Looking forward, back at school year - #lakewoodnews

Much of the conversation this past year regarding our schools in the Wheat Ridge area centered on Jeffco Schools' facilities master plan. Great conversations, great questions, and a strong sense of community were present at the meetings. Wheat Ridge residents are passionate about having the best schools for our kids!

So what's been happening in our schools this past school year? Wheat Ridge area principals met in early June to wrestle with the question: How might we better support the social/emotional needs of our students? With some additional funding approved by the Jefferson County Board of Education, principals decided to create a new position for area schools to better align the mental health resources and programs across schools.

This position will bring together school social workers, psychologists, and counselors from each school to engage in conversations regarding what's working and what ideas can be shared across schools. Building a collaborative community of our mental health experts will also allow schools to better tap into community resources in the Wheat Ridge area for the benefit of students and families. Educators in every school in our area have seen a significant increase in student mental health needs this year; many of our kids are impacted by crisis situations, poverty, stress, and anxiety. There is an increased urgency to provide wrap-around services in order to get kids ready to learn.

Jeffco's 2020 vision identifies important skills our students will need to be successful upon graduation, whether they embark on a career or college pathway. We are preparing our students for a future that will likely include jobs that are yet to be created. Problem-solving, collaboration, creativity, communication, critical thinking are all essential skills in addition to being able to read, write and use math in everyday situations. Classrooms cannot look the same as they did 10 or even five years ago; we need students engaged in hands-on learning that includes real-world applications. Educators across our Wheat Ridge area schools are continuing to think about how their classrooms need to change.

In many of our schools, students are enjoying more project-based learning, hands-on projects that require working in small groups and solving messy problems. Small groups of educators from Wheat Ridge are attending conferences across the state to learn from national experts on 21st-century learning. We are grateful in the Wheat Ridge area for our partnership with CEI, the Colorado Education Initiative, for support of this learning. Two books that parents might find interesting: "Creating Innovators" by Tony Wagner and "Helping Students Succeed" by Paul Tough.

We are excited to introduce two new principals in the Wheat Ridge area: Anne DiCola at Stober Elementary and Cheryl Clay at Kullerstrand. Cheryl has been part of the leadership team at Kullerstrand Elementary, building collaborative structures including professional learning communities for teachers and 21st-century enrichments for students. Anne brings to her new leadership position a strong belief in innovative, engaging teaching practices as well as deep knowledge regarding gifted education. This aligns with continuing efforts in the Wheat Ridge area to best meet the needs of all students, and to elevate strategies for challenging our advanced learners. Some strategies you might see in schools to challenge our advanced learners:

Enrichments based on student interests and choice

Enrichments geared toward leadership, math or creative writing

Service learning projects

Student guided book studies

Kindness projects

Advanced math groups, advanced writing groups

Clustering of students with ALPs, or advanced learning plans, so they have like-minded peers to push their thinking

Small-group work with a GT tutor

Tech challenges

Passion projects

Differentiated literacy and math instruction

Project0based learning in STEM and STEAM classes at WRHS, as well as in some elementary classrooms

Providing each student the best instruction to meet his/her needs and engage in challenging learning experiences continues to be one of our priorities in Jeffco Schools. As principals and teachers learn more about 21st-century skills and innovative learning structures, this will provide a springboard for more personalized learning for all students.

Back to the facilities conversation: again, what an impressive community response with very thoughtful ideas and questions. Following the community meetings, the Board of Education recently revised the Facilities Master Plan and is asking voters for support to fund the plan this November. We look forward to another year of learning together and creating amazing educational experiences for kids. Thank you to all of our parents and community partners who have provided support in a multitude of ways this year!

Karen Quanbeck is the achievement director for Jeffco Schools.

 

 

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Looking-forward-back-at-school-year,226732