The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
CBCS receives John Irwin award and Governor’s award
By Aimee Eaton
The Crested Butte Community School continues to be a state leader in academic excellence, achievement and growth.
The Colorado Department of Education and Governor John W. Hickenlooper’s office recently recognized the CBCS High School with a John Irwin School of Excellence Award and also honored the elementary school with a Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award.
This was the first time since the 2013-14 school year that the awards were given.
“These awards highlight what great schools we have in the valley,” said Gunnison Watershed School District superintendent Doug Tredway. “I really appreciate the passion and dedication the Crested Butte staff and students have demonstrated over time.”
The John Irwin awards are given to schools that demonstrate academic excellence throughout the school year. The award is named after former three-term state representative John Irwin, who believed strongly in education and the power of schools to self govern.
The Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award is given to schools that demonstrate exceptional student growth. This is measured using a comparison of standardized test scores from year to year.
According to CBCS Elementary School principal Sally Hensley, test scores from the school have shown marked improvement at a rate much faster than the state average. Several factors contribute to the improvement, including an updated curriculum and the presence of Bobby Pogoloff, an elementary interventionist, who specializes in math and spends time helping both teachers and students succeed.
“In 2009 we adopted the state wide standards for testing, but at the time our curriculum was not aligned to the new standards,” said Hensley. “Shortly after, we were able to use funds from the mill levy that this community passed to purchase an updated curriculum that supported the state standards.”
Once the new curriculum was purchased teachers and staff at the school began the arduous task of learning a new way of teaching math.
“As we implemented the updated curriculum the teachers took on additional professional development to better understand and teach in a way aligned with the nature of the program,” said Hensley. “We also hired Bobby Pogoloff as a classroom interventionist. She was the cornerstone of the implementation and a large support for the teachers.”
According to Pogoloff, the teachers and students have fully committed to the success of the new curriculum.
“The state has changed its focus in teaching math from one focused on procedure to one focused on understanding,” she said. “Students are having to show their understanding and why they are thinking about the numbers in a certain way.”
This approach is vastly different from how many adults in the community experienced math, and in some ways it’s forcing both parents and teachers to examine their own expectations for the subject.
“This is not the way you and I learned math, but I heard an analogy recently that said, ‘You wouldn’t question your doctor treating you with the most modern medicine versus what was done in the 1970s, so why would we expect that from math education?’” said Pogoloff. “There’s been a lot of research on this approach and they’re finding that in the long run it is more effective. The teachers at our school have been amazing in adopting the curriculum and making it work for their students.”
