There\u2019s no denying the future lies with our children, and the kids who will attend the highly anticipated Walsh Elementary are no exception to the rule. For a school planned with such a forward-looking curriculum, one needs a forward-thinking staff, beginning with its newly appointed principal Sheri Coll.<\/p>\n
Having started her career as a kindergarten teacher in Arizona, Coll rapidly rose through the grades as she rose through the ranks, teaching third, fourth and fifth in in the Douglas County School District near Denver. Eventually promoted to elementary and then middle school assistant principal, she concluded her Colorado career as the principal of the 21st Century Innovative School-awarded Summit View Elementary. In her role as the very first principal of Mary D. and F. Howard Walsh Elementary, Coll brings years of experience, a unique outlook on how children learn, and a carefully curated staff of the best and brightest in education. Because every child is different, Coll and her teachers plan to take the approach of engaging them individually and tailoring the way lessons are learned to achieve the greatest retention of knowledge. We took a moment to meet with her before planning for the school year begins to learn what the vision will be for this most unique educational institution.<\/p>\n
Walsh: \u201cTell us a little bit about your background.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Principal Coll: \u201cI\u2019m from Colorado, and I\u2019ve been in education all my life\u2014it\u2019s just what I did. My last achievement was taking a school and turning it into a 21st Century Innovative School. When I say innovative, it\u2019s not just about technology, it\u2019s about the way we teach children and how we reach them to engage students. So that was one of the biggest sellers for parents, but also it was so exciting for teachers and students because we had motivated and engaged students. \u201cWe were in the top ten percent in the state and earned the John Irwin Award (given to Colorado schools that demonstrate exceptional academic achievement over time). I had my own children and they\u2019re older: One lives down here and the other is getting her masters at the University of North Texas. I miss them, and it\u2019s family. My husband and I said we\u2019re tired of Sunday night dinners Skyping and we said, \u2018We\u2019re going to move.\u2019 They say God works in mysterious ways, and this is it.\u201d<\/p>\n W: \u201cHow did you end up with Aledo ISD?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cWhen I was coming from Colorado and looking at schools, all these people were asking, \u2018Where are you going to work?\u2019 Everyone kept saying to go to Aledo, so I started doing my research back in September of last year. And what a community it is\u2014it\u2019s incredible! With their vision and mission they believe in partnering with the parents and families to create strong students and that\u2019s my philosophy, too. Aledo ISD\u2019s motto is, \u2018A past to remember, a future to mold,\u2019 and isn\u2019t that what we\u2019re doing? We\u2019re bringing the traditions that are so strong with Aledo and molding them with innovative thinking. All of that meshes so well with who I am and what I believe, and that\u2019s what led me here.<\/p>\n W: \u201cSo the timing was perfect.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cIt was. I want to be with the best and this was the best, and I won\u2019t settle for less. When you find it, it\u2019s a good fit. If it\u2019s right, you\u2019ll know it and I feel that same thing, a great connection being part of Aledo. Being an outsider looking in, it\u2019s a very strong community that\u2019s about family, caring for one another and supporting the school district. Who wouldn\u2019t want to be part of a strong community that believes in the schools?\u201d<\/p>\n W: \u201cWalsh Elementary is a new prototype for the district, what can you tell us about what\u2019s different and unique?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cIt\u2019s incredible to watch the details going into the school and the state-of-the-art thinking behind it. We\u2019re Bearcats through and through, so we\u2019ll bring those traditions, but Walsh is about focusing on students and engaging them as individuals. It\u2019s about following Aledo\u2019s successful curriculum, but the red thread we\u2019re adding that will run through everything is the technology, because that engages and motivates students. The other red thread we\u2019re running through is the innovative thinking and creative lessons. \u201cWe\u2019re truly hands-on for students and developing them through hands-on learning and authentic real world situations. When you walk into a classroom, I love when kids can explain to you why they\u2019re doing (a lesson) and their goal. That\u2019s what you want for students and what motivates them to succeed. It\u2019s about the students having the resources right there in front of them to get answers, but that should create more questions and deeper questioning. That’s what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n W: \u201cWill the 21st century child need to learn differently?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cWe\u2019re educating kids for jobs we don’t know that are going to exist, so we\u2019ve got to create critical thinkers and problem solvers! We\u2019ve got to create kids that can communicate and collaborate and you can do that from the base of a kindergarten student all the way up. You just have to teach them these skills and strengthen these skills daily. \u201cThat\u2019s done through small group activities like small Socratic seminars where kids are able to talk about whatever they\u2019re learning. I always tell kids that my learning plus your learning equals new learning, because my way of thinking plus your way of thinking equals new thinking. Isn\u2019t that what collaboration is all about? By using our maker space, which I\u2019m so excited for, and being able to be inventors and tinker with different things and to learn how to be resilient and persistent. If something doesn\u2019t work the first time, to be reflective enough to go back and rethink what they\u2019re learning and try it again. That’s innovation. If we\u2019re able to start that at a young age, we\u2019re creating leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n W: \u201cAnd learning is so much more impactful through experience than just talking. You mentioned the maker space: We are also big proponents of the Maker Movement, how does that fit in at Walsh Elementary?”<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cI think (the maker space) is important. Our students learn differently, whether they learn visually or (through) holding something or doing something. We have to fit all those needs and we\u2019ll see the results on test scores. It\u2019s part of who Aledo is, differentiating the teaching and learning styles to meet students\u2019 needs.\u201d<\/p>\n W: \u201cIs that part of the STEM curriculum?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cThat\u2019s the Aledo curriculum. STEM is imbedded in what we do. You create strong science, technology, engineering and math. I\u2019ve had kindergarteners build birdhouses because they\u2019re working with birds and the older kids give them diagrams (for the houses) because they\u2019re learning about area. So you have the older kids helping the younger kids and it\u2019s so much better because when the older kids can teach, you know (the knowledge) is stuck. We\u2019re using things likes spelling words or multiplication tables in authentic ways and we know it\u2019s sustainable learning. \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer that content needs to be taught in ways that engage students, whether that is science with writing, or math and science together, or reading and social studies. They all need to be interwoven, and you bring in the technology pieces that makes it go deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n W: \u201cWhat technology are you excited about?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cThe new Promethean boards in every classroom, which is an interactive white board. The teachers understand the use of technology in authentic ways, so if you\u2019re using Google classroom you\u2019re able to design questions for one class and other questions for another group of students. You\u2019re differentiating the questions to meet the kids\u2019 level and the kids\u2019 needs. Students can submit their thinking through Google classroom and see everyone else\u2019s thinking at the same time. \u201cEvery school had great apps to use, it\u2019s just what apps fit your needs. (We can use) online portfolios so the parents can see then and there what their kids are doing. What\u2019s great is those kids can show the grandparents too, and isn\u2019t that awesome? When they\u2019re not living in the same state, they\u2019re still able to see the work that’s going on, as well!\u201d<\/p>\n W: \u201cHow about the design of the school?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cThe furniture is designed to be flexible and movable, which is really cool. So often kids had to sit in rows, and it\u2019s not like that anymore. The furniture is on wheels and can be moved around. Kids love lying on the ground and doing work in smaller groups, so we\u2019re able to push the furniture away to create a big space. Students that prefer to learn standing will be able to, the desks will adjust. There are different types of chairs for different types of learners. \u201cOutside the library are conversation stairs. You could have groups of students discussing whatever they\u2019re learning about. There are great things going in to this building to make it creative and innovative.\u201d<\/p>\n W: \u201cWe can’t wait to see it! We all wish we could go back to school.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cI say that too! Education is changing as fast as technology. But Walsh isn\u2019t just teaming with parents and students to make sure they know their goals, we\u2019re also teaming with other Bearcat schools in our district. We\u2019re all learning from each other. And as you learn, you tweak to fit the needs of students. You may be able to tweak it differently for students next year, but that\u2019s the exciting thing about education and its momentum right now.\u201d<\/p>\n W: \u201cWhat are you looking forward to next year?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n PC: \u201cI got here at the beginning of April and I\u2019ve been visiting other schools to be with the children, but I can\u2019t wait to be with my team and be able to put all these pieces together. When I was in 6th grade, I got to give the dedicated speech for a brand-new school that opened and it was the greatest thing: I remember everything about walking into that new building. And now I can\u2019t wait to see those kids\u2019 faces coming into a new building. \u201cAs a staff were creating the mission and vision of what we want Walsh to be, and then these kids are going to come in and help create this foundation that, years from now, they’ll drive by and say, \u2018We\u2019re the first!\u2019 You can\u2019t ask for anything more. As this community grows, we\u2019re going to take them in as family. I believe the school should be the hub for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Award-winning educator Sheri Coll joins Walsh Elementary as its first commander-in-chief. There\u2019s no denying the future lies with our children, and the kids who will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[1762,1754,1801,1795,1798,3882,147,1783,1766,1759,1777,1785,358,1775,1781,1788,1752,1771,20,1438],"class_list":{"0":"post-1229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"yoast_head":"\nArticle by: Kendall Morgan<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"