Pleasant View Elementary School is one of nearly 100 elementaries in Colorado to earn the Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award this year.
Schools earn the award by demonstrating significant growth in academic performance, based on the Colorado Measures of Academic Success test scores. Sites are evaluated on their longitudinal academic growth and how they address academic growth gaps, according to the Colorado Department of Education website.
Jim Parr said that not much has changed in the past five or six years that he has served as principal there, beyond some teacher changes and enrollment fluctuations, but he noted community of Pleasant View is “fantastic.”
“A lot of support from families out here that you don’t always see in a lot of places,” he said. Parr also is principal of the nearby Lewis-Arriola Elementary School.
Pleasant View Elementary is at the farthest edge of the school district, halfway between Cahone and Yellow Jacket. It has two teachers, a reading specialist and a teacher’s aide.
The school’s small size presents pros and cons, Parr said.
“One benefit is just the close relationships that are established between a teacher and a student,” he said. “Granted, we have a wide array of skills and abilities. But because our numbers are not as big as a larger school, our teachers have the opportunity to really get to know kids on an individual level and work with their strengths and really help them in areas that they need to grow.”
However, they do face challenges of limited resources. When hiring, they seek teachers comfortable with multigrade levels.
“When you’re talking about multigrade teaching, you’re definitely looking for someone who can differentiate between the different grade levels, but still be able to focus on the group as a whole,” Parr said.
The challenges facing their educators come primarily in the preparation aspect, he said. But the multigrade aspect of the job means that teachers are able to develop relationships with students that last over several years.
Parr went up to Denver last month to accept the award at the CDE’s annual awards ceremony, and the school was recognized at the latest school board meeting.
“Only a very few were identified and acknowledged at this ceremony,” said Superintendent Lori Haukeness at the meeting. “So that’s very, very exciting.”
It’s not the first time Pleasant View has received the Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award. It also was awarded the honor in 2011 and 2012, and is the only Montezuma County school to receive it since, according to the CDE.
“Our teachers do a great job working with what they have,” he said. “And they help these kids move along. At the end of the day, that’s one of our main goals, to make sure they’re ready for the next level.”
ealvero@the-journal.com
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