The Director's Cut: So Many Things To Be Proud Of

As the school year comes to a close, it is such a good feeling to reflect back on all of the accomplishments for the year. A few of our school's major highlights for the 2013-2014 school year were:

Being accepted as an official No Excuses University School
Being visited by State Superintendent, Tom Torlakson, to see our tech integration and No Excuses philosophy
Having our first year of PIQE and having 20 parents graduate the program
Having an award winning season for our music department
Having our Battle of the Books team be the District's undefeated champions
Having our second annual Innovation Day for all students
Having a strong implementation of the the new Common Core standards across the grade levels and across the subject areas.

This year has brought the Crystal family even closer together. As with any family, we have had our disagreements and our struggles, but in the end we have ALWAYS pulled together and come out even stronger.

On Friday I was able to visit several classrooms and see some amazing culminating science projects and writing pieces that are a CLEAR indicator that our students have been exposed to a rigorous academic experience this year. We can feel good about sending our students on to the next grade level knowing that they will be taking with them the strong foundational skills to be successful in their future academic endeavors. As the students hear on the morning announcements daily, they are Crystal Scholars!!!