Dear Coolidge Families,
I am so pleased to announce that Coolidge Elementary has been named a 2012 California Distinguished School! In early February, Coolidge was invited to apply for the program because state assessment data confirmed that we are narrowing the achievement gap and providing an exemplary educational program to our students. The application required us to describe two signature practices that have contributed significantly to improving student achievement.
With a deadline of February 17th, Ms. Voltaggio, Mrs. Peters, Mrs. Johannsen, and I gathered feedback from the staff and quickly got to work on writing the application. We identified the two signature practices that we believe have had the greatest impact on student success at Coolidge; Fostering Parent Leadership and Collaboration and Differentiated Literacy Instruction.
In March, our application was accepted and we were visited by a county-led team whose focus was to validate the implementation of our signature practices. The team visited classrooms and interviewed staff, students, and parents. It was an exciting day which provided the Coolidge community an opportunity to celebrate all of the hard work and dedication that led to this recognition.
On March 29th, a press release from the State Superintendent of Public Education, Tom Torlakson, announced that 387 schools were being recognized as 2012 California Distinguished Schools. Coolidge was on the list! You can find the press release at http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr12/yr12rel29.asp .
On May 3rd, Ms. Voltaggio and I attended a ceremony where each distinguished school was recognized by State Superintendent Torlakson and awarded a special plaque and flag. We were joined by Interim Superintendent Don Brann, Assistant Superintendent Jan Canfield, and Board Member Denise Menchaca. We were all very proud to accept this honor on behalf of the entire Coolidge community.
Thank you to all of our parents and staff for your commitment to establishing a positive and motivating learning environment for all Coolidge Cougars. We are distinguished because of you!
A special thank you to Mia Johnson, Simone Origel, Helen Benitez, Bella Agliolo, Andrew Deatrick, Lauren Fue, Brendan Kim, Nicholas Correnti, Samuel Lidskin, Benjamin Sigoloff, Stephanie Rubio, Mary Ann Voltaggio, Catherine Peters, Nancy Johannsen, Natalie Lehmann, Jennifer Clem, Stephanie Truong, Maggie Smith, Kristen Follen, Shannon Twyman, Jerry Mercado, Lisa Correa, Cyndi Chiou, Judy Correnti, Jose Baldonado, Yoshi Chioffi, Marcella Tailin, Tara Johnson, Erin Page, Grace Lee, Heather Flanders, Jamie Sei, Nicole Suehiro, and Denise Ferguson.
Sincerely,