Focus on the Fabulous
Congratulations to our very own Linda Donaldson for being selected as Center’s Teacher of the Year! Linda has worked in the Center School District for 16 years and is considered a master teacher by both administration and her colleagues. She is extremely effective in her classroom and the way that she approaches instruction. Linda consistently uses a variety of effective instructional strategies in her classroom that ensure students are engaged in the learning process. She provides direct instruction, supports learning through modeling and feedback, and continuously checks understanding. The impact of her instruction is evidenced in our assessment results each year. Our students have shown tremendous growth over the last four years and last year our students showed growth at above the 70%ile in math. She lives out our core belief in increasing academic achievement for ALL students. Linda demonstrates a solid grasp of her content and is seen as an expert in guaranteeing that our curriculum is focused and appropriate. We rely on her to help us identify any gaps and make sure that we are targeting instruction on essential concepts. Linda’s commitment to her content and her ability to teach math effectively make her an outstanding teacher. We are fortunate to have her at Skoglund Middle School! Congratulations Linda!
We had several middle school grapplers who competed at the regional and state competitions over Spring Break. Ulysses Aguilar, Mario Chavez, Carlos Lopez and Frank Torrez all placed at the regional competition. Juan Nungaray came in third place at state by pinning his opponent in the first period. Our middle school wrestlers had a great season under Carlos Valencia’s coaching. Way to go Vikings.
We had several middle school grapplers who competed at the regional and state competitions over Spring Break. Ulysses Aguilar, Mario Chavez, Carlos Lopez and Frank Torrez all placed at the regional competition. Juan Nungaray came in third place at state by pinning his opponent in the first period. Our middle school wrestlers had a great season under Carlos Valencia’s coaching. Way to go Vikings.
Rewind
We spent the week before break TCAP testing. Monday started with a pep assembly to get the kids revved up for testing. As the middle school principal, I got the chance to acknowledge and reward the five top students from each grade that had shown the most growth in their TCAP from last year. The students who were last year’s 6th graders and our current 7th graders that earned this recognition are: Cosme Cordova, who showed growth at the 78%ile in all content areas, Jose Sotelo-Fierro had 80% growth, Brisa Castillo Miranda had 83% growth and Miguel Gomez had 87% growth. Our top performing 6th grade student from last year was Gilberto Arana-Granados who showed 88% growth across the board.
Our top performing 7th graders from last year were: Donovan Lujan with 70% growth, Josselyn Duran at 72.3% growth, Deja O’Cana at 74%, Hannah Montoya at 78%, and Gloria Dominguez at 89% growth overall.
Last year’s 8th graders who are our current freshmen had tremendous growth and were our highest performing students in all grades. Those students are- Maizie Trujillo who had 88% growth, Gibson Martinez at 90.3% growth, Monique Garcia had 90.7%, and Rafael Velez had 96.7% growth. Our top performing student overall was Heriberto Chaparro-Gonzalez at 98% growth! With our support ALL children can achieve at high levels and be successful in life.
After the pep assembly, students spent the rest of Monday taking their math TCAP tests. Tuesday and Wednesday students completed their reading and writing sessions of the test. Staff did a great job of actively proctoring the sessions and providing students with the necessary accommodations. Thursday we returned to a regular schedule. Friday was another busy day as we hosted the end of the year middle school wrestling tournament. We had 14 teams compete and the event was a success. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to make it successful. Susan Banning organized the hospitality to ensure our guests were treated well. Sarah and Chris Vance got the track wrestling system up and running so everything went smoothly. Thanks to Andy Hawkins, Nicole Rockey, Lee Flood, Mike Phillips, and Jose Chavez for running the tables. Mike and Walter Martinez helped with getting things set up and making sure areas were kept clean. Julio Paez and Ascencion Najera made sure everything went well with technology. Cruzita DeHerrera helped out doing anything and everything that needed to be taken care of. The 6th grade class did a great job with the concessions stand and earned some money along the way. It makes running these big events so much easier when you have quality people pitching in to help. Everyone is committed to excellence in all they do every day!
Our top performing 7th graders from last year were: Donovan Lujan with 70% growth, Josselyn Duran at 72.3% growth, Deja O’Cana at 74%, Hannah Montoya at 78%, and Gloria Dominguez at 89% growth overall.
Last year’s 8th graders who are our current freshmen had tremendous growth and were our highest performing students in all grades. Those students are- Maizie Trujillo who had 88% growth, Gibson Martinez at 90.3% growth, Monique Garcia had 90.7%, and Rafael Velez had 96.7% growth. Our top performing student overall was Heriberto Chaparro-Gonzalez at 98% growth! With our support ALL children can achieve at high levels and be successful in life.
After the pep assembly, students spent the rest of Monday taking their math TCAP tests. Tuesday and Wednesday students completed their reading and writing sessions of the test. Staff did a great job of actively proctoring the sessions and providing students with the necessary accommodations. Thursday we returned to a regular schedule. Friday was another busy day as we hosted the end of the year middle school wrestling tournament. We had 14 teams compete and the event was a success. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to make it successful. Susan Banning organized the hospitality to ensure our guests were treated well. Sarah and Chris Vance got the track wrestling system up and running so everything went smoothly. Thanks to Andy Hawkins, Nicole Rockey, Lee Flood, Mike Phillips, and Jose Chavez for running the tables. Mike and Walter Martinez helped with getting things set up and making sure areas were kept clean. Julio Paez and Ascencion Najera made sure everything went well with technology. Cruzita DeHerrera helped out doing anything and everything that needed to be taken care of. The 6th grade class did a great job with the concessions stand and earned some money along the way. It makes running these big events so much easier when you have quality people pitching in to help. Everyone is committed to excellence in all they do every day!
Forward Focus
Middle school baseball will start this week. We will celebrate Mayor’s Day on Tuesday and help clean up the community. Wednesday I have my monthly AD meeting in Alamosa. Thursday morning our BLT will be meeting off of campus to make final plans for the year and work on improvement plans for next year. We will have a Health Advisory Meeting at lunch time and our Knowledge Bowl team will be competing in Del Norte that evening.