Remembering what’s most important
Graduation season. It’s such a joyous time for families, to get together to celebrate the accomplishments of their own children and their children’s friends. It’s fun for us, too, to see those individuals who came to us as very young children, leave us as bright, independent, young adults.

There a lot of good things happening this week, a lot for all of us to be proud of. This has been one of the toughest years in recent memory, and it’s easy to allow other things to distract us from what’s most important. Our students continue to excel, and that is because all of you are here for kids – every single day. The dedication of our teachers, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians, cooks, principals, secretaries, and every other employee who supports these individuals sets us apart from other districts, makes us the preferred choice for so many reasons. This is what is most important.

Your Board of Education is very supportive of all you do and continues to examine potential solutions to our budget challenges so that we can continue the good work we all do on behalf of kids. There are many challenges ahead, but I’m confident that we will pull through it together, stronger.

I wish you a wonderful summer with family and friends. I look forward to all of the blessings you will bring to school year 2011-2012!

Respectfully,
Scott Murphy
Superintendent

Littleton Public Schools 2010-2011 school year calendar approved and available;
District will be closed two additional days due to furlough days; saves LPS $860,000
The Littleton Public Schools Board of Education approved a calendar for the 2010-2011 school year during its May 13, 2010 meeting.  As a result of agreement with the Littleton Education Association, two furlough days have been built into this calendar.  These furlough days will save the district about $860,000 next year and will therefore help save about 17 jobs in LPS.  More.

LPS schools celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week
May 2 through 8 was Teacher Appreciation Week in LPS, and school communities celebrated in many ways to demonstrate their appreciation for their teachers.   The Board of Education, along with the Littleton Education Association, signed a proclamation in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week at the May 13, 2010 Board meeting.

LPS honors additional retirees
LPS retirees were featured in the last issue of E-Contact. The following employees have announced their retirements since that time:

• Ken Huff, 25 years

• John Molitor, 6 years

   

Congratulations! A list of retirement celebrations at LPS schools remains available online.

Teachers receive PTO scholarships
The following LPS teachers received continuing education scholarships from the PTO Scholarship Committee during a May 5 awards reception. The LPS PTO Scholarship Committee has been awarding continuing education scholarships to teachers since 1958. The program is fully funded by individual school PTOs throughout the district. Congratulations to the following:

Tom Andrews
Mandi Autry
Chelsea Barger
Karen Bentz
Don Emmons
Kimberly Fahlstadt
Sarah Fincham
Paula Lowthian
Lisa McDowell
Mark McKenna
Kathryn Miller
Chris Pautler
Ginny Skulan
Coleen Thumm
Lisa Turay

82 percent of LPS 3rd graders score proficient and advanced on 2010 reading CSAP test;
LPS 3rd graders on average score 12 percentage points higher than the state average
Littleton Public Schools’ third graders had strong scores on this year’s Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) reading test when compared to the state. Eighty-two percent of LPS third graders scored proficient or advanced on the 2010 CSAP reading test, compared to 70 percent at the state level. LPS scores went up by one percentage point, and the state average went down by three percentage points. LPS is outscoring the state average by the largest margin in seven years.

• Eight LPS schools’ scores increased from last year.
• Seven decreased from last year.
• Two schools experienced double-digit gains.
• Six schools scored 90% or more proficient and advanced this year, compared to two schools in 2009.
  More.

Goddard Middle School was recently awarded a Qwest Teachers and Technology Grant for $5,700. The grant will fund two classroom sets of Texas Instrument Navigator systems and teacher training.

Newton technology teacher Marc Finer was recently named the recipient of the 2009 Technology Education Teacher Excellence Award by the Colorado Technology Education Association and the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association. 

Goddard 8th grader Robert Spofford placed 103rd out of 224 competitors in the National Math Counts competition in Florida last week. The Colorado team placed 14th out of 56 teams. 

Seven Redirection Center students recently completed a 10-week program through Pawsitive Connections in which they trained canines to become service dogs.  The program promotes positive change and teaches character development in at-risk youth.  This is the fourth group from The Redirection Center to complete the program.

Littleton High language arts teacher Curt Stedron has been selected for the 2010 Jared Polis Foundation Teacher Recognition Award. He will receive a $1,000 grant for Littleton High and $1,000 for his personal use. He was honored last Friday at the Foundation’s event in Broomfield.

Newton Middle School has been selected to receive the Alliance Project Grant for next school year from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District.  Newton was the only school selected from the county to receive this grant, which provides funding to support education programs, workshops, and field trips.  Pathways will participate in this program with Newton as a "partner school."

About 100 Heritage and Littleton High students and 40 local business professionals participated in the 3rd annual Networking to Success event. The program helps students learn skills that demonstrate professionalism and excellent communication when networking with business professionals.

A number of Powell Middle School students earned national recognition for their performance on the 2010 National Spanish Examinations. Powell earned a total of five bronze medals and 18 honorable mentions. About 126,000 sixth through 12th graders compete in this competition nationally.

Six Littleton High School students recently competed in the National DECA competition. Four students made the finals and finished in the top 15 in the “Travel and Tourism Marketing Team Decision Making” category.

Two Arapahoe seniors, Sweta Adhikary and Natasha Leadem, have been named recipients of the Daniels Scholarship.

Heritage High School senior Michael Ann Finnan has been selected to receive a KOA Radio Never Forgotten Fund Scholarship. Heritage teacher and instructional coach Tony Winger also received this scholarship. A $5,000 scholarship is awarded annually to each of 12 students and one teacher in the area in memory of those lost in the Columbine tragedy. Both Michael Ann and Tony have earned this recognition as a result of their dedication and leadership to the Make A Difference Week at Heritage, which recently raised more than $13,000 to support its sister school in Kabala, Sierra Leone. It is rare for a school to have even one scholarship winner, let alone two in one year. 

Several students from Arapahoe, Heritage, and Littleton High competed in the recent FBLA State Leadership Conference and Competition, and quite a few placed in the top spots. Combined, 10 students qualified for the National FBLA conference in Tennessee this July.

In Remembrance
Roy Schiwart,
Custodian
Highland Elementary School
Arapahoe High School
District substitute
1964-1999