New Elementary Progress Report

Where will we go from here?

Not so long ago, I was looking for something, which led to tearing apart a closet. A closet packed full of things from multiple generations of my family for which I have become the keeper. What began with a quick search, turned into hours of pouring over family memorabilia. My grandmother, saved many things, for which I am eternally grateful. In the search I ran across my father's third grade report card. I gave a little chuckle...here I thought he was so smart and he had C's and D's. I also ran across mine and had a similar reaction. I'll save that for another day...His report got me to thinking how much things stay the same, and how much they change.

Report card from 1958
(This isn't my father's report card, he didn't do as well!)

A year ago, we were very dissatisfied with the district progress report, so we stepped out to create something we thought would better reflect student learning, including specialized comments. We did this with the input of our School Accountability Committee. We knew we would need to revise it - what we didn't know, was that the district was also underway in the same process.

In order to retain some unity in the world of choice programming, we have all been asked to use this new tool. So, we've set aside our 'home grown' report and are making the shift to this new report. Rather than rewrite what has already been written, I am including a link to extensive information about this new student progress report.

New Elementary Progress Report

There is a transformation going on in the world of education. There is no argument that the world is a different place for our kids and this calls for redesigning what their educational experience might be. However, the learning curve is a steep one for the professionals involved! Teachers have had very little time with the software for creating these reports. The software allows a teacher to really tailor the report to reflect the unique learning experiences in their classroom, and this calls for each teacher to create the report. As with all learning, the first few attempts are time consuming! We've had many bloopers and confusions along the way. We will get better at this!

What's important for you to know - in my opinion - is that these reports likely don't offer you the level of detail that some of you may desire. It doesn't offer students much in the way of feedback.  It's not very personalized. The report will communicate student mastery over outcomes they have been learning from the beginning of the year until end of December - not the mastery level we are looking for at the end of the year - but for the end of December. In addition, some teachers are smack in the middle of a unit at the end of December (which is a good teaching strategy for the holidays) and so the outcomes currently going on, may not be reflected on the report at all. Likely, the end of year report will be heavier than December. The designers of this software are exploring the options of teachers being able to create several reports a year -to report out at the end of a unit of study, rather than two date points a year. Ah, the possibilities....

Meanwhile, I want you to have the background to make sense of this new report, so be sure to check out the link. Reports will be live electronically to parents, through your Parent Portal account, on December 19th.

What continues to be most important to us at Renaissance is the partnership between home and school. We offer student-led conferences to empower students to be the heart of reporting their learning - thereby owning it. To receive personalized feedback from their teachers as they move along the learning continuum daily. We strive to keep the communication flow open so that at any time, you as parents, have access to conferencing with teachers for the level of information you desire.

Warmly,
Deborah

Happy Fall

Bootcamp 

Thank you in advance for supporting our kids!

What a day...

What a difference our community makes in supporting our school.

Thank you Steve Zizzo for DJing ALL day!
It wouldn't be nearly as fun without the tunes
 that energize the event!

Behind the scenes....

The funds raised at Bootcamp will go towards 'The Renaissance Fund' that will be used to meet the unique needs of our school. Those can range from scholarships to support families, maintaing our one-to-one technology (whoot! whoot!), Adventure Education programming needs, classroom resources, professional development, and the list goes on. Thank you so much for supporting this fund that enables us to meet the ever growing needs of our school.

A huge shout out to Brittnee Pierse and Katie Coyne for chairing this fundraiser and to ALL the parent volunteers who worked on this committee. 

Renaissance

From Good To Great

With the support of our Building Leadership Team and the voice of all staff, we have rewritten our school mission statement. It was time. In order for a mission statement to be truly guiding the way towards our desired state, it must resonate in the hearts of those working together on that common goal.

We analyzed and evaluated every single word before we could settle on something that we felt captured the spirit and vision of our work.

You'll notice that Ms. Pam has taken down our old mission statement in the lobby and will use the Eric Carle inspired letters that students made, to display our new mission statement:

Renaissance Mission Statement

To empower students to explore, discover and understand the world around them and the passions within them.

Students who are...

* creative, reflective, fulfilled individuals;

*active, compassionate citizens;

*courageous builders of a harmonious and sustainable world.

As a staff we set a goal of increasing our collaboration. In order to do that, we had to take some risks to try working in new ways which also meant some changes to how we had been doing things. 

We started by creating a new schedule, which didn't work out quite as we hoped - so we did what we ask kids to do, and we revised and are trying again! (Of course we took you on that journey with us, and likely created some confusion for you!) In order to create a chunk of time for teachers to work together, we needed to be able to have a fourth rotation paired with Art, Performing Arts and Physical Education. Thus, the creation of the Sustainability class. (More about that in just a bit.) This allows four teachers to work collaboratively at the same time rather than just two - which is increasing our collaboration across grades.

We have also shifted the way we use the library. Students have been trained and are doing self-checkout - just like they do at the real library. Students go to the library to get a book as they need one, not as a scheduled class time. This is allowing Ms. Diana to work collaboratively with teachers in a team teaching approach. The library is now a space that can be scheduled for all kinds of learning experiences and is staffed during the day by parent volunteers so that we still have supervision of students who are visiting the library to checkout books.

Teachers are sharing their expertise across the school by collaboratively planning, coaching and mentoring one another and facilitating our professional development sessions.

We have many more ideas, but as often is the case, the idea to action is a bit more complicated than it appeared to be when we were brainstorming and dreaming. We will continue to explore new ways of working together and expanding our expertise!

I've heard from lots of parents that their children are loving this thing called Sustainability. What in the world is that? 

Introducing Mr. Brooks!  I've asked him to share a bit more about our vision for this learning experience....

Hello Renaissance do-gooders!  I'd like to formally introduce myself to the community.  My name is Brooks Letchworth and I'm so excited to join the team here at Renaissance!  You may have seen a superhero, mad scientist, or detective popping up here and there; three of many personalities that help teach Sustainability to our students.  What is Sustainability?  

Check out the mission statement for this new class that is scheduled in the rotation with Art, Performing Arts and Physical Education:

To awaken students to the human impact on the planet and inspire them to learn how to become better stewards of the world they will inherit and leave for future generations, empowering them to create solutions for our modern day challenges.

As I've been telling kids in class, Sustainability is simply thinking about how our choices affect the planet and trying to make it a better place for everyone, forever!  Another way to think about it is using the Native American idea of the Seventh Generation.  That is, considering the health and happiness of seven generations down the road when we make choices in our lives.

Some of the things taught early in the school year encompassed voyage preparation (for personal sustainability) and Leave No Trace principles (for the planet's sustainability), as well as, the art of working as as crew.  We worked on effective communication, belonging, empathy, and group dynamics.  Kindergarten through second grade have been studying composting, recycling, reusing, and how reducing our use of resources can help the environment and habitats of animals.  Fifth grade has been looking at what problems our planet faces, with Fifth Discovery students embarking on an Energy Audit of our school.  Sixth grade students have been crafting presentations about causes they are passionate about and learning how to make messages powerful and meaningful to a variety of audiences.  Fourth grade has just begun a Waste Audit of our school to measure and track how much food waste and recycling we are able to divert from the landfill.  This is an ongoing project that involves designing and building new compost bins to turn our school's food waste into soil!

Stay tuned for many new exciting projects to make Renaissance a more sustainable school!  And be ready for your kids to bring you great ideas for becoming more sustainable stewards of the planet!  Green Team go!  

Performance at The Beat

The Beat performance

How quickly the first part of the year has gone! Just last week our last Crews returned from their Fall Voyage! It's been a wonderful time together.

Enjoy the special moments of Fall Break.

Warmly,

Ms. Deborah

Have You Heard the Buzz?

 Renaissance Secondary School ...

Fact or Fiction?

We have a group of dedicated parents who have a strong vision and passion for extending the learning experience of students at Renaissance on to the secondary level. They've organized themselves into a founding board under the non-profit "Renaissance Education." The board has five parents from three families with Noreene Thibault-Chen, our former professional learning specialist. There is now a whole "steering committee" of about 15 additional people. I am participating on this committee, as are others, as we strongly support the vision of a secondary school.

The first attempt at a secondary school through the district was not granted, and the group pushed on and is now preparing to apply for a Charter through the district. They are hoping to be ready in March of 2016 with an opening target date of fall 2017. 

Likely you have many, many questions, so I urge you to get connected and involved. If this Charter application is going to be successful the group needs your support and input. In order for the Charter to be approved in the first stages, the group needs to formally report parent interest to the school district and this can be done on their website. Please visit their website for frequently asked questions and more information.

 www.renaissancecharterschool.org. 

If anyone wants to get involved, they can email help@renaissancecharterschool.org.

We strive every day at Renaissance to intentionally create the unique learning experience we provide.  It has always been a concern that our students leave Renaissance 'primed' - with tools for learning, character development, service oriented and leadership skills -and there is no aligned next step just when they are most prepared both developmentally and educationally, to really soar. If only there was a continuation of this experience at the secondary level that was aligned with Renaissance - the culture, the principles, the mission, the learning experiences. It's for this reason, that I am passionately behind this group. I believe we haven't done all we can for our kids, without this next step. I know that many are wary about the idea of a Charter School. Challenge is always an opportunity. Perhaps this could be an opportunity to collaborate with the district in a partnership that's never been created before? This group has many ideas for how to make this vision become a reality. 

My goal here - to get the word out. To let you know I support the group and their vision. To lend a hand and contribute ideas and resources. 

You've likely seen the posters hanging around the school advertising a special event - did you know it's being hosted by this group? 

Check out the website for purchasing tickets. www.renaissancecharterschool.org.

 This is their first event to communicate their message and bring interested people together.

Warmly,

Ms. Deborah

Design Principles

For the Renaissance Secondary School

“The aims of education are to enable students to understand the world around them and the talents within them so that they can become fulfilled individuals and active, compassionate citizens.”

~Ken Robinson from Creative Schools

1. Strong School Culture
1. The school will have strong character education embedded into the culture of the school, including an emphasis on service learning appropriate to students’ development and grade level, developing students as principled, caring young people who take action as a consequence of their learning. The school's motto, "We are crew, not passengers" embodies the ethos that each student is expected to actively participate in his/her learning and to help others in their pursuits.
2. An adventure education program will be in place, in which students are challenged physically and mentally, pushed outside of their comfort zones This will assist with a culture of teamwork, perseverance, and cooperation.

2. Teachers and Students as Designers
1. Teachers and students are program and curriculum designers. Students work with teachers in interdisciplinary teams to design relevant learning experiences. Teachers and students participate in critical decisions regarding curriculum, instruction and assessment. Teachers are involved in decisions regarding professional development, hiring and other significant areas of the school.
2. The schedule supports team teaching and teachers and students have ample planning time to devise relevant integrated projects and authentic assessments by which all students demonstrate their learning and progress.
3. Teachers and students will be offered opportunities to develop in their role as designers.

3. Integrated, Project/Problem-Based Approach
1. Authentic, Relevant and Integrated curriculum: developing critical, creative, and reflective thinking skills to solve complex problems.
2. Innovation and Creativity. Students use a creative process to develop ideas, products and projects. Innovative thinking allows students to combine multiple known concepts to create something new or solve a problem.
3. Critical thinking and problem solving: Students think critically, analytically, and creatively. They know how to find, evaluate, and synthesize information. They can design their own solutions to complex, relevant problems.
4. Collaboration: Students work productively in groups. They communicate and understand multiple points of view and they know how to cooperate to achieve a shared goal.
5. Effective Communication: Students communicate effectively. They structure information in meaningful ways, listen, act on and give feedback, and construct messages for specific audiences.
6. Assessments: Performance assessments and portfolios, exhibitions of student work. Authentic, real-world assessments.
7. Growth Mindset: Students develop a growth mindset that enables them to have a strong belief in their abilities. They believe their success to be the result of hard work. They overcome obstacles with persistence and resiliency. They learn to see setbacks as opportunities for learning and growth. They also learn from and support each other. Their work is relevant to the real world.

4. Personalized Learning
1. Self-directed Learning: Students can direct their own learning. They set goals, monitor their own progress, and reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement. Self-directed learning is facilitated through:
• Small learning community
• Student projects that pursue interests and passions
• Advisory crews

5. Real-world Connection
1. Internships, fieldwork, and other community-based learning
2. Empathy drives and inspires the defining of problems and designing of solutions in the workplace or community.
3. Students develop meaningful relationships with adults in different disciplines.
4. Exploration of interests, passions, gifts and talents are embedded in learning experiences.
5. Flexible schedule contributes to opportunities for real-world connection

 6.     Arts Integration

                a.    The arts give students form to how they view themselves and the

                       world around them                         .

            b.     The arts give students a vehicle for understanding another culture

End of a great year

Ending and Beginning

We've been doing a lot of reading, thinking and brainstorming as a staff as we think about our current state as a school. When we reopen school in August it will mark the tenth year that Renaissance opened its doors in Castle Rock.

Renaissance: renewal of life, vigor, interest - our very name is a call to reflect on our current state and to wonder and continue to create new things.

While there are certain things that are out of our control, there are an abundance of things that we can create to increase the conditions for learning at Renaissance. As a staff, we are committed to rethinking our current ways and investigating new ways of working together.

Through a series of collaborative conversations we have recognized two things that will lead our efforts. We want to increase the opportunities for teachers to collaborate - beyond traditional planning sessions, to a more integrated and organic way of working together. We want to increase the differentiation in the learning experiences for our students. We are still in the process of unpacking just how to make steps forward, and more will be revealed as we do the work together.

Just as it is timely to evaluate our current state and identify the steps in moving toward creating richer learning experiences, it is also timely for us to evaluate our teaching teams. With an emphasis on growth, teachers evaluated their own needs, passions and desires in that direction. Some of our teachers are ready for a change in their role - to expand their teaching experiences and what they can offer to our learners. For some, that means an entirely new school.

Mr. Neil will be stepping into a new place - a middle school setting - and taking with him the values of Renaissance to spread and support learners. Mr. Josh is moving the vision over seas, with a middle school teaching assignment in Brazil. Ms. Lonnie had a one-year-only teaching assignment with us this year and she also celebrates the completion of her Master's Degree in Gifted Education . They will be missed and we support them as they step into a new experience in their lives.

I had hoped to share with you our plans for how some of our teams might be reconfigured by the date of this blog post.  Some things are still in progress and we haven't made firm decisions. I want to avoid any confusion by communicating that information more than once, so I am waiting until final decisions are in place. We are still in the process of hiring, and team decisions will be impacted by these decisions.

We are in the process of creating classroom assignments. This is a very thoughtful process where we consider both the social/emotional and academic needs of students. We consider their learning styles and what learning conditions can best support their growth. Because we are still in the process of hiring, we are unable to finalize class assignments. So this year, you will receive class lists and teacher assignments in July.

On Friday, June 5th end of year student reports will be emailed home. Integrated Arts will have hard copy reports and they will come home with students on the last day of school.

Teacher assignments will come to you when we have finalized all the decisions and sent via email. I will also publish a blog post and send that out to all of you so that you can see the final staffing decisions school wide.

While the school year winds to an end, the work doesn't stop. Teachers will be participating in a variety of professional development opportunities this summer. We are exploring ways of creating more innovative learning spaces within our school. You are all supporting this work with the funds that were so generously raised during Life Is Art.

Renaissance has always been an innovative school. We thrive on growth. That's why you picked this school! As we move forward to take learning to the next level at Renaissance - to increase teacher collaboration  and differentiation for students, our current schedule stands in our way. We are grappling with that right now. There is much problem solving to be done to design new ways of working together.

It is an honor to be apart of this very unique and special school. The focus of this blog has been on looking forward to creating an even stronger school in the future. I want to take just a moment to look back on this year and thank you - our community - for the trust and support you provide us with. We feel your support and partnership every day. Thank you.

Have a wonderful summer :)

Ms. Deborah

Articles To Read:

From Master Teacher to Master Learner

Why Creativity Now?

21st Century Learning Environments

Design Thinking

Joy in School

What is the value in letting students struggle?

Books to Read:

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

by Carol Dweck

Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education

by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica

World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students

by Yong Zhao

Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World

by Tony Wagner

To view:

5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do

Toxic Culture of Education

In the midst of change, information is key

Information has been shared with you about the upcoming state assessments. There is quite a stir in our community and across the state about the amount of testing our kids are facing.  After listening to some of it, I wonder if having more information might reassure you and provide a more steady, solid climate to support our kids in the coming weeks.

It's important to know:
* It's a state law, not a district decision, for administering the assessments.

* The state mandates the testing window.

* The state mandates the framework of the assessments (content, time, administration of tests, requirements, etc.)

* The state was mandating that if a student is present in the building during the hours of 9-11 a.m. and 1:30-3:30 (testing window), they must be tested. The state is now leaving that decision up to schools to decide. At Renaissance, it's taking every bit of our resources (space, people, technology) to administer the assessments. Therefore, we are asking students who are opting out to remain at home during testing hours as we are not able to provide an alternate option during testing.

* Not all tests have the same duration, but for the sake of providing band width for the on-line assessments, the testing window is two hours per assessment. Most of the assessments are 70 minutes in length and that includes 15 minutes built-in extra time. In the past, we had an accommodation to provide extra time for students who needed it, and it is now given to all students.

* Testing is not every day. We will be testing on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday's.

Why the new tests?
In past years we administered the CSAP assessment that evolved into the TCAP and now has evolved into the PARCC (assessing reading, writing and math). One of the biggest shifts in this assessment now is that it is completely on-line and has two parts rather than one. The first part of the assessment is to assess student achievement on the Colorado State Standards. The second part is to assess growth from year to year. This first year, the second part of the assessment will be creating the baseline for future years.

The other assessment is the CMAS and it is given to fourth and fifth grade students. This is not new, we gave it last year. This assessment targets science and social studies.

What is done with the results of this assessment and how does it impact the school directly?
* The school is given the results, as in the past, and the school is also evaluated by the state on how well they are doing educating students.  Poor rated schools go on an improvement plan dictated by the state and lose local decision making.

* School results are one way that parents select schools and one way that some parents evaluate schools. Would we care if we had a much lower 'grade'?

* Results are skewed if we are only testing a portion of our population. We have such a small sample size, in the first place.

*While this state body of assessments is not necessarily an accurate picture of how we are doing, it is one way of measuring how things are going and provide us with some data to ask questions and plan for improvement. While these assessments are not authentic, students are going to face assessments in their future and having strategies and experience with formal, standardized testing is helpful.

* Half of a teacher's evaluation is determined on the results - achievement and growth. This is not a district decision - this is mandated by the state.

* Douglas County School District has been pushing back and trying to work with the state to see if other assessment measures can be included in this assessment of teachers. Our district would like to see teachers be able to use their personal authentic assessment measures of students along with the state assessments - a picture of student growth and learning that measures outcomes aligned with 21st Century learning.


Some things to ponder...

* We have a manufactured crisis in public education. The message to the public is that schools are failing. I think that is far from the truth. In my opinion, schools have never done a better job than they are doing now. Here in our district, we are transforming education - looking toward the future and aligning the outcomes for students on the future, not the past. It's messy - but we are making it happen.

* As a result of this manufactured crisis, measures (such as state assessments) are put into place to 'hold schools accountable' for student learning. The public is all over the place in their values and interpretation of what 'accountable' would/should be. The public influences the decisions made by our state - or so one hopes!

* Do we all understand that our own school district (and others in our state) questions the value of these mandatory assessments and is actively working with the Department of Education to modify and/or change the direction of assessing students?

* I wonder if what we do locally, affects state decision making? I wonder what could?

* Could we stay in compliance and still affect change?

* In what ways might students be impacted by the attitudes of our community?

New information from the State Board of Education
On Wednesday, February 18, the State Board of Education voted to hold schools and districts harmless (in terms of accreditation and accountability) for parent refusals of state-mandated assessments.  While this is a shift in the state board's stance on refusals, we are still obligated to administer the assessments in accordance with the law. We need to have a record of all parent refusals to present to the state if our school would drop below the federally required 95-percent participation rate.
If you decide you do not want your child to take an assessment, we must collect evidence of your refusal. Documentation of a parent refusal may include:
* An email from parent
* A signed parent refusal form
* A phone call from the parent that we note on a refusal form

Come Share Your Thoughts With Me
It is impossible for me to communicate through the written word and meet the needs of each of you. If you want more information, want to grapple philosophically, want to have a shared conversation to make meaning...just come visit with me!

Warmly,
Deborah

A Celebration!

Saturday evening was the opportunity to recognize educators in our school district at the Apple Award Ceremony. I was so proud to sit and celebrate with Lisa Johnson, our teacher award winner and Andrea Bollman, our classified award winner.

During the ceremony Liz Fagen, Superintendent of Douglas County Schools, announces the award for World Class Educator of the year and I am thrilled to share with you that the award was bestowed to our beloved Kathy Carter.

I knew in advance, and was sworn to secrecy, so I was barely containing my excitement as I awaited the announcement. Seated in the room, at a table far away and out of her sight, sat Kathy's children and friends also awaiting the special moment of recognition.
Here is the link to the video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=wB4rVkrKyK0


It's important as a community that we have the opportunity to participate in the recognition of these fine educators. I know Kathy would say that Renaissance has many World Class Educators, and she would be right - and it was wonderful to shine the light on them. Join me in celebrating their special, well deserved moment.

Congratulations Lisa, Andrea and Kathy!