01/28/2023
It’s so great to see the new CTE program underway at South Park Re2!! Thank you to all who have supported and continue to support these efforts.
Letter from Superintendent Cindy Bear:
Families,
Superintendent’s Report January 2023
We have made it to 2023 and the school year is halfway through. It certainly seems like time goes so quickly the older I get. This is the time of the year I report to the Board of Education on Learning in the District so I am passing that information along to families. The attached report highlights some of the new initiatives happening across the schools.
Monitoring Report Learning January, 2023
CTE:
We were able to hit the ground running this year with the help of 4B funds to start our Career/Technical Education program. We hired a full time CTE Coordinator, Erin Ventura, who has taken the lead on planning and organizing the program. A 5 year growth plan has been created for the future of Park County’s CTE program. Erin is attending a training in February to complete some required training hours for her CTE Director’s License. By obtaining this license, eventually some of her salary will be covered through Perkins money.
We also hired a full time Vocational Agriculture teacher, Amanda Burdette, and started an official FFA program for our students. FFA is an excellent opportunity for students to build leadership skills and communication skills. The plan for next year’s courses are:
Exploratory Agriculture and Leadership (This class will introduce middle school students to many different aspects of agriculture including the FFA/Leadership, the History of Agriculture, Sustainability in Agriculture, Watershed Science, and Horticulture), Hunter Safety/Natural Resource Management (This course will focus on FFA, SAE Planning, Leadership/Communication Skills, Career Development, The History of Agriculture Overview, Agribusiness, Shop Safety, Tool Identification, Livestock Breeds, and Plant Science/ID), HS Intro to Agriculture A and B sections (This course will focus on FFA, SAE Planning, Leadership/Communication Skills, Career Development, The History of Agriculture Overview, Agribusiness, Shop Safety, Tool Identification, Livestock Breeds, and Plant Science/ID), and HS Principles of Agriculture (This course will incorporate FFA, Food Science/Food Production, Agribusiness, Agriculture Issues and Current Events, Agriculture Power Systems and Technology, Animal Science and Rangeland Management/Plant ID).
We are utilizing our Transportation Director, Ben Medina, to teach one period of Auto Mechanics. This has definitely received high interest from students so we will work on a plan to expand next year. Some of the planning is around ways to offer a second period of Auto Mechanics as well as exploring options for student lab space.
Chris Bresnahan comes in for two periods of Construction Trades class. The students in this class have completed several projects including sectioning off part of the classroom to create a mock kitchen. They are learning to construct interior walls through drywalling skills, learning to install electrical wiring, plumbing, and installing cabinets to name a few of the learned skills.
Tori Farestad, our high school science teacher, completed special training to teach a new Biomedical class. This has been extremely interesting for students as they learn about the science behind basic medical techniques and forensic science. Planning for next year has started and BioMed may be offered for all Freshman as their Biology credit. If planning continues accordingly, students will eventually have the option of continuing into the next course which is Human Body Systems, and then Medical Interventions, ending with Biomedical Innovations. In demand skills will be at our student’s fingertips.
We realize there are a multitude of career options and we certainly hope to expand our offerings but we will prioritize offering advanced classes in the areas we currently have so students have the potential to earn career certificates before they graduate as well as obtaining state approval for the courses we are already offering. State approved programs have criteria to meet and once met, additional funding revenue will happen.
We are working on addressing the space issue so we can continue to expand these classes as that is our most critical need for this program.
District wide Math:
Because our math scores are a concern and have been for quite some time, I have asked for the formation of a District Math Committee made up of math teachers to discuss the current state and brainstorm possible solutions for how the District can address this pressing need. This team is excited to be working together and I trust they will provide excellent guidance for Administration.
ETE:
The elementary school received the Early Literacy Grant (ELG) a couple of years ago so literacy has been the primary focus. The grant pays for a consultant who has been coming onsite to provide big picture guidance to staff and it also pays for a local Literacy Coach, Dana Thompson, to provide day to day help and support to staff.
Part of the support plan is the Walk to Intervention program. At a designated time each day all regular teaching stops and all students “walk to” a predetermined location where they receive any additional support or learning extensions they need. It is a quick, targeted, intervention that students receive every day!
In addition to this, Dana also, along with the interventionist, Laura Karbach, assists teachers with their literacy instruction time by pulling students allowing a greater small group focus.
Middle School:
The middle school staff has gotten creative this year by taking advantage of some small class sizes. They decided to combine some classes and then are putting our “extra” teachers in the classes to co-teach the students. This allows for certified teachers to be available to help and support students in classes they don’t necessarily teach to give students the best support we can. They are also utilizing high school students in their classrooms as student helpers.
Behavioral Health Program:
I’m really not sure if this is the name we will land on for this new program but we are very excited to have expert help in the behavioral world. We stumbled upon the opportunity to bring in a BCBA (Board Certified Behavioral Analyst) to help advise us on some of our special behavioral needs. We have struggled for quite some time as none of our staff has ever had this qualification. We are also putting some of our paraprofessionals through specialized RBT (Registered Behavior Technician) training to be better equipped to support our students.
ELL:
With our ever growing ELL (English Language Learner) population, we have struggled to be able to provide adequate support for those students. This year, our Student Services Coordinator, Susan Haley, continues to oversee that program but we have hired a paraprofessional to assist in providing the direct student support. It’s very possible that we may have to expand this program even further next year.
I’m excited and proud of the work the staff is doing in the area of learning. We are so fortunate to have dedicated staff who are willing to go above and beyond the typical duties of their job to support our students.
