I have not written a Principal’s Blog since early April. Yikes~ I dropped the ball but I’m picking it back up. Today marks our second day on campus with (almost) all students and it feels incredible! Decked out in costume, students gathered in the outdoor footprint of our old Central Area to celebrate perhaps the most important holiday to kids- Halloween. Halloween at ACS is filled with tradition. Eigth graders host the costume contest, fifth, […]
Principal’s Blog
Compass COVID Information
COMPASS HEALTH AND SAFETY PLANS (2021-2022) 2022-2023 ACS One Pager. 2021-2022 Compass Health and Safety Plan 2021-2022 Compass Health and Safety Plan for Overnight Outdoor Education Guidance for Schools From the Colorado Department of Public Health (updated July 7, 2021) At Home Symptom Screening for Parents and Staff Child/Staff feels unwell after arriving at school Return to Learn: Guidance Following a Positive COVID-19 Symptom Screen What happens to close contacts? Who is a close contact? COVID Testing Resources in the Valley – Click here for testing resources throughout the valley. https://covid19.colorado.gov/covid-19-testing-at-home
Connect and Excite
On April 1st, we launched into Distant Learning with brave uncertain teachers, excited uncertain students, and supportive uncertain parents. We set out to accomplish this goal: To connect with students and excite them about learning. A virtual classroom building was built for students to enter each morning and “shake” the principal’s hand by answering the Handshake Question. Teachers created ways to pull their entire class together; forming a safe place for students to share the […]
Holding onto certainties
Seated in my living room with coffee in hand, I listened to my daughter’s student-led conference. She reflected on her learning in math, reading, writing, Spanish, the arts, and science using vocabulary words I had never heard her say before. It was impressive. Note to self: she needs to read more. Then she shared what she is looking forward to: the Spring Musical, Outdoor Ed, racing a solar car, and being with her friends and […]
Pause & Reflect
“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” John Dewey Adults are living increasingly hurried lives, speeding from one obligation to the next. The events seem to be unrelated happenings- certainly not opportunities for learning. We need to keep moving. We don’t have time to pause. Right? Thankfully, life at school is different. We pause. And we reflect. We pause and think back on our experiences, relationships, and academic learning in […]