Last week we finished the first quarter of the 2015-2016 school year.  Wrapping up Q1 always feels like an accomplishment, because it marks the end of the settling in period: students know the routines, coming to school is now the norm, learning is solidly underway. Academic conferences this week will provide an opportunity to share individual students’ accomplishments with families as we review the quarter’s work.

At the same time, I have been compiling TGS’ annual report, focusing on our accomplishments as a school this year. I wish I could share every accomplishment of every student, because they have all made significant progress toward their goals. As a school, we have created more opportunities for student engagement in goal setting and self-evaluation. Students are now connecting with their advisors more frequently, and touching base on Identity, Interaction, Intellect and Independence goals at scheduled times throughout the year. With everything we’re trying to accomplish in the course of each day, and through the school year, this small piece of scheduling feels like a big accomplishment – and something that will surely lead to a cascade of individual student accomplishments to come.

For this year’s report, we are focusing on accomplishments that document our growth as a community. Creating a community of belonging is one of our core values, and this year we invited many new partners to join our community. Jenny Anderson of Celebrate Autism and Terry Gold of Launch Longmont brought entrepreneurial thinking to TGS, and it’s here to stay. Bitsbox exposed our students to computer coding; iStar provided opportunities to develop visual thinking through the medium of SketchUp designs. Together, we are paving a path for our students to develop and share their gifts with our larger community. And that’s truly an accomplishment!

TGS hosts the iStar NeuroVersity program