June 7th, 2025
Hello Columbine Community!
Newsletter Quick Hits:
|
Columbine Community
We’ve completed another school year! This year was filled with joy, learning, and a whole lot of fun. The EL Education mission is to create classrooms where teachers can fulfill their highest aspirations, and students achieve more than they think possible, becoming active contributors to building a better world. I can confidently say we made huge strides towards this mission this year. Our teachers worked to make every moment matter with your children, and your children worked together to create a community of learners developing new skills and knowledge everyday. We built our leadership, expanded our empathy, harnessed our ambition, and held our positive mindset. I can also confidently say, everyone is ready for SUMMER! I hope everyone enjoys a safe and joyful break and we will be so excited to welcome you all back in August!
Time to Celebrate!!
Please see the May Progress Monitoring Report (Spanish) shared with CSC in our May meeting. There is a tremendous amount of growth and progress to celebrate from this school year! More details can be found in the report but here are a few bright spots from our May Progress Monitoring
Literacy Growth, K–3
We saw a 26 percent jump in early literacy proficiency this year - ending at 63%!
Literacy Growth, 3–5
We've seen a sharp decline in the number of students performing two or more grade levels behind. We ended this year at 17% as compared to last year we ended at 38%. This is tremendous!
Math Momentum
Across the board, we saw powerful movement in math which is an exciting celebration in alignment to our new math curriculum. Math will be a continued area of growth for us and we are excited to welcome a .5 math intervention teacher next year for some additional math support.
Attendance Progress
This year we made significant progress in reducing the percent of students who were chronically absent (this is defined as falling below the 90% attendance threshold). Columbine received an award for this incredible progress - ending the year at 30% chronic absenteeism. Our overall percent attendance was 91%.
Additional Bright Spots
Teacher retention: Over 90% of classroom teachers are returning next year
Strategic hiring complete: We’ve filled all roles for next year, including key supports like a new Dean of Culture, an added school psychologist, and a 0.5 math interventionist!
We’re so proud of the growth your students have made and we’re energized by the work ahead to keep improving, closing opportunity gaps, and ensuring every Columbine student thrives. Let me be clear - there is still a lot of work to do - specifically in the academic outcomes and growth for our students of color. Our urgency is not slowing down and we are laser focused on this continued momentum.
Black Excellence Facilitated Series
This year, we had the opportunity to begin a new chapter in our work around Black Excellence at Columbine. With the leadership of LaQuetta Walker and the support of the Black Student Success Team, we brought together families and community members to co-create a vision of what it truly means for our Black students to thrive.
Through six evening sessions, we listened to our community voices, looked honestly at our data, and engaged in powerful conversations—grounded in real lived experiences. Together, we named clear priorities: affirming identity in classrooms, increasing representation, building stronger academic supports, and creating space for student and family voices to lead.
We’re excited to welcome LaQuetta back to Columbine next year as we deepen this work and begin bringing more of our shared ideas to life. With her guidance and the continued support of the Black Student Success Team, we’ll stay focused on ensuring that Black Excellence is embedded in everything we do.
Welcome to the CREW!
1st grade - Kirby Sypek (Caitlin Goldsmith is rollin’ on up to 2nd grade)
3rd grade - Danielle Fung
.5 Math Intervention - Kristen Holligan
ELD - Sara Penner
.4 School Psychologist - Kane Hamilton
Dean of Culture - Mariah Bennett
Multi-Intensive Autism - Mirella Lamar
Updates from Gifted and Talented
At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, 23 of our Columbine students were formally identified as Gifted and Talented (GT). Now, we have 59 students formally identified! To be identified as GT, a student must have a body of evidence that meets the state criteria. Students can be identified using multiple pathways. At Columbine, this typically includes a qualifying cognitive score (95th percentile or above), qualifying IReady score(s) (95th percentile or above), and/or anecdotal evidence.
In the past, all DPS elementary students were screened for giftedness in kindergarten and 2nd grade. Next year, all students will be screened in 1st and 5th grade. Families can opt in to testing in ECE, kindergarten, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade, using this nomination form. Please review this list of GT characteristics, to see if testing might be appropriate for your child.
Here are some resources to help you support your children this summer and beyond!
☀️
Summer Resources
☀️
Columbine Summer Reading Resources
📚READ 📚READ 📚READ this summer!
Please see this document for summer resources - thanks to our community resources team!
Denver Parks & Recreation's free day program for kids ages 8-12
25-26 School Year
Our K-5 Bell Times are staying the same - 8:00-3:30 M, T, W, F and 8:00-1:30 Th
ECE Bell Times will change slightly - 8:20-3:20 M, T, W, F and 8:20-1:20 Th
Here are the 25-26 School Supply Lists
🗓️Save the Date!
August 13th from 4:00-5:00 pm Meet and Greet / Supply Drop Off
August 18th First Day of School K-5
August 19th First Day of School ECE
Community Agreements
This year, we sent home a Columbine-School Compact. This compact includes school commitments to families and students, family commitments to the school, and student commitments to each other. Part of the family commitments includes the following: I recognize that we are crew means that my role as a community member impacts all community members and children at Columbine. I recognize that we are a diverse collective and that the needs of the community must be considered by all. We commit to providing resources, cultivating inclusivity in the whole community, elevating the mindset of academic success, and recognizing the journey needed to elevate genius in each student at Columbine.
In the last week of the school year, an incident occurred during the ECE continuation where this commitment was not upheld in our community. Many of you have reached out to inquire and check in about this incident. I want to assure you all that appropriate response measures were put in place by our school and district to support our staff and students following this event. I want to remind all community members that it is your responsibility to model the behaviors and values we teach our children. Communicating respectfully is a core component of this responsibility, along with contributing to a safe and welcoming environment for all. Leadership, Empathy, Ambition, and a Positive Mindset - these are our collective agreements.
Thank you all for your support, love, and contributions to our 24-25 school year. Our crew is better because of you. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful and safe summer!!
In Crew,
Corey 💙💛