From the Principal:
We’re Hitting Our Stride!

I hope this letter finds each of you settled into the comfortable routine of another school year. As students, enthusiastic about studying to fill your lives with choice and opportunities, and as parents, excited about all that your children can accomplish!

As many of you already know, I was appointed as Interim Principal for 21st Century Charter School after Mr. Walker made the incredibly difficult decision to resign as Principal for health reasons. Before his departure he was most helpful as a valuable resource in moving forward. Mr. Walker and I are in touch and he is doing very well.

What is most important to you, however, is that the change in leadership has not interrupted your children’s learning.

After an amazing beginning to the school year, things remain very positive, yet calm. For example, our partnership with the Pikes Peak Community College, which provides our students with free college credit, could not be better. Janet Nace and Mary Perez, our Middle-College teachers, indicated that our students are not easily identified as high school students by how seriously they are taking this tremendous opportunity. I visited students at the downtown campus recently and they were incredibly focused. We should be proud of their hard work! [READ MORE]

A New Adventure Begins:
Mrs. LaMagna’s Second Grade Class Adopts Pen Pals in New York and New Mexico

October 7, 2008

Mrs. LaMagna’s students write to students across the country.

In an age of emailing, instant messaging, and texting, nothing beats a good old-fashioned letter from a friend, perhaps now more than ever.

Mrs. LaMagna’s second grade students will be learning that for themselves, along with a lot of information about two states separated by a continent, by climate, and even by age! From New York, an original colony, to the American West’s New Mexico, our students will be learning more than they can pick up from a textbook.

“We just started writing to two sets of pen pals, one out of Montrose, New York, and the other set is from Albuquerque, New Mexico,” says Second Grade teacher Tara LaMagna. “The kids from New Mexico are actually sending us letters first, so we haven’t received them yet, but we just sent our letters to the school in New York yesterday. We’ll get to learn a little bit more about New Mexico and New York and about their everyday lives.”

Last year, LaMagna’s class enjoyed a project featuring Flat Stanley, where the students’ own construction paper versions of the classic storybook character was sent to various places, photographed, and returned. But this year, LaMagna wanted to do something “a little more personal for the kids,” so she hopped onto the Scholastic website and joined a discussion on its teacher forum. [Read More]