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A Message From the Principal
Ms. Lori Smith
Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Junior High and the 2009-2010 school year!
 It is my distinct honor and pleasure to serve you as principal. We welcome all of our new families and new students to the community and to our school. Cheyenne Mountain Junior High has long been recognized as a school of excellence and a premier provider of middle level education. We do not take this recognition for granted and are dedicated to being life-long learners of our teaching craft. Such dedication is demonstrated three ways. First, we continuously evaluate our aligned and articulated content
and skills taught in the classroom. Second, we strive to use the most effective assessment methods to inform our instructional practices. Lastly, we provide a safe learning environment for students anchored in positive relationships to encourage student practice of self-advocacy. We believe our diligence in these areas will improve the overall educational success of students as they transition to high school.
This year, we will utilize our PLC /professional development days to begin a school-wide project to improve our assessment practices in all aspects of the curriculum. An Assessment Team of teachers and administrators will attend the Assessment Summit in October. This first step will assist our Team in identifying our best practices in assessment and also in identifying areas of improvement. Upon return, the Team will identify both short-term and long-term goals, develop an action plan, and identify resources needed for on-going professional development in assessment. Understanding that this project will continue over the next several years, we will still maintain our school-wide focus on intentional writing across the content areas, inclusion of non-fiction reading strategies across content areas, supporting
diverse learning needs through differentiation, and providing meaningful opportunities for critical thinking. As life-long learners, our staff is strongly committed to these learning goals and to our assessment project.
In two short years, your child must be prepared for the challenges and rigor of high school. Therefore, it is our obligation to provide students with an educational experience and environment that promotes a balance between opportunities for academic challenge and opportunities that encourages social and emotional growth. Cheyenne Mountain Junior High supports the personal drive and individual aspirations of our students by teaching differentiated lessons with real-world applications, providing a Response to Intervention process for struggling students, implementing a Gifted/Talented Program for highly capable students, and offering a multitude of extracurricular and service learning opportunities for all students who are willing to assume additional challenge. Through these efforts and others, we believe we can empower your
child with the primary tools needed to navigate high school and the constant state of change in which he/she lives.
We look forward to working with all members of the Cheyenne Mountain Junior High community and the triumphs and challenges that the school year will bring!
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