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Jason Hillman came before the Park County School District 1 board of trustees March 9 to detail the school year that is rapidly coming to a close. Hillman serves as principal for both Parkside …
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Jason Hillman came before the Park County School District 1 board of trustees March 9 to detail the school year that is rapidly coming to a close. Hillman serves as principal for both Parkside Elementary in Powell and Clark Elementary.
He first thanked Rob McCray, support services coordinator, for the work he and his staff have put in on the Parkside building as it underwent renovation over the past three years. Hillman also pointed out what a great custodian the school has.
“They have made it a great place to work and for the kids,” Hillman said. “They take pride in all things.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps that had to be taken and maintained to make the schools as safe as they could be for staff and students, Hillman said this was the most challenging year he has faced in his 19 years as a principal.
“But it also has been the most rewarding one,” he added. “We want to meet or exceed expectations and be the best at what we do.”
To keep up with the expectations, Hillman said his team stayed on top of professional development.
“We owe it to our kids to get better at what we do,” he said. To maintain momentum, the teachers and para-educators broke out into teams that held weekly meetings to go over best teaching practices.
Student growth was more difficult to keep up with during the 2020-21 school year because there were no end of instruction assessments made in 2020.
To compensate, the school looked at what skills the students were soft on as individuals. Those students were then given assistance on those skills. In this way, no student was separated into the “low” “middle” or “high” skill group in a particular subject. Instead, a student might be well above average in multiplication, but need enhancement in subtraction. Likewise he or she might spell well but need more instruction in grammar.
By breaking down subjects into topics and concentrating additional instruction on weak areas, students get the help they need and perform better on assessments — in spite of a year that has been different from all others.
