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3/2/16
Dear STEM Staff and Parents/Families
It has come to my attention that many STEM parents and families may believe that our K-4 charter expansion, and the March 15 DCSD BOE hearing to approve or deny that expansion, is an issue only important to those parents and families that have enrolled K-4 students for the coming school year.
I would like to correct that perception and impress upon all of you, that this expansion is of vital strategic importance to the academic, financial and student achievement outcomes of our school.
We need our entire community to rise up and support this expansion, at the March 15th
BOE hearing, and to diligently support and adhere to any conditions required by the BOE, including our driveline protocols and respect for the private property of our business park neighbors.
Why is the K-4 expansion of critical, strategic importance to the STEM School?
1. We have embarked upon the design, development, implementation and continuous
improvement of a unique teaching model and learning environment. To fully develop this model requires the ability to design, implement and improve it across the entire K-12 spectrum.
a. This enables us to design and control the problem based and Core Knowledge approach starting with the elementary grades.
b. This enables us to learn how to accelerate the learning process throughout the K-12 spectrum to not just "feed" the middle and high school grades but to continuously enhance the content and student outcomes for those grades.
c. It is critical to understanding how to enable students, throughout the K-12 spectrum, to learn and progress at the velocity of their ability, to create, to the extent practical,
individually based learning opportunities.
d. It is critical to a holistic understanding of how to design and implement a learning
environment that, across the entire K-12 spectrum, provides rigorous fundamental
knowledge, the application of that knowledge to solve relevant, real world problems and the development of communication, entrepreneurial and character skills that will enable our graduates to excel in a globally connected, 21st century world.
2. STEM is being bench marked across the state of Colorado and the nation. We are
considered a model turn-around school by CDE. We have major school system leaders,
industry leaders, charter school and district superintendents, investigating our teaching
practice and learning environment. We want to share our approach and our successful
student outcomes with others, and at some point, replicate our model/practice in other
areas such as Lone Tree, Sterling Ranch, etc.
a. To support other schools, districts and strategic partnerships, and to eventually replicate our approach, requires an innovative, continuously improving, yet mature understanding of why our model works and how it will work successfully elsewhere. The ability to design and implement across the K-12 spectrum is critical to mature our understanding and our practice, both for our present school and for other future endeavors.
b. Developing strategic partnerships and relationships helps to constantly bring in fresh
perspectives and ideas regarding what we are doing, how we are doing it and how to
measure student outcomes. Expansion to K-12 is critical to our basis of practice, experience and knowledge for the development of these strategic relationships.
3. Expansion to K-12 is critical to the long-term financial health and stability of our school.
a. Our learning environment and its innovation and maturation over time, will require the extent and complexity of the technology, laboratory environment and external learning opportunities for our students to increase. This increase and the associated operating cost are greater for higher-grade levels. The cost curve for this type of learning environment is higher for middle school and yet higher for high school.
b. To properly manage our long-term financial health and to fund the continuing
developmental needs of our school and our student body, it is vital to be able to leverage the educational cost-per-student across the entire K-12 spectrum.
c. Our strategic plan involves new campuses at some point in the future. The long term
disposition of our current campus and the development of others, including additional
facilities for physical education, arts, sciences, etc., is dependent to a large extent on our
ability to expand to K-12 and faithfully manage the operating costs and savings that that full grade spectrum affords.
d. STEM's current and long-term success depends on our ability to attract and retain the
best and brightest teachers and to place them in an environment where they can innovate, collaborate and professionally develop. Expansion to K-12 is critical to both the academic, professional and financial environment that will enable this.
I hope this helps all of our board, staff and family members to better understand why this charter expansion to K-12 is so important.
I hope it spurs all of you to support our letter writing and fundraising campaigns and
especially the BOE hearing on March 15.
This is not a K-4 thing. It's a STEM thing.
Thank you so much for your support.
Matt Smith
Chairman of the STEM Board
Dr. Penny Eucker
Executive Director
STEM School and Academy
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STEM School and Academy
8773 Ridgeline Blvd.
Highlands Ranch, CO 80129
303-683-7836
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