Category Archives: Organizational Developments

Welcoming a Pair of New Instructional Specialists

We’re excited to welcome two new full-time instructional specialists to the Eagle Rock family, each of whom have been on campus over the past four weeks or so to get the lay of the land and soak up some early orientation.

Our new instructors include Beatriz (Bea) Salazar, who was born in South Central Los Angeles, and grew up in Commerce City, Colo., and Eriq Acosta, a Loveland, Colo., native who finished high school in Johnstown, Colo.

Bea Salazar
Bea Salazar

Bea received her education at 11 different schools through her lifetime, and completed her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Denver. Most recently, she earned a Master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Colorado State University (CSU).

Her most recent job was in the Housing and Dining Services department at CSU, where Bea served as an assistant residence director.

Bea first heard about Eagle Rock while chatting with a colleague at CSU about her passion for educating young people of color. Reflecting on that discussion, Bea said, “I loved the determination the students had in making the best future they could, and having adults who believed and encouraged their dreams.”

Bea is our new Life After Eagle Rock (LAER) instructional specialist, and she’s excited to build new relationships and opportunities, and learn all there is to learn about Eagle Rock and our brand of progressive education. A fun random fact about Bea? “I have a love for old cars! My lifelong dream is to rebuild an old Ford truck.”

Eriq Acosta acquired Navajo, Pueblo and Chicano origins from his mother’s side of the family, and Comanche and Mexican from his father’s side. Eriq has a Bachelor’s degree in Continue reading…

Eagle Rock’s New Director of Public Allies Has Walked These Hills Before

Christi Kramer Eagle RockOur new director of Public Allies is no stranger to our mountainside campus, having served as the curriculum fellow back in 2008 and 2009.

In fact, for the past 15-plus years, Christi Kelston has worked with nonprofits that challenge traditional concepts of education and youth development. At Eagle Rock, she will be supporting and overseeing a dozen Public Allies fellows through their year of service, leadership and personal development. And with her guidance, we expect these fellows to become members of a new generation of leaders in education reform, inspiring change in educational and non-profit organizations across the nation.

As director of public allies at Eagle Rock, Christi also serves on the Professional Development Center (PDC) team reporting to our director of Professional Development (Michael Soguero) and to Public Allies’ Chief Operating Officer (Cris Ros Dukler).

Prior to rejoining the Eagle Rock team, Christi was the program director of quality improvement at Family League of Baltimore, where she oversaw the quality, implementation, evaluation and tracking of professional development and technical assistance. Family League provides its services to community partners from Baltimore City public schools, afterschool programs and community organizations.

Working with Baltimore community schools, Christi said she was fortunate to be able to dedicate her experience and talents in support of Continue reading…

And The Winner Is: Eagle Rock School & Professional Development Center

If you’ve been associated for any length of time with Eagle Rock, you know our focus is on the work. Our singleness of purpose is reengaging students in their own education. And we actively facilitate the work of others around the country that express an interest in doing the same thing.

Point being: We’re not very good at tooting our own horn, singing our own praises, or making much of a ruckus about awards. We’d like to say it’s because we’re incredibly humble, but the truth is, our students and work with schools around the country come first, and public accolades — while genuinely appreciated — follow somewhere else down the list.

National School of Character

Having said all that, we have won many awards since our inception, and we thought it’d be nice to trot out those recognitions on a list. If for no other reason, they give us incentive to keep doing what — apparently — is excellent work:

We’re in the Market for a Great Guidance Counselor

Most educational institutions set aside time for graduating seniors to meet with a counselor to discuss their future ambitions, and most of these advisers do a good job of pointing grads toward a suitable college that they can afford or a promising vocation based on their interests.

But here at the Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, we go a little overboard when it comes to assisting in the future planning of our students.

DSC_2710_BThat’s because most of our students initially found success elusive at their previous school, and we’re bound and determined to make that a non-issue in their future lives. We care about each other’s success, our student’s experience, and we work hard to constantly innovate.

Which is exactly why we’re advertising for a new guidance counselor to assist our students in planning for their futures. We don’t even call these folks “guidance counselors.” In fact, the job title reads, “Life After Eagle Rock Instructional Specialist,” or LAER IS, if you’re into awkward acronyms.

Truth be told, a position at Eagle Rock isn’t for everyone. We add new meaning to the term non-traditional, and our “classroom setting” extends way past the final bell and into the evenings and weekends. So if you’re looking for a job rather than a lifestyle, fill out an application at a school where they follow a strict set of standard curriculum documents and hours of operation.

But if you believe in an educational process that supports diverse high school students in reengaging in their own education and finding and nurturing their gifts, or you like the notion of empowering students to explore and examine their options for life after high school in a deep and critical way, then we just might be your huckleberry.

Riddle us this: Do you believe that youth can benefit from coaching and preparation during high school that can make them even more successful after they graduate? Does a boarding school that bases its disciplinary approach on relationships and respect resonate with you?

What it all comes down to is an applicant with boundless energy, an inherent trust in the ability of students, a passion for the array of options that exist for youth, a deep desire to work on both school wide initiatives and with individual students, and you have ambitions to impact secondary education nationally.

If you’ve got it, we want to hear from you.

As the successful applicant for the Life After Eagle Rock instructional specialist (LAER IS) position, you would serve as part of Continue reading…

We’re Hiring — Director of Public Allies

We’re losing Mark Palmer, our outstanding director of Public Allies at the end of this year, which places us in the position of seeking a new leader and administrator to fill Mark’s incredibly large shoes.

public-allies-imageAs director of our successful Teacher Fellowship Program, Palmer’s successor will oversee a dozen individuals, providing them with a year’s worth of service and leadership development at our residential high school that specializes in reengaging and educating students who haven’t been all that successful in a traditional school setting. These 12 fellows will become members of a new generation of leaders in education reform.

The director is tasked with recruiting a diverse cohort of emerging educational reformers, then designing and delivering their yearlong professional development, supporting these fellows through their many intersecting roles at Eagle Rock School and its Professional Development Center.

But before we delve further into the details of the job, it’s probably best to list the qualifications required.

  • A Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree in education is highly preferred.
  • The applicant should also have garnered some experience with recruiting a diverse group of young adults for service positions, working with public high school reform, and working with adolescents.
  • Strong organization, staff management and leadership skills are also required, as well as an ability to facilitate adult leaders through yearlong development.

Moving on to the responsibilities side of the equation, the new director will manage the Continue reading…

New Faculty And Staff Members Join Our Ranks

We’re not exactly a revolving door here at Eagle Rock, but staff members do come and go on occasion, as was the case this summer when we said farewell to last year’s Public Allies Fellows and a handful of staff members.

And now we’re turning around and tossing down the welcome mat for eight new full-time staffers — some of whom we already know who have taken on new positions, and some who are brand new to our mountain side high school.

Without further ado, let’s introduce our new staff members, in no particular order:

Brighid_Scanlon_Eagle_RockBrighid Scanlon, World Languages Instructional Specialist, Ponderosa House Parent

Brighid has a Master of Arts degree in foreign language pedagogy (Spanish focus) from the University of Delaware Newark, Del., and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the same institution in Spanish studies and mass communication.

Recent Eagle Rockers will recall that Brighid was the World Languages Fellow two years ago, and this past year was the interim performance and music instructor after Ike Leslie moved on. She will be co-house parenting this year with second-year Public Allies Science Fellow, Sara Benge.

Dan-Hoffman-Eagle-RockDan Hoffman, Language Arts Instructional Specialist

Dan received his teaching certification in secondary education and social studies From Prescott College after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban & Environmental Policy from Occidental College in Los Angeles.

Some of you will recognize Dan from his year as the Eagle Rock/Public Allies Societies and Cultures Fellow in 2009-10. Dan returns to Eagle Rock having worked at Voyager Academy High School in Durham N.C., as a curriculum specialist and social studies teacher.

Dan will join the Ponderosa House team.

Diego-Duran-Medina-Eagle-RockDiego Duran-Medina, Societies Cultures Instructional Specialist

Diego’s impressive creds include a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University; a Masters of Arts degree from New York University; and, a Masters of Education degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. While at Columbia, he studied educational administration at The Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership.

Diego has extensive experience with independent schools, having worked at the Punahou School  (Honolulu, HI) and The Edmund Burke School (Washington, DC).

He will join the Juniper House Team.

Stephanie Dixon, Registrar and Life After Eagle Rock Counselor

Stephanie worked for five years as a career and post-secondary counselor and teacher in the high-need Denver Public Schools that featured a diverse population of young people between 14 and 24 years of age — most with multiple obstacles to educational success.

She was also a Continue reading…

Saying Goodbye To Six Eagle Rock Faculty Members

Goodbye-Image-Eagle-Rock-FacultyA half dozen of our faculty members are moving on, as they say — departing our campus for new ventures, but doubtless with a look behind at what they accomplished and experienced during their times here at Eagle Rock.

It goes without saying we’re going to miss them, and it’s also probably unnecessary to say we wish them well, because they’ve been receiving hugs, handshakes and tears since they announced their plans. It’s fairly obvious we want the best for them in their new pursuits.

Among those departing are Karen Ikegami, Holly Takashima, Berta Guillen, Ike Leslie, Jonna Book and Denise Lord. For each of these faculty, we’re devoting space below focused on what transpired for them professionally while here at Eagle Rock, and where they’re off to — or where they’ve already arrived.

Karen Ikegami came to Eagle Rock in 2008 as the math instructional specialist and also became the Juniper houseparent that same year. Karen is staying in Colorado and is working at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver. She will be the Wallace Fellow Principal Resident and will be working on getting leadership training and her principal license through Get Smart Schools.

Holly Takashima started here stint here in 2011 as the English fellow, and then was hired as the English instructional specialist, becoming the Lodgepole houseparent in January of last year. Holly has moved to Nashville to be with partner Brandon, and has been hired on at John Overton Comprehensive High School, teaching American literature to high school juniors.

Berta Guillen became the Societies and Cultures fellow when she joined the Eagle Rock School staff back in 2008, and was soon thereafter hired on as the Continue reading…

We’re Hiring: Job Openings At Eagle Rock

Eagle-Rock-School-PhotoAccording to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are roughly 4 million job openings in the United States, of which 76,000 or so are in the public and private education sectors. If you take away our current job openings, no one at the BLS would notice, but here at Eagle Rock, every position matters, including these positions that we’re now recruiting for:

Working at Eagle Rock isn’t for everyone, which begs the question… Who is our ideal applicant? Well, for starters, we’re interested in people who believe in an educational process that supports a diverse range of high school students in finding and nurturing their gifts and talents, rather than simply teaching to standardized tests and curricula.

We’re also interested in hearing from people who believe in the potential associated with reengaging youth in their own education, and along those lines, who would like to Continue reading…

2013 Colorado Flood Update: We’re Asking Everybody to Step Up to the Plate

Editor’s Note: It’s a bad use of an idiom, but we’re not out of the woods yet when it comes to the devastating flooding that visited our area of Colorado like an unpopular substitute teacher this past month. But just as Eagle Rock is now a designated National School of Character, we’re going to have the opportunity to prove we earned that honor this coming semester. Here’s an update of Jeff Liddle’s latest email to parents, sponsors and students.

By Jeff Liddle, Head of School

Earlier today, we sent out a memo by email to parents, sponsors and students in an attempt to bring everybody up to date on the recent flooding in Colorado and how we intend to conduct business this trimester. For starters, we’ve arrived at a start date for this trimester and that date is Sunday, Sept. 29th for veteran students. The trimester will end on Saturday, Dec. 14th to ensure we have time to fit in the normal amount of credit.

Our email message to students, parents and sponsors outlines flights, carpooling options, and other logistical issues, but what I want to discuss with you here is what our students can expect from us when they walk back on campus later this month, and what we expect from them.

First off, our campus is in fine shape. Not so for the town of Estes Park and everything else down the canyons. Fact is, by sometime next month, there will only be one route  in and out of town, and that’s Highways 7-119-70. And while that route is  in good shape, the commute to and from Denver International Airport is about three hours. Other roads will eventually open, but we don’t have a solid indication yet as to when those events will occur.

The good news is the utilities are consistent and they are on. The gas, water, electricity, sewage, Internet, and phones are all working. Also working are the merchants in town, including those at the Safeway market, gas stations, coffee shops, the library, and many local shops. And we are getting food deliveries to campus with no problem.

However, access in and out of Estes Park remains a problem. That means medical and mental health services that we typically get in the valley will be difficult to access. Check with us if you have a concern about such facilities. Also, there’s no easy access to the towns of Continue reading…

What It Means to be a National School of Character

One of the major highlights we all shared here at Eagle Rock late last year was the honor of being designated as a National School of Character.

National School of Character
Dan Condon (far right) representing Eagle Rock at the 2012 National Schools of Character ceremony at the National Forum on Character Education.

It’s quite an accomplishment, but what exactly does it mean to be a school of character? Those learning institutions that are designated as National Schools of Character (NSOC) have all demonstrated through a rigorous evaluation process that character development has had a positive impact on academics, student behavior, and school climate.

And these so-honored institutions aren’t expected to sit back and glory in their uniqueness as pillars of character. Instead, schools like ours here at Eagle Rock are fully expected to serve as models for other academic learning centers, helping them to achieve the same results.

Eagle Rock was one of two dozen schools and a school district that were recognized in late 2012, and we have earned the distinction of serving as a National School of Character for the next five years. Before we advanced to the national level for review, Eagle Rock was named a Continue reading…

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