Columbia Middle School

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July 2018

Welcome to the 2018-19 school year at Columbia Middle School!

It is my absolute pleasure to serve as the Principal this upcoming school year. As many of you know, Steve Hamilton retired at the end of last school year. Mr. Hamilton has worked tirelessly in support of the Columbia community for the past fourteen years and has been a great mentor through this transition. While new to Columbia, I’m not new to Aurora Public Schools. I have served as both teacher and building leader in Aurora for the past 18 years. My most recent experience has been serving on a leadership team that opened up both the Vista PEAK P-8th grade building and the 9th-12th-grade building. In my 18 years, I have served students from preschool all the way through high school graduation. Through all that experience, my true passion lies with middle school students and I couldn’t be more excited about leading Columbia Middle School into this school year.

I was drawn to Columbia’s vision of “Creating engaged learners. Every student. Every teacher. Every Day.” I’m committed to ensuring that every student has the skills and experiences necessary to shape their successful future. With those commitments, certain elements will be in place at Columbia. First and Foremost, there will be a culture of care. Each student comes to Columbia with a unique set of skills, passions, and beliefs. We will honor these with a safe place to learn and grow. We are committed to fostering positive and healthy relationships with adults and classmates.

Second, we will ensure that all students have access and support to an engaging and rigorous curriculum. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, told his employees “to make a dent in the universe.” In other words, do something that positively impacts others. At Columbia, students will develop skills to do just that. Students will learn the content standards to ensure that they are prepared for internal and external assessments and projects that impact the Columbia community and beyond. Teachers will use Data-Driven Instruction and Project-Based learning to ensure unique and rigorous learning opportunities. Students will have access to computers in all their core classes as well as access to individualized programs like IXL-Math, Actively Learn, and Google Classroom to help accelerate learning.

Finally, collaboration and communication will be essential to student success. True learning rarely happens in isolation. Columbia staff will model these expectations by planning, creating assessments, and developing intervention and enrichment opportunities together. Teachers will share the “why” and model the “how” for each learning opportunity. We ask parents/guardians to stay involved at home. Ask your child to share their learning and help teach them to advocate positively for their needs. Together we can ensure each student is a success at Columbia.

I look forward to working with each and every one of you this school year! Our first time together will be at Back to School Night on August 16th from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. At that time I will share a little more about the vision for Columbia this upcoming school year and how we will support your child. We will also have ongoing parent coffees and evening gatherings throughout the year, so I can hear from you and share pertinent information. Our first parent coffee will be on August 30th from 7:15-8:15 am in the library. I hope to see you at a number of Columbia events. Together we will make Columbia strong!

See you Soon!