Christine Cutter
Douglas County School District is embarking on a grand vision
for improving learning through ensuring a world-class education,
increasing choice for all students and building a comprehensive
system performance within classrooms, schools and throughout the
district. These new outcomes truly reflect the needs of a new day
in education.
Elementary school is often referred to as the critical first
step in building a foundation for a child’s learning that will last
a lifetime. A child’s first impression, like so many other
experiences in their young lives, is paramount in developing a
lifelong pursuit for knowledge and understanding. It is also an
experience that almost everyone can draw upon with first-hand
familiarity. However, so much about elementary school has changed
since most of us attended school.
Elementary school was once a training ground for textbook use
and repetitive memorization. Now it offers limitless resources
through a multitude of applications and allows students to think
beyond computers, beyond the Internet and beyond the stereotypes of
learning that formed our memories and our experiences. Today’s
elementary students have a greater ability to access more
information at an accelerated pace and can package their knowledge
in so many different ways. We no longer search for outlets for
their learning, but create environments to allow for freedom in
demonstrating their understanding.
The Douglas County School District is committed to meeting the
needs of today’s students. Walk into any one of the 49 elementary
sites and you are likely to see students engaged in rigorous
learning that includes a deliberately-focused approach in meeting
targets that are explicit, a shared forum for discussion between
teachers and students, authentic work that allows for real-world
connections and applications, and an attention to personalize each
student’s learning opportunities at all levels.
In our classrooms, you will see rigorous instruction where
teachers collaborate to meet the needs of all learners, questioning
which induces higher order thinking skills, learning ranging from
facilitation to direct instruction, authentic assessment integrated
as part of each lesson, and differentiation which challenges each
student’s individualized learning and is embedded in all aspects of
their work.
The district also serves family needs by offering a variety of
programmatic choices at the elementary level. Rock Ridge Elementary
offers a Primary Years Program for International Baccalaureate,
Castle Rock Elementary is a school of science and inquiry, and
Renaissance Elementary Magnet is an Expeditionary Learning Outward
Bound School, just to name a few.
For most of us, we did not experience choice like this until we
were in high school, or for some, not until college. Elementary
schools now specialize in program delivery and focus, each a part
of the Douglas County school system, yet individual in their
ability to meet the needs of their unique neighborhoods.
We are committed to our parents, students, employees and
community to ensure that elementary school remains a critical first
step in all children’s development of a love for learning. It sets
students on a path toward building an appreciation for knowledge
and an ability to apply their understanding. Our children are not
the same students as we were when we attended school. Honestly,
they are much smarter. And so our district provides a variety of
environments where their rich experiences and access to information
can be channeled to develop high interest, highly individualized
learning experiences. This is a world-class elementary education in
Douglas County.
