BOBCAT BULLETIN  

As the fall colors come and go, Ignacio Elementary continues to rock this year! The school had a great positive start to the year. We welcomed some new faces that you will see around campus.  

Mrs. Dana Stanley is our assistant principal. She joins us after retiring from New Mexico where her previous school was just named a Blue-Ribbon School. All of her educational career has been at the elementary level. She has a wealth of knowledge in the area of reading and building strong reading instruction in the elementary grades. She also has tons of experience in working with behavior plans and implementing behavior interventions to help students be successful in the classroom. 

Hannah Moulton joins us as a second-grade teacher from Westcliff. This is her first year as a teacher, but she has had a very successful practicum and student teaching years. She loves technology and helping her students learn with hands-on activities. Her students adore her.  

Jennifer Latham joins us as a third-grade teacher. While this is her first year as a teacher, she has had 10+ years working in schools as a paraprofessional. She spent many years as a journalist as well but has found teaching is her calling. She has many creative ideas to help her students learn and engage in the lessons she prepares. 

Tayler Dossey joins us as a fourth-grade teacher out of Adams State College. Tayler played basketball for Adams State and loves teaching fourth graders. She is a strong teacher who is applying her leadership skills to help her students be successful at a high level.  

Patrina Sullivan joins us as a first-grade teacher from Fort Lewis College. Patrina and Suesan Davis are co-teaching in first grade. Along with a paraprofessional, this classroom is rocking their learning. The three work together to help all of their students learn through the day. It is amazing to watch how great this classroom is working.  

Jodi Paige has joined us as an interventionist in the Title Reading and Math department. Jodi has 30 plus years working with struggling readers. She is trained in Orton-Gillingham strategies and has applied them to help dyslexic students as well as other struggling readers.  

Each year the Colorado Department of Education ranks schools based on the CMAS scores (grades 3-5). Last year’s data placed the elementary school at the Priority Improvement level. While reading and writing scores showed expected growth, we also saw a decline in math scores. The lower math scores were in part due to a teaching position at the fourth-grade level that the district was not able to fill due to the teacher shortage in the state. The elementary school has developed a plan to respond to the data and increase academic growth for this school year. 

First of all, the school is fully staffed, and the schedule reflects more time in both math and language arts. Fifth graders are receiving extra minutes in math to make sure they grow more than a year to catch up to expectations. The leadership team has worked tirelessly to find high-quality candidates to fill positions and then build a support system to help them grow as educators. We held a week-long Classroom Management Bootcamp to help our newest teachers learn ways to manage their classrooms for a positive learning environment. As a whole staff we are focusing on answering the question, “Are the students learning what we are teaching them? Are they growing in their learning?” We are doing this by analyzing data and adjusting our instruction as needed to meet all students’ needs. Last week teachers received training in how to ensure our advanced learners are growing and being challenged academically in the classroom. 

We have also infused more fun activities for students this year to help keep our learning climate a fun place to be. This includes your Rise and Shine pep assemblies, the AR reading Point Clubs where students can earn pizza parties and trips to Fly High but earning points in AR reading, and our Positive Behavior Office Referral system. So far, we have recognized over 200 students for going beyond our expectations and being 6 Pillar Bobcats.  

I invite anyone to come visit the school to see all the great things happening at the school this year. It is a great year in Bobcat Country. 

 

Upcoming Events in the District: 

Parent-teacher Conferences are Oct. 23-27 for the Ignacio Elementary and Middle Schools. Please make sure you make some time to talk with your child’s teachers.