March 19, 2015 VOLU M E 1 0 | I S SUE 42
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ARVADA GOES GREEN
Brenden Morrison and his twin brother, Garhett, stand in awe while a balloonist creates a balloon hat for him. The 2015 Olde Town Arvada St. Patrick’s Day Festival showcased the flavor, style and sound of both traditional and modern Irish Culture, Saturday March 14. The fourth annual event saw more than 150 percent growth and featured a variety of Irish entertainment including the jigs and dancing skills of the Bennet School of Irish Dance and the green beer from Arvada Beer Co.
Dancer’s from the Bennet School of Irish Dance show off some traditional hard-shoe dances. Photos by Crystal Anderson
Foundation awards grants to impacted schools Stein and Peck recognized for great achievement despite challenges
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tudent achievement is something all schools strive for, and this spring two of Jeffco’s most impacted buildings are recognized for their success in fostering a culture of achievement.
Jeffco’s Peck and Stein Elementary will receive grants from the Foundation for Great Schools, a coalition recognizing success in education. A collaboration of five Colorado nonprofit organizations, The Anschutz Foundation, The Daniels Fund, Fox Family Foundation, Gates Family Foundation, and the Piton Foundation joined together to reward
schools with a higher percentage of free and reduced lunch students for the success they’ve seen both in and outside the classroom. “There are some really amazing schools out there, who, with some difficult circumstances, are doing very well,” said Tom Kaesmeyer FGS spokesperson.
STEIN ELEMENTARY
PECK ELEMENTARY
Arvada’s Peck Elementary, with 322 students, will receive $15,000 from the foundation. “With this grant, we will use that money to continue what we’re doing,” said Principal John Katsanis. “We are so appreciative of it.” After seeing an increase in the school’s free and reduced lunch population and a dip in assessment scores, Katsanis decided it was time to take a deeper look at their strategies for success. Those included Peck faculty implementing Success In Sight, a research and data-based school improvement program, offering free, full-day kindergarten for all students, maintaining two teachers per grade level and maintaining intervention for students who aren’t at grade-level. Using this model and other strategies the school began to change, developing a familylike culture which encourages and celebrates achievement. “This is a place you walk in and you know we care about each other,” said Lauren Kreider, a sixth grade teacher at Peck. “Once you’re here, you don’t want to leave because there is this community with our kids and with each other.”
The program begins looking at schools in the fall, nominating those with an increased free and reduced lunch population and assessment scores. From there, the organization goes into individual schools and evaluates them on a variety of traits, such as leadership, teacher effectiveness, school culture and data analyzation and management.
Kaleigh McCabe logs on to her chromebook, a lightweight laptop used in her fifth-grade class to create presentations on the human body, among other projects at Peck Elementary.
In Lakewood, Stein Elementary, a school of more than 700 students and a 92 percent free and reduced lunch population will receive $20,000 from the foundation. Money, Principal Samantha Salazar said will go help increase and update the school’s technology. “We have a technology gap in our school in comFrom left, Jesse Del Rio Hernandez, Joanna Minor and Kiara Lopez, read parison to the surrounding out loud a Spanish children’s book, sounding out their words and spellareas,” she said, “something ing new vocabulary at Stein Elementary. we’re striving for over the next four years is to be a one-to-one school with some kind of mobile device.” This year, the staff at Stein have been working to develop strong Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs, a form of collaboration among teachers to help increase student achievement. Salazar said with this model she hopes to have staff work better in collaboration and using technology to better meet the needs of students. Stein has received this grant five years in a row now, something Salazar attributes to the work her teachers are doing to help their students, in and outside the classroom. “We are doing great things here in this school,” she said, “the teachers are passionate about the work that they do and they are committed to seeing their students succeed.”
STORY AND PHOTOS BY CRYSTAL ANDERSON / CANDERSON@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM