Welcome back Aspen Community School parents and students. I hope everyone had a great summer with plenty of time to recharge, spend time with family and friends. The 5-8 students start with outdoor education on August 26. The first day of school for 1-4 is Wednesday, August 27. Kindergartners arrive by appointment for orientation.
What’s new over the summer?
Math Training All K-6 teachers received training in a new math program we will be using this year. Chris and Annie (k, 1,2 grade) spend a week in Texas getting trained, where it was 105 in the shade.
Literacy Training All literacy teachers will be attending a two-day workshop on August 25 and 26. The goal is to further meet the reading and writing needs of all students within the standard classroom. The cool educational word for this is “differentiation”
New Staff We hired a new reading/special education teacher. Her name is Wendy Kurtz and she is already here and working hard. I will include a brief bio of Wendy at the end of this post. Very exciting! We also hired two new teacher assistants: Caroline Chung in the Kindergarten and Stuart Lacroix in the 5-8th grade. We are lucky to have both of these talented folks on board.
High CSAP Scores. We received test results in late August form the CSAP assessment taken last March. Once again our students continue to improve on standardized tests. (ACS now has the highest K-8 reading proficiency scores in the Roaring Fork Valley) We will use this valuable data to help inform instruction and improve student learning. Stay tuned for details.
Repairs We replaced several dysfunctional doors, tore down a few walls and tidied up the gym bathrooms. We invested about $16,000 in a few basic improvements. It was amazing how quickly the money was spent.
New for this fall
Programs: In the k-6 we are using a new math program called Investigations. Last year ACS teachers, the superintendent and teachers from Aspen Elementary and Middle school evaluated four different high performing math programs. The goal was to find a program that had the right balance of critical thinking and basic math skill work. Investigations was selected based on the experience of other high performing districts and educational research.
Literacy Differentiation. The key is understanding how each student learns best and then providing instruction to match. In a continued effort to do this we are increasing training and classroom support for differentiated instruction. ASC already has a huge advantage because of our small class size. Now you can expect to see some even smaller group learning opportunities that target specific types of learners.
Early Release Wednesdays Students will be released at 1:30 every Wednesday afternoon. For the bus schedule go to the Compass Website, http://compass.acs.schoolfusion.us/ click on Aspen Community School and follow the side tab to school forms/documents.
Options for Students: Of course this early release means students will be arriving home 90 minutes early each Wednesday. This is a new program at ACS and we want to work with families to help with this transition. There are a number of community classes/activities available already, for a list go to ACS classrooms on the web site and click on “Cindy’s Corner.” Depending on parent interest, we would also be willing to pursue the idea of offering an extended day program here at ACS. This would allow a limited number of students to stay at school in a structured program. Parents would need to arrange student pick up at the end of the day. If this is of interest to you please contact me at jgilchrist@discovercompass.org so we can determine interest and arrange appropriate staffing.
Why Are Students being released 90 minutes early?
Early release will provide teachers 90 minutes of collaborative planning time each week. The idea is that teachers within each learning center will meet to coordinate lessons, share information and plan. In addition, and equally valuable, teachers who instruct the same subject, i.e. K-8th grade language arts teachers and K-8 math teachers, will meet to share student work, teaching strategies and set collective, explicit goals for student learning. The meetings will always be structured with the goal of improving student learning.
Countless studies show “continuous, structured teacher collaboration improves the quality of teaching and pays big, often immediate, dividends in student learning and professional moral in virtually any setting.”(Schmoker 2006) In other words, when teachers have the time to meet in a structured, consistent way to identify essential and valued student learning, develop formative assessments, analyze current levels of achievement, set achievement goals, and then share and create lessons to improve upon those levels, students learn more.
Wendy Kurtz Biography
I am originally from Western Massachusetts. My first teaching job was in Bennington Vermont at a small private school. After teaching physical education, reading, math and tutoring I realized my calling as a teacher in the area of reading and special education. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts and a Master’s degree in Special Education. I absolutely love learning and the outdoors. My special interests include running, biking, hiking, kayaking, cross-country and downhill skiing, snow shoeing. I enjoy virtually all sports, except sumo wrestling.
Humor, sensitivity, inquisitiveness and creativity are my strengths.
Favorite Quote:
“ Alas for those who die with all their singing in them” Oliver w. Holmes
A few specifics:
2001-2004 Massachusetts College of Liberal arts, MA Master of Ed. With special needs concentration – Thesis “Phonemic Awareness of Dyslexics”
1998-2001 MCLA, BA in Fine and Performing arts, music concentration – Elementary Teacher Certification
2006 Orton-Gillingham multi sensory training
2001 Reading Institute Inc. phonology training
