News from Sheridan School District
No. 2
Contact: Mark Stevens
[email protected]
303-495-8699 (mobile) • 720-328-5488
(office)
News Release
Feb. 27, 2019
Sheridan Board of Education Work
Session Recap
The Sheridan Board of Education met
in a work session Tuesday, Feb. 26 and discussed a variety of topics.
Fort Logan Northgate Learning Walk
Debrief
Following a Learning Walk of Fort
Logan Northgate School last week (Feb. 22), board members shared their
observations from the tour and classroom observations.
“I was very, very happy to see how
technology was being used in the classrooms,” said board member Karla Najera.
“Moving forward, I would like us to look into our technology … to make sure all
of our students are as comfortable as those third-graders.”
Najera also noted the calm atmosphere
in classrooms and how she has observed “consistent” language from teacher to
teacher and school to school.
Board member Sally Daigle said she
was pleased to see teachers acknowledge certain students who needed extra help
while continuing seamlessly with group instruction.
And Board of Education president
Bernadette Saleh said she appreciated seeing how many students were writing.
Fort Logan Northgate School principal
Nelson Van Vranken thanked board members for their time to visit. He also said
he is excited about the teachers’ efforts to challenge students “across all
content areas.”
Sheridan Head Start
Early Childhood Center director Aimee
Chapman briefed the board regarding a formal 60-page Community Assessment that
is part of the district’s application to renew its federal Head Start grant.
Sheridan School District acts as the lead agency for the program, which serves
students from Englewood and Littleton as well. The exhaustive community
assessment is a routine part of every grantee’s process.
Chapman reviewed a host of
demographic data about Arapahoe County’s changing population, indicating the
number of eligible students is declining. She reviewed a host of
poverty-related data across the county and in Sheridan in particular.
The application for a new five-year
grant includes three goals (currently in draft form):
- = The
Sheridan Grantee and delegate agencies will exceed quality standards for
instructional staff as measured by annual Classroom Assessment Scoring
system, CLASS, national average scores.
- = The
Sheridan Grantee and delegate agencies will continue to learn about the
communities they serve. Seeking a stronger sense of the cultures,
demographics, patterns, and needs to better serve their population.
- = The
Sheridan Grantee and delegate agencies are committed to support families
in awareness and improvement of healthy living practices in relation to
physical, emotional and social health.
Roger Rowland
Roger Rowland, secretary/treasurer of
the Sheridan Historical Society, briefed the board on his ongoing work on
Sheridan School District history. Rowland recently completed a history of
Sheridan High School and is now working on a history of the high school’s
athletics programs. Rowland, speaking as a private citizen, also briefed the
board on his efforts to improve relationships between the school district and
community partners.
Board Policies
Board members discussed an ongoing
process to bring district polices into compliance, following a review by the
Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB). Board member Daniel Stange
suggested adding more specificity to the board policy that governs student
discipline. Board member Stange specifically suggested that the policy reference
a process known as Restorative Justice. Board members agreed after some
discussion that the policy language should remain general, and follow state
statute, and allow schools to select the specific strategies to use.
About Sheridan School District 2
Located southwest of Denver, Sheridan
School District 2 seeks high-level post-secondary options for all students
through continuous improvement of quality instruction. More: www.ssd2.org
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