Superintendent's Report
CSDB Board of Trustees
November, 2016
Page 5
CSDB BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
November, 2016
REPORTS FROM STUDENT PROGRAMS
Education Departments
School for the Deaf/School for the Blind
· We hosted our annual fall Parent-Teacher conferences. Parents were provided a number of different workshops and activities, as well as their individual conferences. Feedback was very positive, from those that attended. Attendance rates of parents were as follows (these percentages include parents who attended IEP meetings within the month):
- School for the Blind = 33/54 (61%)
- School for the Deaf 3rd-8th Grades = 31/43 (72%)
- School for the Deaf High School = 27/50 (54%)
School for the Deaf
· Todd Czubek and Kristin DiPerri, from Boston University, facilitated a literacy training for staff. This literacy program has specifically been designed for students who are Deaf. We are working to implement this program in classes.
· Fifth-eighth grade students presented Science Fair projects Thursday, October 20. Many parents came to observe and learn, most of whom stayed for conferences later in the evening.
· Identified kindergarten through 8th grade students completed their fall DRA progress monitoring assessment, the week of October 17. This assessment provides us with information regarding the progress of students reading skills.
· During the week of October 17th, all 6th-8th grade students were involved in experiential learning activities. The students focused on cooperative learning skills. Students were given assigned roles and had to solve various problems as a team in their roles. The goal is to directly teach our students how to collaborate and work as a team.
· October 20, we had two presenters from Gallaudet University, in Washington, D.C., and Rochester Institute of Technology, in Rochester, New York. They provided two different workshops, for high school students. They also met with parents individually, during parent-teacher conferences.
School for the Blind
· Students in Recreation and Leisure class had the opportunity to go on a guided nature walk through Red Rock Canyon. This walk included identifying bird sounds, tasting wild onions, and experiencing the outdoors, with the help of an expert/hiking friend, Joe Lefleur.
· Elementary students did the Waldo Waldo 5K, Saturday, October 22. We had 5 families show up. Activity ranged from running most of the 5k to walking their first 5k! Parents enjoyed getting to walk with other families and were excited to have their children participate. Students were PRIDE ambassadors for CSDB.
· A group of selected high school students represented CSDB, at the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Annual State Convention, October 28, by participating in various workshops and panels.
Family-Centered Early Education Program (FCEE)
K-2
· First and second grade students finished learning about countries around the world and have completed their presentations. Now the students are learning about government and elections. The students will learn about the branches of government, famous leaders throughout history, what it means to be a leader, and then hold a class election for president.
PreK:
· Preschool students have finished a 4 week unit related to The Farm, 2 weeks were dedicated to farm animals and 2 weeks were dedicated to farm food. Students created tactile stories related to the read-aloud stories, and they "scribbled" (preliteracy) by brailling different parts of the story that we later cut out and glued onto each page.
· FCEE had our first parent event, in October. The Preschool, School for the Blind and Outreach (including CIMC) collaborated and supplied parents with their first story box, brailled story, and story box resources for families to create their own story boxes. The story was If You Give A Mouse a Cookie. There was a great turn out.
Student Services
· The Employability Center has established a new employer partnership with ACE Hardware Store. This will allow our students to transfer to a store, within their home community, if they are hired competitively by ACE Hardware.
· The Employability Center is searching for more employers in the auto mechanics and IT fields.
· Parent–Staff Organization (PSO) sponsored a dinner for families and staff, the evening of Parent-Teacher Conferences.
· Student Health Services has been providing low cost flu shots for staff, students, and families. To date, roughly 30 shots have been administered.
Student Life
· The goalball/football/volleyball seasons have come to an end. The basketball season has begun for middle school boys and girls! Also, Pee-Wee Boys’ Basketball is up and running.
· The students who competed in the Special Olympics Bowling Regional, in Pueblo, will be eligible for the State bowling tourney, in November.
· The Survival Club, for students who are Blind/Visually impaired, loved going to Black Forest and learning how to build and sustain, as well as extinguish a fire. They also learned what to do if they encounter a bear and how to make cactus edible. The Survival Club, for students who are Deaf, learned fifteen essential things to bring to survive in the mountains, how to wear appropriate clothes, and how to pack a backpack lightly and effectively.
· The Student Residential Assistant (SRA) Program hosted a Winter Clothes Drive. Students put boxes, in several buildings on campus, for winter clothes to be donated for students.
Outreach
· The Outreach Team has done 3 additional assessments, in October, to support needs in districts, for students who are visually impaired or Deaf.
· Jim Olson and Debbie Haberkorn attended the National Braille Association conference in October, in St. Louis, and Jim attended the APH Annual Meeting held in Louisville, KY.
· On October 14, in Fort Collins, 15 families attended the Corn Maze event. It was our largest event, to date, for our Early Years Program in Northern Colorado.
· The Colorado Shared Reading Project Community event had 20 families attend, at Rock Creek Ranch, in Broomfield, Saturday, October 29.
· The CO Hears provided a training, October 22, for CHIP Facilitators in Denver titled Supporting Infant Mental Health.
· CSDB’s YouTube Channel hits have increased from 2219 this time last year to 2527.
REPORTS FROM SUPPORT SERVICES
Finance
· The State Controller’s Office is staying on schedule for closing out the monthly financials, and all expenses are current through September 30th.
Personnel
· To date, a total of twenty-seven (27) positions have been filled for the 2016-2017 school year; one (1) hiring recommendation / employment offer is pending. Currently, there are twenty-eight (28) vacancies: seven (7) vacancies for Non-Classified positions; twenty-one (21) vacancies for Classified positions and one (1) new position funded 7/1/2015 not yet filled (position was filled; candidate accepted, then declined employment; re-release of job announcement pending).
· A variety of schoolwide Professional Development Activities occurred, October 21.
· Monthly New Employee Orientation occurred November 7-8 for ‘permanent’ and substitute employees.
· CSDB Human Resources staff participated in the following:
- State Human Resources Director’s Forum, facilitated by State Personnel Director; and,
- Benefits Administrator Training, facilitated by the State Department of Personnel & Administration (DPA) / Division of Human Resources (DHR).
Facilities/Security/Technology
Facilities/ Construction
· The roof for the Carriage House has been funded, by the State Architect’s Office, as an emergency project.
· Jones Hall is still on track, for a May completion, based upon current projections.
· The design development phase, of Palmer, is almost completed. A meeting was held to review the various components of the project.
Public Relations
Media
· The Gazette covered the story of students, who are blind or visually impaired,learning hockey fromUSA Hockey and the Colorado College Tiger Hockey players.
· KRDO and KKTV provided media coverage for National White Cane Safety Day. Students and staff from CSDB invited the general public to Acacia Park, in downtown Colorado Springs, for a rally. During this event, the CSDB Bulldog Band performed, the keynote speaker talked about independence, games were played, and students read poems and speeches.
Events
· The American Sign Language (ASL) Immersion program for professionals, recently hosted by CSDB, had28 participants who work in schools with students, who are deaf and hard of hearing. Attendeesparticipated in intensive ASL instruction and activities, with the goal of increasing sign fluency and communication. The attendees also had opportunities to interact withmentors, whoare deaf, on a one-to-one basis, to ensure their priorities for learning sign vocabulary, specific to their own needs, were met. The participants expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to interact, throughout the day, using ASL as their primary communication mode.
· Fall Festival - Families came together to meet other familieswith young children who are visually impaired. The families shared information and made fallpictures using pumpkins, leaves and feather shapes in various textures. Through a storytelling example, parentslearned how to read a story while sharing tactile objects related to the book. They went home with a related story box. One parent said, "Loved the story boxes and tactile art activities. Thanks." Another said, "Thank you for the very warm welcome to a very well-organized event. Very informative and helpful!"
· Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Tactile Gallery Opening - Musicians,in the School for the Blind, recently performed, during an Open House, at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs. The Open House was in conjunction with the 35th annual celebration of the Mashburn/Marshall Tactile Gallery. Nearly 100community membersheard about the great partnership between CSDB and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.
IMPORTANT DATES
November 10 Board of Trustees Meeting
November 21 – 25 Thanksgiving Break
December 6 School for the Blind Winter Concert – Middle School /High School
December 13 School for the Blind Winter Concert - Elementary
December 14 School for the Deaf Winter Performance
December 23 – January 6 Winter Break
January 9 Professional Development
January 12 Board of Trustees’ Meeting
STUDENT SERVICES
As of October 31, 2016
Total Number of Students Currently Served Statewide / 620Total Number of Students Served on Campus since August 2016 / 210
Current Campus 3-21 Enrollment / 209
School for the Deaf / School for the Blind
Preschool / 8 / 2
Elementary / 41 / 21
Middle School / 18 / 13
High School / 51 / 19
Bridges to Life / 23 / 10
Dually Enrolled Students / 2 / 1
TOTAL / 143 / 66
Day Students / 127
Residential Students / 82
Parent Option / 7 (10 Unknown)
District Option / 192
Teacher: Student Ratio / 1:5
CHIP (Deaf) / 299
CHIP (Deafblind) / 15
Blind: Birth – 3 / 15
Direct Outreach / 82
ELDI Programs / 89