We are excited to welcome our students back to the Colorado Academy campus next week! We hope to see parents, students, and faculty at our annual All-School Picnic.
While you were away, the activity on campus did not cease. The month of August is one in which the faculty and staff work to prepare our campus for the new year. The Operations Crew spends time in the summer renovating classroom spaces, managing the grounds, while they also support the final construction of the CA gym. Our Admission Office continues to do tours for interested families, and plays a key role in helping new families transition to the community. Our Advancement and Communications teams work to prepare important information for students, faculty, and families while preparing for the various events that enliven our community including the Alchemist Dinner, the CA Fund Kick Off, our Homecoming celebration, and many others. Our Business Office stays open all summer to oversee the financial health and well being of the school. The principals and leadership teams in each division start working early in August to prepare for the students. They finalize rosters, review procedures and policies, and fine-tune various aspects of the school’s operation. This week, the faculty and staff have been engaged in professional development to ensure we can serve the students at the highest level.
Our training this week has focused upon three specific areas: how to be best at supporting student mental health and wellness, how to develop the most healthy student-adult relationships that protect children and foster mutual trust and respect, and how to help our students become more culturally competent in society this growing more and more multicultural. We have had three nationally known speakers come speak on these subjects to our faculty and staff. To be a great teacher, one must adapt to changing times and circumstances. The students I teach today are very different than those when I first began my teaching career in 1996. This is a generation constantly immersed in information; these are students who have been confronted with realities —like school shootings — that didn’t define childhood and adolescence in earlier times. I value the growth mindset of the CA faculty. They embrace these conversations and think about how this affects their practice.
Colorado Academy is a special place. You feel this when you walk onto our campus. I have felt it this week as I have seen faculty joyfully reconnect with their colleagues. We are ready for your students next week. See you soon!