AHS Weekly Update- Week of August 30th, 2010

What an amazing student orientation! The energy and buzz at campus is electric and we are excited for our first, full week of classes! Please take a moment to review the following updates:

School Hours and Logistics
School Communications
School Pictures
Exhibition Events

School Hours and Logistics

A reminder that Animas High School’s campus is open daily from 7:15 AM to 5PM. From 7:15 AM to 8:00 AM, students are welcome to gather in the Lodge. Likewise, from 4:15 PM to 5 PM students are welcome to wait in the Lodge for their rides home. If students are still around post-5 pm, they will be encouraged to meet you at the Durango Rec. Center.

When you drop your student off at campus, please be sure to turn North (right) only out of the upper lot- NO LEFT TURNS- if you absolutely must head back south, (i.e.-turn left) please drop your student off in the alley behind school, continue out to 33rd and take a left from there back onto 550.

Animas High School has committed to following these pick-up/drop off rules and CDOT and the city are watching! Let’s all do our part in ensuring AHS’s future at 3206 Main Ave.

School Communications

Weekly updates from the school are sent out at the beginning of each week via email. The Parent Action Committee, (PAC) also distributes periodic updates via email blasts. The school also publishes monthly newsletters highlighting all the great things happening at AHS.

Additional information regarding AHS can also be found on our homepage, http://www.animashighschool.com/ and on the Head of School’s blog, http://www.animashighschool.blogspot.com/ Finally, don’t forget to check out all the exciting cyber buzz related to AHS on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

School Pictures

2010-2011 School Pictures will be taken this Friday at campus. Students should have brought home paperwork covering the different photo packages available. Any and all questions should be forwarded to Ms. Mcknight at roxy.mcknight@animashighschool.com or by calling the school’s Main Office at AHS-AHS4 and leaving Roxy a message. All students will be getting photographed for school ID’s regardless of the families want to purchase school picture packages! Say cheese everyone…

Exhibition Events

We are pleased to announce John Fisher's 9th Grade Humanities students will participate in their first exhibition in connection with the 2010 Durango Heritage event. The exhibition will take place in the Oak Room at the Strater Hotel from 6 - 8 PM on Thursday, October 7.

For this project, 9th graders at Animas High will be studying Durango, past and present, through the lens of sociology. Our students will study social norms and identity formation in 19th century Durango and its modern counterpart. Students will then imagine they are travelers from the 19th century, writing short magazine articles about the social norms they observe in today's world. The final magazine and articles will be exhibited along with the student identity masks and essays they complete through this project.
We hope you can attend this exciting event.

Job well done- Herald Photo

Job well done

Article Last Updated; Saturday, August 28, 2010

Photo by LINDSAY EPPICH/Herald

Animas High School humanities teacher Jessica McCallum demonstrates Friday the tenacity and strength used by her students as they pulled tamarisk, a nonnative plant, out of the soil for a service learning project at James Ranch. From left are freshmen students Kyle Truax, Isaac Korce, Parker Buccowich, Skyler Dobbs, Zoe Rochrich and India Waller received their kudos Friday during the first school assembly of the year at the Durango Recreation Center Pavilion.

Lack of union support cited in Colorado's loss of Race to Top education funds

Lack of union support cited in Colorado's loss of Race to Top education funds
By Jeremy P. Meyer The Denver Post

Federal reviewers downgraded Colorado's Race to the Top application for education stimulus funds citing lack of union support, historic failure to raise student achievement and a "vague" plan.
Colorado lost for the second straight time in the national grant competition, mystifying education reformers around the country who had touted the state's plan as one of the nation's most ambitious.
Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien, who led the state's Race to the Top effort, said she would recommend against reapplying if the federal government hosts another round.
"Something very fundamental in the process would have to change," she said.
Colorado finished 17th out of 19 finalists with a score of 420 on a 500- point scale — the average of scores from five panelists who judged the state's application.
Comments from reviewers, who are not being identified by the U.S. Department of Education, ranged from glowing to critical. Colorado had the widest margin between high and low scores among the finalists.
Two reviewers, in particular, gave the state low marks.
One who scored Colorado the lowest among all finalists — 339 points — repeatedly noted lack of union support, "which weakens the likelihood of widespread impact."
Tim Daly, president of the New Teacher Project, said it was clear reviewers didn't understand that some reforms had been written into law.
"So many of these things are part of state law that you would think it would make those issues moot," he said.
Perhaps most telling was a section about the state's implementation of a science, technology, engineering and math curriculum, or STEM. Two reviewers said the application lacked a comprehensive STEM plan, and three reviewers said the opposite.
All five judges downgraded Colorado for failing to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their wealthier peers.
"The applicant's record of improving student achievement is weak and there is little information describing lessons learned from previous reforms," one reviewer wrote.
The state's presentation also got low points. Two reviewers complained that the application didn't include a copy of Senate Bill 191, a pivotal element of Colorado's reform effort.
"That is ridiculous," O'Brien said, insisting the bill was included in the application.
Kelly Hupfeld, associate dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver, said the process was good for the state.
"Race to the Top gave us a chance to create our vision, which we didn't have before," she said. Read more: Lack of union support cited in Colorado's loss of Race to Top education funds - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/education/ci_15907862#ixzz0yCYS934g

Colorado Awarded Three-Year, $40.8 Million Federal Grant To Expand Charters And Public School Options

Head Of School Note***** On the morning our state learns that we did NOT win round two of the Obama administration's Race to the Top education funding process, I wanted to post this release from CDE regarding Colorado being awarded a three-year, $40.8 Million Federal Grant To Expand Charters And Public School Options! Although CO. struck out at the federal level with Race to the Top, CO Charters continue to be well provided for at the federal level. We are not sure how much or when Durango will see this money. But, we know that more support is coming our way!

Colorado Department of Education – Communications Office
201 East Colfax Ave.
Room 207
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: 303-866-3898
Fax: 303-866-6938

Aug. 18, 2010

News Release

Colorado Awarded Three-Year, $40.8 Million Federal Grant To Expand Charters And Public School Options

Denise Mund, director of the Schools of Choice Office at the Colorado Department of Education announced today that Colorado will receive a $40.8 million charter school grant to increase public school options in Colorado. The state will be awarded $13.6 million each year for three years.

The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday the award of 12 charter school grants, totaling $136 million per year to state education agencies in Arkansas ($3.4 million), California ($51.8 million), Colorado, the District of Columbia ($1.3 million), Georgia ($13.1 million), Indiana ($10.9 million), Michigan ($16.7 million), Missouri ($2.2 million), New Hampshire ($1.3 million), Rhode Island ($2.4 million), South Carolina ($5.7 million) and Texas ($13.8 million).

The purpose of the Charter Schools Program is to increase financial support for the startup and expansion of these public schools, to build greater national understanding of the public charter school model and to increase the number of high-quality charter schools across the nation.

“Ninety-five percent of these funds will go directly to new charter schools in their first three years of operation,” said Mund. “The grant will fund curriculum, professional development, administrative costs, desks and classroom supplies, office equipment, furniture and technology.”

The remaining 5 percent of the grant funds the Schools of Choice Office and provides development opportunities for charter school leaders. Numerous trainings are offered throughout the year, including a finance seminar, business manager network meetings, mentoring opportunities, online board training modules and a variety of other online resources.

CDE’s Schools of Choice Office is recognized for its support of developing charter schools and received a very good monitoring report from the federal government in 2009. Last year Mund provided technical assistance to 14 states and was a featured presenter at a national conference and webinar. Colorado, which has seen an overall increase in charter school funding since 1998, received $7.4 million in grant funding last year.

Through the Colorado Charter School Startup and Implementation grant, CDE’s Schools of Choice provides technical assistance to charter schools and authorizers, processes waiver requests for the Colorado State Board of Education, collects data on charter schools, produces special topical studies, performs the state evaluation of charter schools, and responds to questions from the general public. For more information, visit www.cde.state.co.us/cdechart/index.htm

More information about the Charter Schools Program is available from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement at www.ed.gov/programs/charter/index.html


For more information, contact Mark Stevens, 303-866-3898, or Megan McDermott, 303-866-2334, in the CDE Office of Communications. To sign up for the CDE e-mail news service, please visit http://www.cde.state.co.us/Communications/index.html.

Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/codepted

School grant loss stuns Colorado

School grant loss stuns Colorado
Ritter 'extremely disappointed' about Race to the Top denialby Joe HanelHerald Denver Bureau
Article Last Updated; Wednesday, August 25, 2010 12:00AMDENVER -

Colorado has again lost an Obama Administration competition for school reform, despite the Legislature's passage of a teacher tenure bill that turned Democrats against each other.
Gov. Bill Ritter was "extremely disappointed" and said the people in Obama's Education Department who judged the applications don't understand the West.
Except for Hawaii, no state west of Tennessee was among the 10 winners. Colorado finished 17th out of 19 finalists.
The loss means Colorado will miss out on a $175 million Race to the Top grant to fund some of the reforms it has already passed.
"We are undaunted about what we believe to be the right reform agenda for the state of Colorado," Ritter said.
Race to the Top encouraged states to set high standards for students, and then use tests and data to hold teachers and school districts accountable for student performance.
Colorado officials thought they had done all that. Over the past three years, the state has become a national leader in adopting high standards for students and using test score data to help track individual students' progress, Ritter said. The teacher-tenure bill passed in May was the boldest in the country, he said.
That bill caused a civil war among Democrats when the main teachers' union fought it. Under the bill, teachers would not get the job protections of tenure unless their students performed well.
House Education Committee Chairman Mike Merrifield was a lead opponent of the tenure bill.
"I'm disappointed and frustrated that we passed seriously flawed legislation that was sold by many advocates as the way to get Race to the Top funding," said Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs.
Colorado was counting on Race to the Top money to help implement reforms the Legislature had passed, Education Commissioner Dwight Jones said.
"We are still in a position to get the results that we want. What Race to the Top was going to do for us is to accelerate that reform agenda. So it does slow down some of those pieces forward, but we'll still figure this out," Jones said.
When the Race to the Top competition was announced in 2009, Democratic senators and Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien had said Colorado's education reforms had made the state a favorite to win.
But only Delaware and Tennessee won the first round earlier this year.
Tuesday's Round Two winners were the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island.
Five judges, whose identities are unknown to Colorado leaders, scored the application. Two of the judges rated Colorado much lower than the other three.
"That leads me to believe that there are some flaws in how objective the measurements really are," Ritter said.
Ritter expressed his disappointment to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a phone call Tuesday morning.
O'Brien led the team that put together Colorado's application. She speculated that the judges were confused by Colorado's tradition of locally controlled school districts.
"They clearly in Washington have a tin ear about how we do things in the West," O'Brien said. "It's a real issue if the Western way of doing things doesn't seem to be understandable by people who have an East Coast perspective."
Duncan has requested $1.35 billion to pay for a possible third round of Race to the Top next year, he said in a news release Tuesday.
"We had many more competitive applications than money to fund them in this round," Duncan said.
jhanel@durangoherald.com

Tripped up by teachers union
The CEA's opposition was a major factor in Colorado's failure to acquire Race to the Top funds. Still, reforms will move on.
By The Denver Post
Posted: 08/25/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT

Colorado's largest teachers union stubbornly refused to support Colorado's Race to the Top bid and it ended up being a major factor in the state being shut out of big-money federal education grants announced Tuesday.
The Colorado Education Association must be tickled.
The decision means Colorado schools have lost out on a grant potentially worth $175 million. And, we must point out, the chief reason the union opposed the state's bid, Senate Bill 191, is still state law.
Way to go, CEA.
Close scrutiny of the results of the federal review of Colorado's application makes clear how severely the state was graded down because of the teachers union lack of support.
There's an unfortunate lack of consensus in Colorado political circles regarding education reform. While we applauded Gov. Bill Ritter for eventually supporting SB 191, the centerpiece of the state's bid, he failed to build a coalition to support it.
Reform still will happen in Colorado, it just may take longer and will be difficult to pay for.
Local districts, which would have gotten a significant portion of the grant money, still will have to implement the promised reforms. They just won't have the federal cash to help pay for it.
The refusal of the teachers union was a big factor in the loss, but not the only factor. The state's application also was marked down because of a lack of buy-in from all of Colorado's school districts.
That loss of points is puzzling, since the districts that did support the application teach 90 percent of the state's public school children.
And it made us wonder whether the folks in Washington, D.C., were uncomfortable with the notion of local control, a guiding principle in Colorado's K-12 education system.
Another disheartening portion of the Race to the Top results had to do with the scores attributed to the state's groundbreaking teacher tenure bill. The application appears to have been marked down for lack of union support for the measure.
Senate Bill 191 was hailed around the country as an aggressive reform. The CEA fought it tooth and nail, despite numerous efforts to include the union in shaping the bill without allowing it to gut the measure.
In an op-ed piece that ran in The Denver Post in May, Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke of the need for bold plans and political courage, and said Race to the Top strategies that relied on "watered-down reforms with broad buy-in" were not what he had in mind.
Colorado followed this blueprint in pursuing SB 191. Getting the bill through the legislature was a bloody fight, and the CEA was an obstructionist force every step of the way.
The bill passed anyway, and the governor signed it. The CEA, however, refused to support it.
Still, it was the right thing to do for Colorado school children.
Education reform still will happen in Colorado. It may take longer, and sadly, there won't be any extra federal money involved. But it's clear the momentum is there for game-changing education reforms whether the CEA likes it or not.

Orientation Eve- AHS Weekly Update for Week of August 23, 2010

Please take a minute to review the following updates:

Animas High School 2010 Student Orientation Overview
Animas High School Main Office
Animas High School Updates and News

Animas High School 2010 Student Orientation Overview

Edgemont Ranch Monday, 8/23/10

900 Arrival/Registration
1130 LUNCH- Cookout provided by Animas High School
315 Closing and Dismissal

On Monday we’ll gather for the first time as the classes of 2013 and 2014 at the Edgemont Ranch Picnic Grounds. We’ll spend the day shaping our new community and taking the first steps in setting our culture for the 2010-11 school year. AHS will provide burgers, dogs and all the fixings for lunch. Students need to arrive at 9 and parents should plan on returning at 3:15 for pick up. Our opening day is always an exciting and memorable event that helps us refocus and set the tone for the upcoming school year. Students may wear athletic wear and should bring a water bottle, layers for cool temps/possible monsoon showers and a camera if they want to remember opening day in pictures. We are outside all day-rain or shine!

AHS Campus Tuesday - Thurs., 8/24-26/10

830 AHS Opens Half Hour Before School Starts
900 Attendance
915 Tone Set and Dispatch from AHS
1130 LUNCH- Students need to bring their own lunches Tues. thru Friday
310 Check In at AHS and Dismissal

On Tuesday-Thursday we meet at AHS and start promptly at 9am each day. The building will be open at 8:30 each day for students to begin arriving. Students will work in their advisory teams, participating in a number of off-site/on site experiences and projects. Students need to be dressed for the weather and will need a water bottle and a bagged lunch for each day for the rest of the week. (Our lunch vendor program will begin the following Monday)

AHS Campus Friday, 8/27/10

715 Lodge opens
810 Arrival/Attendance
815 Morning Classes Run Thru
1130 LUNCH
1245 All Student Assembly
1:30 Advisory
3:15 Dismissal

Friday is our first run thru to familiarize students with the schedule and school day at AHS. For those who plan on arriving early this year, we’ll open our doors for the first time at 715. Students should enter into the Lodge, our newly remodeled utility space and student lounge. Students must be in their first period class by 8:15 and staff will be in the halls to assist new students with their room assignments. We’ll have our first all school assembly that afternoon and we’ll be joined by Durango Mayor Michael Rendon to help kick off the 2010-11 school year.

Our first week is designed to familiarize and transition our students into the systems, schedules and culture of Animas High School. We are very excited with this year’s addition of the Friday run thru experience. Combing the run thru with a week’s worth of shared advisory, service cultural and community building experiences will solidify the foundation upon which our community will construct the rest of the year. It’s the Year of the Osprey and our journey begins now!

Animas High School Main Office

The AHS Main Office will be open full time starting Tues. August 24th. AHS administration will be on hand to welcome and register students Monday morning at Edgemont Ranch. Any immediate questions or concerns can be sent via email to jake.lauer@animashighschool.com or by calling our main number at 970-AHS-AHS4. We look forward to welcoming you at the Main Office every school day from 8 to 4 beginning next Tuesday.

Animas High School Updates and News

Remember to check in with Head of School Michael Ackerman’s updates via the AHS HOS Blog located at: http://www.animashighschool.blogspot.com/

Weekly Update- Week of August 16th, 2010

Animas High School continues to be closed this week as our staff ramps up for the new school year. We are asking for only volunteers to be on campus this week so that we can stay focused an on target for opening day. Which just so happens to be a WEEK from today! Student’s are to report to Edgemont Ranch Picnic and Event Grounds on Monday, August 23rd by 9AM sharp! Until then, please help us at the building, enjoy the final week of vacation and review the following updates:

Volunteers
AHS in the News


Volunteers

We NEED YOU! That’s Right, it’s that time again! Head on down to Animas High School this week to help us ready our campus for the upcoming school year. We have moving, lifting, sorting, organizing, cleaning and finishing projects for the whole family! Work clothes, a water bottle and a positive attitude is all that’s needed to pitch in!

We need VOLUNTEERS ALL WEEK from 9AM to 3PM- We need VOLUNTEER COORDINA TORS to oversee crews and their daily assignments! We NEED YOU!

Animas in the News:

With the release of last week’s 2009-10 CSAP Data, there’s no shortage of press covering AHS students and their amazing performance. Read it here:

http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/News/2010/08/12/Local_students_CSAP_scores_mixed/

http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/Opinion/Editorial/2010/08/11/Test_scores/

Local students' CSAP scores mixed

Local students' CSAP scores mixed

School district officials wonder about stagnant achievement

by Garrett Andrews
Herald Staff Writer

Article Last Updated; Thursday, August 12, 2010  12:00AM

Scores from the Colorado Student Achievement Program show Durango-area students again outperformed state averages in every subject, but school district officials say work remains in overcoming a "performance plateau."

Student in grades three through 10 take the CSAP each spring to measure proficiency in four core subjects: reading, writing, math and science. The test, in its 13th year, is a federal requirement under the federal 2001 No Child Left Behind Act.

In Durango School District 9-R, only sixth-grade math scores lagged state averages this year. All others scores were above state averages.

Superintendent Keith Owen called the district's writing scores the "low point" in this year's data. Following a general trend across the state, 9-R writing scores were down from last year for all grades but eighth.

"We're still tying to figure out what happened and why we followed the state," he said.

In Bayfield, 79 percent of ninth-graders were proficient in reading, 42 percent were proficient in writing and 29 were proficient in math.

In Ignacio, 35 percent of ninth-graders were proficient in reading, 20 percent were proficient in writing and 15 percent were proficient in math.

At Durango High School, 77 percent of freshmen were proficient in reading, 62 percent of freshmen were proficient in writing and 47 percent of freshmen were proficient in math.

The scores at charter school Animas High School were the highest in the region.

Eighty-nine percent of freshmen were proficient in reading, 71 percent were proficient in writing and 59 percent were proficient in math.

In a media release, Animas High's Head of School Michael Ackerman attributed the high scores to the school's teaching methods and core values.

But Owen said self-selection might have provided Animas a high number of high-performing students.

Bayfield District Superintendent Dean Hill and Ignacio Superintendent Rocco Fuschetto were not available for comment.

District 9-R's Board of Education approved CSAP benchmarks last September.

Owen said he'll have a better idea of how the district fared when he sees district growth rates, which are determined by combining growth percentiles from individual students' several CSAP scores.

These growth rates are still being compiled by the Colorado Department of Education.

"For the most part, we're experiencing a CSAP achievement plateau," Owen said. "We're a high-performing district, but we're not seeing growth from one year to the next."

With classes resuming Aug. 23, Owen said he and his staff will be busy preparing this week and next.

Two elementary schools - Needham and Florida Mesa - will feature a new International Baccalaureate program, and online learning programs will debut across the district.

The International Baccalaureate program is an exam-based system put forth by a nonprofit organization.

Owen said teachers will go through two days of professional training next week to learn the district's new math and language-arts curricula, which he said were developed to bring the district's standards into closer alignment with those of the state.

Durango School District board member Julie Levy said she's "not disappointed" with the data.

"The question now is, do we expect more of our local schools?" she said. "What we're trying to do is go from a great school district to the best school district in the state."

Levy said raising scores while implementing other goals from the district's strategic plan at a time of financial uncertainty will prove a unique challenge in the upcoming school year.

The district intends to cut more than $2.7 million from the 2010-2011 budget, and is preparing to increase class sizes in grades three through 12.

District officials are hoping a November ballot measure will prevent deeper cuts.

A private donation of $50,000 is helping the district fund a campaign to pass the mill-levy override, which would fill a hole left by declining state funds.

District CFO Laine Gibson said if the tax increase doesn't pass, the district would have to cut an additional $1.75 million next year.

gandrews@durangoherald.com

Comments for this article have been closed

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Test scores

CSAP results mix hope, joy, disappointment

Article Last Updated; Wednesday, August 11, 2010  12:00AM

Results from the 2010 Colorado Student Assessment were released Tuesday with the usual mix of emotions. As analysts and educators pore over the data in weeks to come, perhaps more meaningful insights will emerge.

Absent a more in-depth look at the data, the short version is this: Taking only ninth-grade numbers for reading, writing and math, Durango and Bayfield are looking pretty good. With one exception, both scored significantly ahead of Colorado averages.

The statewide numbers, however, are essentially flat, with the added wrinkle that more students now are behind in writing than in math. Worse, The Denver Post says "more students are not on pace to become proficient in math or writing."

And, the Post reported Tuesday, the news - good and bad- breaks down along sadly predictable lines. Girls score significantly higher than boys in reading, and the gap is widening. Blacks and Hispanics gained on whites and Asian students in reading, but the gap remains. The black and Hispanic vs. white or Asian difference remained unchanged in math. Poor children did better in reading and math, with little improvement in writing - a gap the Post described as "huge."

The scores, of course, can be looked at any number of ways. But taking the total percentage of ninth-graders who scored "advanced" or "proficient," the statewide numbers for math, reading and writing are, respectively, 39 percent, 68 percent and 48 percent.

For Bayfield High, they are math, 38 percent; reading, 76 percent; and writing, 57 percent.

In math, Durango High School scored 44 percent; in reading, 76 percent; and writing, 53 percent.

But if test scores equate to bragging rights, the undisputed champion among local schools is Animas High School. In its first year, the charter high school's combined "advanced" or "proficient" scores on the ninth-grade CSAP tests were: math, 59 percent; reading, 89 percent; and writing, 71 percent.

Those numbers do require a caveat, however. It takes nothing away from Animas High and its students' accomplishments to point out that there is an apples-to-oranges aspect to any direct comparison between Animas' numbers and those of a traditional high school.

The importance of parental involvement and a healthy home life to success in school is widely understood. And as a charter school, Animas High is made up entirely of students who, with their parents, made a conscious decision to seek what the school terms "rigorous academics." It is a self-selected sample of highly involved people.

That is not a criticism - quite the contrary - but neither should the Animas numbers be used to knock Durango or Bayfield schools or teachers. The comparison simply does not hold.

A more interesting aspect of the Animas numbers could be that it achieved those scores while maintaining an explicit ban on "teaching to the test." There could be a lesson in that.

Contents copyright ©, the Durango Herald. All rights reserved.

AHS Weekly Update- Week of August 9th, 2010

AHS Weekly Update- Week of August 9th, 2010

Please take a moment to review the following updates:

Volunteers
2009-2010 CSAP Results
AHS in the News

Volunteers

A huge THANK YOU goes out to the teams of volunteers who helped organize and unpack campus last week. We will have two more Volunteer Days this week. Join us Thursday 8/12 and Friday 8/13 as we pull the building together for the start of school. Work starts at 8 AM and we will be done by 3 PM.

Students and Families, starting next week we need Volunteers at the building full time! Parents, If you have time to help coordinate volunteers/tasks for a day, let us know by this Friday! We’ll start each day at 8 AM and focus on cleaning and finishing our newly remodeled space.


2009-2010 CSAP Results

ANIMAS HIGH SCHOOL RELEASES CSAP SCORES
Despite not “Teaching to the test”, AHS students perform well on standardized tests
READ MORE HERE: http://animashighschool.blogspot.com/2010/08/2009-10-csap.html

AHS in the News

Did you catch the article about Animas High School in the most recent Durango telegraph? Read it here: http://www.durangotelegraph.com/telegraph.php?inc=/10-08-05/coverstory.htm


______________________________________________________________

Animas High School Values:

Rigorous academics, where all students are prepared for college success
Culture of excellence, where students are held to high expectations
Strong faculty-student relationships, where students are well known
Engaging learning, where students see the relevance of their education

2009-10 CSAP

ANIMAS HIGH SCHOOL RELEASES CSAP SCORES

Despite not “Teaching to the test”, AHS students perform well on standardized tests

Durango, Colorado – August 8, 2010 – Animas High School, a free, public charter school, opened in the Fall of 2009 to its first class of 75 freshmen. In its first year, Animas High School’s rigorous college preparatory program resulted in excellent student achievement.

The school recently received 2010 CSAP data for its students, with positive results. “Our students’ results show that our engaging curriculum, high expectations, and quality teaching pay off in standardized tests,” said Michael Ackerman, Animas Head of School. “Our students’ scores in all three areas tested (reading, writing and math) rank above state and district (Colorado Charter School Institute) averages.”

According to the Colorado Department of Education, the 2010 scores for AHS students were as follows:

89% proficient or advanced in Reading
71% proficient or advanced in Writing
59% proficient or advanced in Math

Colorado state averages for all 9th grade students in 2010 were as follows:

68% proficient or advanced in Reading
48% proficient or advanced in Writing
39% proficient or advanced in Math

These results indicate that AHS students learn and retain content that meets Colorado state standards as measured by the CSAP tests. The teaching methodologies at AHS explicitly do not “teach to the test.” Instead students apply their content knowledge in meaningful ways through relevant projects. For example, this year students wrote and illustrated graphic novels based on ancient texts; built and tested bridge models for structural strength; created videos and web sites; and developed resolutions and negotiated revisions in Model UN; among many other projects.

Each semester, students present these projects to the public at exhibitions, which improves the quality of the work and reinforces their understanding of key concepts.

In addition, AHS students’ results can be attributed to the individualized attention each student receives. Teachers focus on identifying and improving each student’s unique academic strengths and weaknesses. Students develop academic and personal goals, and teachers use quantitative and qualitative assessment data to monitor each student’s progress.


According to CDE data, AHS students also scored favorably in comparison to local public schools.

Comparable scores for Durango High School freshmen in 2009 (the last year public records are available) were as follows:

77% proficient or advanced in Reading
62% proficient or advanced in Writing
47% proficient or advanced in Math

Comparable scores for Bayfield High School freshmen in 2009 (the last year public records are available) were as follows:

79% proficient or advanced in Reading
42% proficient or advanced in Writing
29% proficient or advanced in Math

Comparable scores for Ignacio High School freshmen in 2009 (the last year public records are available) were as follows:

35% proficient or advanced in Reading
20% proficient or advanced in Writing
15% proficient or advanced in Math


Animas High School (AHS) continues to grow. Later this month, the school will welcome a new freshman class to join the current students, who are progressing to 10th grade. There are a small number of spaces still available for freshman and sophomores for the 2010-2011 academic year.



About Animas High School:

Animas High School is a small, free, public charter school in Durango that offers a rigorous, personalized, college preparatory curriculum. AHS delivers its curriculum through direct instruction and projects that give students the opportunity to apply their learning in relevant, real-world ways. Its cohesive, inclusive school culture welcomes all students socially and challenges them academically.

AHS values:

● Rigorous academics, where all students are prepared for college success.
● A culture of excellence, where students are held to high expectations.
● Strong faculty-student relationships, where students are well known.
● Engaging education, where students discover the relevance of their learning.

NEW SCHOOL- Durango Telegraph 8-5-10

Charting new territoryAnimas High and Mountain Middle School forge ahead

by Missy Votel

Despite a glum outlook for public school budgets across the state, Durango’s charter school community is forging ahead.

“Amazing things are going on, it’s a good time to be Animas High School,” said that charter school’s Head of School Michael Ackerman.

On Aug. 23, AHS welcomes its second freshman class, bringing the school’s total enrollment to around 150 ninth and 10th graders. “It’s night and day different than last year,” said Ackerman. “We’re getting three to four students a day walking in off the street asking about enrolling.”
The outlook is similar at Durango’s first planned charter middle school, Mountain Middle School. Originally slated to open this fall and based on the same High Tech high model as AHS, MMS delayed its opening last November at the behest of the Colorado Charter School Institute. “CSI asked us to withdraw our charter application last fall because our opening would coincide with changes in the state standards,” said MMS Board President Nancy Heleno. “With new standards going into effect in 2011, they didn’t want us to prepare for 2010 only to have to do it over again in 2011.”

As a result, MMS is readying its latest charter application to submit in the next few weeks. Heleno is expecting acceptance late this year. “I feel confident we’ll get a charter because we’ve done everything they’ve asked of us and our community,” said Heleno.

Despite the fact that the school won’t open for a year, Heleno said it already has reached 92 percent of its first year forecast of 112 students. The school’s target for the 2011-12 school year is 56 sixth-graders, 28 seventh-graders and 28 eighth-graders. The goal is ultimately to have 56 students in each grade. So far, the school has received “intent to enroll” forms for 38 sixth-graders, 44 seventh-graders and 21 eighth-graders. “It is amazing to have such a substantial number one year away from opening, especially in Durango where we’ve been known to wait until the last moment,” said Heleno.

Although the school has not announced a location – it is illegal to sign a contract for property until a charter has been approved – Heleno said there are several options. “We are talking to several property owners,” she said. “Our intent is to be as close to town as possible. Unfortunately, the 7,000-plus-square-foot facility inventory in this town is very small.”

Heleno said many parents who were planning on sending their kids to MMS in 2010 will be home-schooling this year and pooling efforts with the newly formed Education Consortium. “A group of parents is home-schooling this year, which can be scary for parents who never set out to home school,” she said. The “stop-gap” measure will help pay for tutors two days a week at a location yet to be announced. “A lot of home-schoolers run into problems in middle school with subjects like math and sciences or whatever parents aren’t experts in,” said Heleno.
For the other days of the week, home-school parents will have the option of using 9-Rs shared schooling or the free, public online charter school, Colorado Virtual Academy. Beginning next year, MMS plans to have its own two-day-a-week home-schooling option – the Education Alliance.

In the same spirit of alliance, the MMS Board of Directors also launched the “One Community, One Goal” program this year. The idea behind it is to share efforts and open communication lines among local schools and educators, particularly School District 9-R and charter schools. “We decided at the beginning of the year to put the tense dealings behind us. We’re too small a community to not do the right thing for every child, whether from a public, private, home or charter school,” said Heleno.

The first result of this effort was last March’s Education Summit, which included representatives from MMS, AHS and 9-R. The three entities met with a local mediator and walked away from the table with a new understanding and commitment to collaboration. “It was the first time we all came together, and we all decided the real stakeholders in all this are the children,” said Heleno.

Perhaps the biggest outcome was an agreement by 9-R to forego exclusive chartering authority. The district also offered up free office space to the charter schools in its administrative building and the principals of Escalante and Miller middle schools will serve on the vetting committee for the new MMS principal. “We want a good relationship with those schools,” said Heleno. “There’s going to be cross-over as kids find the place that’s right for them.”
She said MMS has also joined forces on professional development efforts and is planning on co-writing a technology grant with 9-R. “Grantors are looking for this kind of collaboration,” said Heleno.

Ackerman, with AHS, said his school recently received $375,000 in grant money, which is being used for facility upgrades. The school is finishing an expansion into the space to its south, which will bring the school’s total square footage to 15,000. The school is adding two new computer labs; two 10th grade classrooms; two biology rooms; and a ski-themed lunch room, “The Lodge.” There will also be new digital moviemaking facilities and a digital sound booth, operated in conjunction with the Stillwater Foundation, which moved in across the street.

“We have sunk huge amounts of money into our technology infrastructure,” said Ackerman.
Also new to AHS this year will be a mountain biking team, taught by DEVO coaches Sarah Tescher and Chad Cheeney; a robotics team; and a school band, described as a mix of electronics and hand drums. “Look out Snowdown parade,” Ackerman quipped.

And while he said he feels “blessed” for the infusion of funds, finances are a constant source of concern for charter schools. Although school districts can finance their facilities using property tax (mill levy) or bond measures, charter schools cannot initiate a mill levy on their own. On average, charter schools in Colorado spend about $500 of the annual $6,700 per pupil revenues on facilities, according to the Colorado League of Charter Schools. A small percentage of charter schools – five out of that state’s 160, or 3 percent– were awarded State of Colorado “BEST Funding” for facilities in 2010.

The rest must make do, Heleno said. “When charter schools need money, we take it from per pupil funding or fund-raising,” she said. “It’s a monumental stress on charter schools.”
An attempt to get included on 9-R’s November mill levy ballot fell short because of legal concerns. Although school districts are required to submit ballot issues for charter schools under their authority, MMS is not authorized under 9-R. It would be authorized under the Charter School Institute, and as such, would be subject to a different set of funding mechanisms.
Although Heleno argues that MMS would only request $114,240, or 3.6 percent, of the total take, she still supports 9-Rs mill levy. “Obviously, it was really disappointing, but our board voted to publicly support the mill levy,” she said. “My friends’ kids, who my kids have grown up with, go to 9-R schools. If a friend gets an ice cream cone and you don’t, you don’t knock it out of your friend’s hand.”

In the meantime, Heleno said MMS is working with the League of Charter Schools to get the ballot laws changed. “We were hoping our community would be the first and set a precedent for charter schools across the state,” she said. “Will that happen this year? Next year? Or ever? We don’t know.”

Nevertheless, Heleno and Ackerman are more than optimistic about the new face of charter schools in Durango. “We’re just where we were before talk of the mill levy,” said Heleno. “Our responsibilities now are to balance the budget, hire first-class teachers and fund raise. This community is too small not to work together.” •

As we rapidly approach the start of the 2010-2011 school year, please review the following AHS Updates:

Volunteers at AHS
Student Packets
Bobi Harmon- AHS Superstar
New Reception Area
Important Dates/Times


Volunteers at AHS

We want you! The time has arrived for volunteers to descend upon Animas High’s campus to help ready our building for the 2010-2011 school year. Volunteer days this week will be held THURSDAY, August 5th and FRIDAY, august 6th. We’ll work from 9 AM until 3 PM both days. Work clothes, gloves (if you have them), a sack lunch/water and a positive attitude are all that’s required to help out!
Volunteer days next week will occur WEDNESDAY, August 9th through SATURDAY, August 14th. No sign-up needed-skilled and unskilled assignments for all! The school is also looking for folks who can serve as daily coordinators, directing volunteers in assignments laid out by the school. If you think you can give us a day and help us coordinate the final push here at campus, please give us a call!

Student Packets

It’s that time again! 2010 Student Welcome packets are in the mail and headed to the classes of 2013 and 2014. The packet contains multiple releases, forms and info sheets that must be returned to AHS either by mail, by dropping off the forms at school or by sending them with your student on Day I. Students will also find information on orientation, the AHS Fashion Guide and a school supplies list. Parents, take special note of the AHS driving directions, AHS school closure document as well as the invite to our Back to School picnic in Sept.

Many families have inquired about our second registration evening event for all who missed the presentation in the spring. Due to the large numbers of students’ families that are vacationing, attending sports camps and participating in final summer adventures right up to the start of school, AHS has decided to hold our evening presentation during the first week of school. Stay tuned for more- We’ll be reviewing this requirement with students during orientation as well!

Bobi Harmon- AHS Superstar

We want to take a second to acknowledge a person who has been a superstar at AHS! Bobi Harmon has been working in the role of AHS Office Manager since last spring. The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided funds to La Plata county and AHS to employ Bobi here at campus through the end of July. Although the position and funds have run their course, Bobi’s commitment and contributions to Animas High School will impact students throughout the upcoming school year.

While our community was away this past summer, Bobi was busy orchestrating campus, receiving deliveries, coordinating volunteers, performing essential tasks for students and keeping Michael on task and focused on the upcoming school year. It’s a great time to be Animas High School and our success is due in no small part to Bobi and her efforts! Thank You Bobi for your service to AHS and we look forward to having you visit us at school this year!

New Reception Area

We are looking for two nice chairs and a coffee table for our new reception area. Thank you in advance for considering donations of quality furniture to AHS!

Important Dates/Times

AHS Tours- Every Wednesday from 9 to 10 AM at Animas High’ Campus

Next AHS Head of School (Michael’s) Office Hours- Monday, August 9th

Next AHS Assistant Head of School (Jake’s) Office Hours- Wednesday, August 4th

Next AHS Board of Director’s Meeting- Tuesday, August 10th 8:15 AM at AHS

Please Sign-up by calling the Main Office at 970-AHS-AHS4