensory Room.
Garrett Olguin
. . . and thanks to all for listening once again.
George S. Welsh
