This morning, we had the pleasure of hosting four administrators from Richardson ISD in the Dallas area and three administrators from our very own Round Rock ISD. Our visitors from Richardson were Brenda Patne, Chris Goodson, John Feekin (Elementary Executive Directors of Instruction and Operations) and Charis Hunt (Elementary Executive Director College and Career Readiness). Our visitors from RRISD were Dr. Martha Salazar-Zamora (Deputy Superintendent of Instruction and Curriculum), Carla Amacher, Assistant Superintendent) and Robbin Gesch (Student Services and College and Career Readiness). We had a great time touring the 4th and 5th grade enrichment clusters and the Friday E-slots taking place in grades K-3.
Our visitors had the opportunity to see first-hand the excitement and engaged learning that takes place at Laurel Mountain. They had a chance to talk to the students and had the students explain what they were working on. We witnessed the cuisine of Ireland being discussed, the rules of basketball being reviewed, puppet shows being prepared, games from around the world being played, pumpkin measuring taking place, ice cream being created, clay bowls being sculpted, websites being designed, Guinea Pig food being prepared, to just name I few (I really could go on and on).
Our course, our visitors were impressed by our students and staff. They were blown-away with the variety of activities taking place and those activities were based on STUDENT INTERESTS. They commented on how Laurel Mountain feels warm, inviting and fun. It was hard to get them out of a classroom and on to the next stop on our tour. They noticed that the students are engaged in their learnning and how they are working in different groups with different responsibilities. They commented on the creativity of our students.
After the tour was over, we were able to sit down, visit and answer their questions. We had a great discussion about the importance of using a strength based model in schools and how the work we are doing with SEM is so important. Giving our kids a chance to work in areas of interest is so powerful and vital.
So, thank you to our new and "old" friends for taking time out of your VERY busy Friday to spend a little enrichment time with us at Laurel Mountain.
Continuing to develop the whole child...
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