By Susan Paulsen, CEI Strategic Communications Manager Q & A with Superintendent Wendy Birhanzel and Assistant Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer Shelley Becker As CEI commemorates Women’s History Month in 2021, we recognize the increasing number of women serving in leadership roles in Colorado’s PK-12 education landscape. We checked in …
Students Lead the Way
By Rebecca Holmes, CEI President and CEO When was the last time you really “stood in the shoes” of a young person in your school or in your life? Listened deeply? Maybe even shadowed them for a day to see what their learning and life experiences actually felt like? I’ve been inspired …
High School Students Weigh In…
High school students who are members of the Social Redesign Network team in Swink School District share what’s on their mind. These students have attended their senior year of high school during the COVID-19 pandemic. …on COVID and Remote Learning: “My motivation has either been very up or very low. …
Recovery Summer Coalition
Advancing Summer Opportunities to Stem Pre-K – 5 Learning Loss and Accelerate High School Engagement FEBRUARY 2021 To: Governor Polis, Commissioner Anthes, Executive Director Barnes, Local and State Leaders: The COVID-19 pandemic has upended life around the globe for the last year for families and children, especially for those furthest …
A Warm Welcome to George Welsh!
CEI is looking forward to the arrival of George Welsh in 2021. A 24-year veteran superintendent, George will bring his extensive experience in rural settings to our team, and will provide insight and vision that is aligned to CEI’s Design Commitments. George will be working closely with CEI’s Vice President …
A Year of Listening & Acting
By Rebecca Holmes, CEI President and CEO As we close this year, there are reminders everywhere that the pandemic is not yet over. However, Governor Polis described the arrival of the first vaccine doses this week as “the beginning of the end.” Similarly, in schools and districts across the state, …
Looking Forward While Returning to School
By Rebecca Holmes, CEI President and CEO These past six months have been some of the toughest we’ve ever undertaken in education. When I started my career in education, if you had asked me to imagine all that we are going through, I would have never visualized this. When I …
Strategic Reopening Collaborative Toolkit
During the spring and summer of 2020, CEI partnered with 10 Colorado school districts to develop an actionable and timely set of goals and strategies for re-entering school in the fall. With a focus on building a foundation of social-emotional wellness to enable high quality academic learning, theory and ideas were linked with practice during real-time planning processes.
CEI and Partners Launch Systemic Supports for Educators in Historic Education Crisis
To support districts and schools to address the serious disparities in the reopening of our education system and the crisis-level disruption of traditional learning systems, today the Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) announces the Strategic Reopening Collaborative and the Reconnected Learning Hub. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on our education structures, first …
Assess & Prepare
COVID-19 has caused students to miss out on valuable instructional time and social emotional connection and growth. Students, educators, and families are also facing new challenges in distance learning and possible mid-year shifts in how learning happens. To understand and respond to the needs of a district’s community, they must …