Check-In with Ms. Kovalesky (08/12/22)

Check-In with Ms. Kovalesky

Dear STEM School Highlands Ranch Families,

The 2022-23 school year is off to an amazing start. Our classrooms, common areas, and hallways were filled with laughter and positivity. Students and staff spent the week making new friends and reconnecting with familiar faces. Classes engaged in community-building activities and established shared classroom norms.

Highlights/Celebrations from this week

  • Great collaboration between Administration, Leadership, Support Staff and Teachers to ensure all students were being taken care of.
  • Our counseling staff also worked around the clock to help Secondary Students with their schedules and process Schedule Change Requests.
  • Both Drivelines saw improvements during drop-off and pick-up as more families got into the swing of things. (remember that you need a new placard each year; check the School News/Updates section for more information)

Upcoming Items

  • This coming week we will be hosting our Back to School Nights. Be sure to look at the STEM Events Calendar to know when you should come and where you should go.
  • We will continue to work on Secondary Student Schedules to make adjustments to try and accommodate student choices.
    Recruiting, interviewing and hiring of highly-qualified staff will continue to be a focal point.

Construction Update

  • Our facilities, construction, and technology crews have been working around the clock to ensure students have a safe space to learn each day.
  • Our secondary students did a great job navigating between the north and south buildings. They were respectful of common learning areas and moved safely amongst our younger students.
  • Beginning Monday, Aug. 15 a secure temporary breezeway between our two buildings will be open for our Secondary Students to use and will remain in place until our Secondary Gymnasium is complete in January. This will significantly shorten the walking path that our Middle Schoolers had this week and we are excited that this will be open soon.

Staffing Update

  • We are actively seeking qualified individuals to work with your children. Unfortunately, we are not alone. Every school and district across the country is struggling to hire highly qualified individuals.
  • Educators and licensed staff are in high demand and filling these positions have become highly competitive. Currently, we are losing staff to other districts that can offer higher starting salaries.
  • STEM is going above and beyond to find the best candidates by utilizing national hiring firms and posting on various job boards and educational websites. I’d like to ask our community to please share our job postings to help us find those high-quality candidates. You can find a list of all of our open positions here.

I’d also like to invite each of you to join us this Wednesday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Elementary School Cafeteria as Superintendent Erin Kane, myself and KOSON Interim CEO Dr. Karen Johnson will be talking about the Mill Levy/Bond issue that is being proposed for the November Ballot.

Don’t forget to help us #IgniteTheSpark!

Thank you,
LynAnn Kovalesky, Executive Director

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