Echoes from Cañon
Examples of Excellence
I am pleased to recognize many examples of excellence this week in the Canon City School District.
I would like to begin with Kirsten Javernick our director of special education. Kirsten works tirelessly in support of opportunities for our most challenging children. In doing so she has created a technology refurbishing and recycling center at Canon City High School, has spearheaded our district efforts related to suicide prevention, keeps district employees in compliance with federal law as related to providing services to students with identified special needs, and has even taken on duties additional to those assigned by serving as the school psychologist for Canon City High School.
I also want to let everyone know how Canon City High School science teacher Carrie Trimble planted some flower beds at CCHS 7 years ago, and was even caught in the act of spending her precious personal time on Labor Day tending to and improving the bed. I have no doubt Carrie has not sought recognition for this, but want to point out her kindness as an example of the many things our teachers do behind the scenes to make our schools more inviting places.
I would like to begin with Kirsten Javernick our director of special education. Kirsten works tirelessly in support of opportunities for our most challenging children. In doing so she has created a technology refurbishing and recycling center at Canon City High School, has spearheaded our district efforts related to suicide prevention, keeps district employees in compliance with federal law as related to providing services to students with identified special needs, and has even taken on duties additional to those assigned by serving as the school psychologist for Canon City High School.
I also want to let everyone know how Canon City High School science teacher Carrie Trimble planted some flower beds at CCHS 7 years ago, and was even caught in the act of spending her precious personal time on Labor Day tending to and improving the bed. I have no doubt Carrie has not sought recognition for this, but want to point out her kindness as an example of the many things our teachers do behind the scenes to make our schools more inviting places.
I would also like to highlight how staff members from the Colorado State Penitentiary, the Centennial Correctional Facility, and the Colorado Department of Corrections Training Academy raised more than $4,500 and is donating these funds to the Canon City School District to purchase Emergency Preparedness Kits for use in schools. WE are in awe of this effort and can’t possibly express how thankful we are for these tools that will support our efforts to keep children safe at school, no matter the circumstance. Thank you!
Finally, I want to thank district nurse Trisha Sallie and the many wonderful volunteers who stepped forward last Wednesday to support the Canon City High School health services staff in conducting hearing and vision testing of all 9th grade students. A large group of retired educators supported this effort including Debi Blackwell, Ann Cranston, Becky Worthley, Ruth Lopez, Glenda Macklin, Cheryl Erickson, Margaret Korber, Cathy Solano, Ann Roche, and Vivian McCasland. They were joined by retired nurse Barb Engle, and retired military personnel Chuck Engle and Dick Barth. By the end of the day all CCHS Freshmen who were present were checked for hearing and vision deficiencies that could affect their ability to participate in classroom instruction. As a result of this work, the parents of students for whom issues were identified were contacted and given advice as to where they might have their child served for issues that arose.
Finally, I want to thank district nurse Trisha Sallie and the many wonderful volunteers who stepped forward last Wednesday to support the Canon City High School health services staff in conducting hearing and vision testing of all 9th grade students. A large group of retired educators supported this effort including Debi Blackwell, Ann Cranston, Becky Worthley, Ruth Lopez, Glenda Macklin, Cheryl Erickson, Margaret Korber, Cathy Solano, Ann Roche, and Vivian McCasland. They were joined by retired nurse Barb Engle, and retired military personnel Chuck Engle and Dick Barth. By the end of the day all CCHS Freshmen who were present were checked for hearing and vision deficiencies that could affect their ability to participate in classroom instruction. As a result of this work, the parents of students for whom issues were identified were contacted and given advice as to where they might have their child served for issues that arose.
The Focus of Our Work
By the time many of our employees receive this week’s edition of Echoes from Canon their email accounts will have been migrated from our Zimbra platform to our new Google Education Apps system. I want to commend director of technology Shaun Kohl and his department for all of this hard work, and I especially want to recognize our staff members who have stepped forward to become Google Apps trainers to support this transition and future use of the many Google Apps tools available to our staff members. These folks include Daniel Coppa and Eric House from CCHS, Tanna Miles from CCMS, Lisa Bryan from CES, Karen Steadman and Joe Mascarenas from Harrison, Toni Pierce from Lincoln, Mark Lyons from Mountain View Core Knowledge, Annette Nimmo from Washington, and Mike Fry from the administration team.
On Wednesday in CCSD several of our schools held delayed start schedules during which staff members engaged in learning experiences aimed at making them more effective at teaching kids. Some of our schools had teachers meet in professional learning communities to review student achievement data, and work on curriculum development and lesson planning. This week the staff of Mckinley Elementary learned about the effects of poverty on learners, and how teachers might use this knowledge to better meet the needs of their students. We know delayed start days can be a bit troublesome for family schedules, but believe the improved instruction children receive as a result of this professional development makes it all worthwhile.
Finally, last Wednesday at CCHS representatives from all around Fremont County met to inform our district Health Advisory Committee on the development of a revised student health and wellness policy. This policy has not been tweaked since 2006 when it was first adopted, and I believe the preliminary revisions that have been incorporated in it will help to serve as an excellent blueprint to raising our awareness of the physical and mental health wellness needs of our students.
On Wednesday in CCSD several of our schools held delayed start schedules during which staff members engaged in learning experiences aimed at making them more effective at teaching kids. Some of our schools had teachers meet in professional learning communities to review student achievement data, and work on curriculum development and lesson planning. This week the staff of Mckinley Elementary learned about the effects of poverty on learners, and how teachers might use this knowledge to better meet the needs of their students. We know delayed start days can be a bit troublesome for family schedules, but believe the improved instruction children receive as a result of this professional development makes it all worthwhile.
Finally, last Wednesday at CCHS representatives from all around Fremont County met to inform our district Health Advisory Committee on the development of a revised student health and wellness policy. This policy has not been tweaked since 2006 when it was first adopted, and I believe the preliminary revisions that have been incorporated in it will help to serve as an excellent blueprint to raising our awareness of the physical and mental health wellness needs of our students.
Last Week
On Tuesday morning I met over breakfast with CCMS principal Tim Renn about creating a building evaluation rubric to reflect the vision he and his staff have created for their school. I did the same over lunch that day with Washington principal Brian Zamarripa. I also attended Superintendent Advisory Council, Leadership Team, and Evaluation Council meetings on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning I conducted CES, and Washington, in building office hours. While at Washington that morning I connected with a parent who is interested in serving on our district accountability committee. I then attended a district health and wellness committee meeting at Noon, conducted CCHS in building office hours, and then attended a get to know you meeting with representatives from our local Boys and Girls Club. On Thursday I had the pleasure of conducting instructional walkthroughs with Mckinley principal Drenda Manning and must say I saw some wonderful examples of teaching related to communication of daily learning targets and engaging all students in lessons. I also dropped in on a Peer Mediator training session conducted by Canon Exploratory School aimed at teaching students skills needed to de-escalate conflict on campus. I then conducted in building office hours at CCMS before attending McKinley School’s back to school night. On Friday September 11th I was in Colorado Springs attending the Pikes Peak Area Superintendents Association meeting, and then I peeked in on a staff development session some of our key instructional leaders attended on formative assessment that will help us all to better understand how to measure what a child learns on a daily basis.
This Week
In the coming week I will do formal classroom walkthroughs at CCHS, Lincoln, and CES, and I will conduct office hours at MVCKS, Harrison, McKinley, and Lincoln. I have a monthly meeting with CCEA and Classified Association leaders, I’ll look in on peer counselor training at CCHS, I have a tech issues meeting, and I will also attend budget information meetings with director of finance Buddy Lambrecht, his staff, and building administrators at Lincoln, CCMS, and MVCKS. I will be taking Thursday and Friday off as personal days next week to attend a family wedding.
My in building office hours will be spread over the next two weeks as follows:
Tuesday September 15th from 11 AM to Noon at Harrison K-8 School
Tuesday September 15th 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM at Mountain View Core Knowledge School
Wednesday September 16th from 8 AM to 9 AM at Lincoln Elementary
Wednesday September 16th from from 11:30 to 12:30 at McKinley Elementary
My in building office hours will be spread over the next two weeks as follows:
Tuesday September 15th from 11 AM to Noon at Harrison K-8 School
Tuesday September 15th 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM at Mountain View Core Knowledge School
Wednesday September 16th from 8 AM to 9 AM at Lincoln Elementary
Wednesday September 16th from from 11:30 to 12:30 at McKinley Elementary
The Way I See Things
Since the beginning of school each of our buildings have practiced their school safety drills. CCSD follows Standard Response Protocol, a method of reaction to crisis situations developed by John-Michael Keyes, the father of a child who was killed in the Bailey school shooting. SRP recommends four basic reactions to school crisis situations: Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter. In effort to educate parents and community members on how to best support our schools when they go into one of the SRP modes, I offer the following information.
To begin, CCSD encourages all parents to sign up for “Notify Me” at www.canoncityschools.org so they can be notified of incidents and whether or not when a school goes into an SRP mode it is just a drill.
To begin, CCSD encourages all parents to sign up for “Notify Me” at www.canoncityschools.org so they can be notified of incidents and whether or not when a school goes into an SRP mode it is just a drill.
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LOCKOUT!
Lockout is a directive to secure the perimeter of a building and is the protocol used to safeguard students and staff within when there may be an external threat to them. This could occur if there is a dangerous person near a campus, but can also happen simply if there is a wild animal nearby that might pose a threat to our children.
When we go into Lockout mode all exterior doors are locked and no entry to or exit from the building is allowed until the lockout is lifted. It is business as usual inside the building.
Parents: Please remember there is no threat inside the building and the children are safe. Proper authorities will have been notified and will follow their procedures to investigate and eliminate the external threat. Please do not attempt to come to the school to pick up your child when we are in Lockout mode. No entrance or exit from the building will be permitted during this time.
LOCKDOWN!
Lockdown is a directive for “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight” and is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep students and staff safe in a quiet place when there is a threat inside a school building.
Parents: During lockdown there is a possible threat inside the building and your child is secured behind locked doors and out of sight. Law enforcement will have been notified and will follow their protocol to secure the school site. Please do not attempt to come to the school. Doing so will impede first responder operations and compromise the safety of children. No entrance or exit from the building will be permitted during lockdown.
EVACUATE!
Evacuate is used to move students and staff from one location to a different location in or out of the building.
Parents: An evacuation may occur when there is an internal threat such as a fire or environmental breach (i.e. gas-leak, smoke infiltration, etc). It may also occur if there is an internal human threat, but most likely only after that threat has been neutralized. Proper authorities will have been notified and will follow their protocol to secure the dangerous area. Once again, please do not attempt to come to the school. This will impede the evacuations operations and compromise the safety of the children. No entrance to the building will be permitted during evacuate mode.
SHELTER!
Shelter is a protocol used to guarantee group and self-protection inside or outside of a school building.
Parents: Seeking shelter may occur in the event of a fire, natural disaster, or unexpected occurrence. It will usually take place after an evacuation, by simply moving students to a safer location. Proper authorities will have been notified and will follow their protocol to assure student and staff safety. Please do not attempt to come to the school. This will impede the evacuations operations and compromise the safety of the children. No entrance to the building will be permitted at this time as well.
The final safety procedure the CCSD will use is called Reunification. Reunification is the way we turn children back over to parents or guardians in situations where we are not able to continue a school day as normal. During Reunification efforts parents will be notified by mass media as to where to get their children. Only emergency contacts with proper photo identification will be permitted to pick up children during reunification.
Parents will be communicated with via our “Notify Me” system and other media means to spread the word in our community whenever we go into an SRP mode and whenever the safety precaution has been lifted.
We appreciate your cooperation and understanding when it comes to the safety of our children and hope you will follow these guidelines when a school enters one of these modes.
George S. Welsh
Lockout is a directive to secure the perimeter of a building and is the protocol used to safeguard students and staff within when there may be an external threat to them. This could occur if there is a dangerous person near a campus, but can also happen simply if there is a wild animal nearby that might pose a threat to our children.
When we go into Lockout mode all exterior doors are locked and no entry to or exit from the building is allowed until the lockout is lifted. It is business as usual inside the building.
Parents: Please remember there is no threat inside the building and the children are safe. Proper authorities will have been notified and will follow their procedures to investigate and eliminate the external threat. Please do not attempt to come to the school to pick up your child when we are in Lockout mode. No entrance or exit from the building will be permitted during this time.
LOCKDOWN!
Lockdown is a directive for “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight” and is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep students and staff safe in a quiet place when there is a threat inside a school building.
Parents: During lockdown there is a possible threat inside the building and your child is secured behind locked doors and out of sight. Law enforcement will have been notified and will follow their protocol to secure the school site. Please do not attempt to come to the school. Doing so will impede first responder operations and compromise the safety of children. No entrance or exit from the building will be permitted during lockdown.
EVACUATE!
Evacuate is used to move students and staff from one location to a different location in or out of the building.
Parents: An evacuation may occur when there is an internal threat such as a fire or environmental breach (i.e. gas-leak, smoke infiltration, etc). It may also occur if there is an internal human threat, but most likely only after that threat has been neutralized. Proper authorities will have been notified and will follow their protocol to secure the dangerous area. Once again, please do not attempt to come to the school. This will impede the evacuations operations and compromise the safety of the children. No entrance to the building will be permitted during evacuate mode.
SHELTER!
Shelter is a protocol used to guarantee group and self-protection inside or outside of a school building.
Parents: Seeking shelter may occur in the event of a fire, natural disaster, or unexpected occurrence. It will usually take place after an evacuation, by simply moving students to a safer location. Proper authorities will have been notified and will follow their protocol to assure student and staff safety. Please do not attempt to come to the school. This will impede the evacuations operations and compromise the safety of the children. No entrance to the building will be permitted at this time as well.
The final safety procedure the CCSD will use is called Reunification. Reunification is the way we turn children back over to parents or guardians in situations where we are not able to continue a school day as normal. During Reunification efforts parents will be notified by mass media as to where to get their children. Only emergency contacts with proper photo identification will be permitted to pick up children during reunification.
Parents will be communicated with via our “Notify Me” system and other media means to spread the word in our community whenever we go into an SRP mode and whenever the safety precaution has been lifted.
We appreciate your cooperation and understanding when it comes to the safety of our children and hope you will follow these guidelines when a school enters one of these modes.
George S. Welsh
