Los Alamos High School Orchestra students perform May 26 at the School Board meeting. Courtesy/LAPS
Team – 4153 Project Y Robotics Team member and LAHS Senior Jason Pieck, presents School Board President Melanie Colgan a medal from their recent competition as a thank you to the board for its support. Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS News:
The Los Alamos School Board met Thursday, May 26 in the School Board room. The meeting also was online via Zoom.
The meeting began with a performance by members of the Los Alamos High School orchestra under the direction of Michelle Rosette. School Board President Melanie Colgan then requested a moment of silence for the community of Uvalde, Texas.
The School Board then recognized several groups of students including the LAHS orchestra, the Aspen Odyssey of the Mind team, members of the Los Alamos Team-4152 Project Y Robotics Team, the cast and crew along with director Jason Rutledge of the LAHS production of Les Miserables, and the coaches and athletes on the state champion boys and girls track and field teams.
Colgan also presented certificates of appreciation to this year’s LAHS student body representatives, President Gwyneth Lyons and Vice President Tommy Oldham and school board student liaisons Elizabeth Booton, Lizeth Garcia, Nina Johnson, Quintin Madsen, Fayrouz Mourad and DeJahn Tafoya.
Sanjay Kadu and Juan Dorado, with Dekker/Parich/Sabatini Architects presented a design update for Chamisa and Pinon Elementary Schools. The project is now in the schematic design phase. They explained that the process included gathering input from staff and community members on the wants and needs for each site, as well as observing the daily operations of each site as it is currently designed. Each design incorporates characteristics unique to each school site.
Board member Ellen Specter, who is a member of the construction committee, noted that the designs developed by the architecture firm honor the beloved pods at Chamisa Elementary and the views at Pinon Elementary. She relayed a comment from a Pinon staff member who said, “They really listen and then incorporate our ideas,” referring to the architects. Principal Craig Washnok noted that staff and families “want Chamisa to stay Chamisa”, indicating the support for communal learning.
The next step in the process will be design development, which includes design refinement, budgets, schedules and cost estimates.
Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Guy then presented the first draft of the revised Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Free Schools policy for School Board consideration. The policy, which was last revised in 2017, addresses considerations in respect to the recent Cannabis Regulation Act as well as the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986. Board members decided to review the new wording and take action at the next meeting.
Principal Davine Jones, who just completed her first year at the helm, presented the Barranca Mesa Elementary School report for the 2021-22 school year. She shared Barranca’s vision that, “by the end of the 2024-25 school year, 100 percent of students will develop positive relationships with peers and staff and feel connected to their school”. The school’s four focus areas include student social emotional well-being; academic growth; shared leadership; and teacher & staff excellence.
Jones shared Barranca’s three tier support system for cultivating social emotional well-being, as well as strategies for academic growth and shared leadership. She also shared some of the ways the school promotes teacher and staff excellence and well-being including wellness Wednesdays and monthly morale boosters.
Making sure every teacher and staff member is where they want to be and they feel valued is just one of the next steps at Barranca Mesa Elementary. Clear schoolwide expectations is also on her list.
“I love being a site administrator and being with the kids,” Jones said when asked about her favorite part of the job.
And her biggest challenge?
“I see the vision and I want it to happen, and I want it to happen now,” she replied.
School Board members approved the Title III English Language Acquisition request of $11,270.84 for the next school year. Funds are used to provide instructional materials for the Language Instruction Educational Program (LIEP) and professional development for EL teachers.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14.