Monthly Archives: April 2019

Hiring our First-ever Learning Specialist

We’re pleased to announce that if all goes according to plan, the first-ever Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center Learning Specialist will join our Instructional Team by Sept. 2 of this year. This new position, which was created to ensure all Eagle Rock School students receive the academic support they need, calls for someone possessing an entrepreneurial disposition (to help us, in sense, co-create the new role).

Reporting to our director of curriculum, the learning specialist will be responsible for serving students with learning needs by means of creating and managing learning plans, directing tutoring and instruction, and coaching our instructional specialists in new and emerging learning techniques.

To accomplish these and other responsibilities, the successful candidate should have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Special Education or a related field. Applicants should also have experience in progressive models of education at the high school level and have participated in a successful Learning Specialist program — or better yet, have experience in building such a program — in the past.

Additional responsibilities the new staff member will take on include: Continue reading…

Not Everyone Catches a ‘Break’ During Eagle Rock School’s Trimester Break

Once again, we find ourselves between educational sessions as our 77th trimester draws to a close and ER-78 stands in line for its debut next month. It is during this trimester break that our instructors take a break from the classroom, and students enjoy a well-deserved vacation from independent studies, nontraditional classes, leadership responsibilities, and duties as stewards of the Eagle Rock community and our natural environments.

Last Friday, we celebrated the graduation of four students during a ceremony held here on out mountainside campus. Those grads include Alethea Auguste, Mohammad Thabata, Yxcelline Serafin, and Maria Suaste Perez. An End of Trimester Community Meeting took place the following day, with the trimester’s final staff meeting taking place yesterday.

For the most part, this period is technically a respite from school. However, several of our Professional Development Center (PDC) staff remain at work supporting our efforts to reengage youth from around the nation in their own education. That occurs through the work of the PDC as well as various administrative functions taking place on campus.

On Monday, Dan Condon, our Associate Director of Professional Development, was hard at work with the Boulder County, Colo., office of Continue reading…

Friday Marks the Graduation of 4 Eagle Rock School Students

Three times each year, we host graduation ceremonies in order to recognize the personal growth and academic learning garnered by our most senior students, each of whom has completed the requirements set forth here at Eagle Rock School in order to earn and receive their high school diploma.

This trimester’s graduation ceremony — which is known as ER-77’s graduation because it is the 77th trimester since our school’s founding in the mid-1990s — features four such graduates participating in an on-campus celebration that’s scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. (Mountain Time) this Friday. April 12.

Below is a short biography of each of the graduates (Alethea Auguste, Mohammad Thabata, Yxcelline Serafin, and Maria Suaste Perez) along with their favorite memories of Eagle Rock, their short-term objectives and long-term goals, and advice for current and incoming Eagle Rock School students.

Up first is Continue reading…

Presenting and Learning at the 2019 Deeper Learning Conference

Late last month, three of our staff traveled to sunny San Diego, California, to attend the 2019 version of the Deeper Learning Conference — an annual gathering of educators committed to engaging students in deeper learning. Known as DL2019, this year’s event focused on offering attendeesa better understanding of how educators can foster student engagement in deeper learning and create equitable learning environments.

By the way, if you’re unfamiliar with Deeper Learning, it refers to a set of six competencies that students need to succeed in and out of the classroom, including Content Mastery, Collaboration, Self-directed Learning, Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, Effective Communication, and Academic Mindset. Learn more at Deeper-Learning.org.

Eagle Rock was represented at DL2019 by Josán Perales, our World Languages Instructional Specialist/Instructional Coach; Cindy Elkins, our Art Instructional Specialist; and me — Doen Lee, Eagle Rock’s 2018-2019 Public Allies Fellow in Professional Development.

The conference host was High Tech High, which is an integrated network of 16 charter schools in Southern California where the design principles of equity, personalization, authentic work, and collaborative design guide the organization’s work. For our part, our Professional Development Center has had a long-standing collaboration with HTH’s Graduate School of Education, while another one of our California-based clients, iLEAD, was also Continue reading…