Parent Partnership
Dear families,
From the first day of Blueprint, we have had the opportunity and privilege to watch our students evolve. We have seen them grow from timidly testing the waters; skimming the surface, to diving head first. Since our return after winter break, we have seen a renewed level of confidence, fervor, and critical thinking that can only be generated from dedication, a growth mindset and the deep desire to pursue their goals with an open mind and passionate heart. The growth we have seen over the last several months causes us to take pause to celebrate and share with you how Blueprint has evolved and given us reason reiterate what drives our focus and mission for your kids each day.
It’s really hard for us to believe that it was almost this time last year that we first shared our mission and vision with you and we continue to be incredibly honored, excited, and humbled by the growth we see each day in our kids. We ask a lot of our Blueprinters each day.
As students “build” their day each day, they have to think about the goals they have set for themselves, both on a big picture and daily basis, clarifying the design of their assignments, area of focus for exploration, and ultimately examining their success and opportunities for growth within daily feedback and during evaluations on their Snapshot. Students are co-creating with us. They are using broad topics from Colorado State Standards to establish inquiry, define and articulate a problem; finding ideas to investigate through rigorous, detailed daily targets. Through this process, they are reading constantly; learning to analyze and synthesize text. We have seen incredible growth in our students’ abilities to not only seek, but critically examine text, organizing their research, looking for vocabulary, main ideas, and key problems to solve along the way.
We’ve have seen tremendous growth in students’ work, not only evident in their research but in their ability to discuss and share their thinking at a higher level. They are starting to drive their projects with higher level questions, asking why constantly, exploring more than one point of view, and looking at more than one solution for a problem.
Students are working through challenges and problems, facing adversity and tackling obstacles to deepen their understanding of an idea. They have grown to be more flexible and open minded as they reach beyond the walls of Sage Canyon. Through their work to contact and interview experts, they reach a new appreciate and respect for more than one point of view, honoring the opinions and experiences of others. Through this, they are learning to communicate professionally and respectfully with adults.
Every week, we strive to engage students to shift their thinking, to open their eyes to something they didn’t know existed, particularly to ideas we share in Pillars. We hope that our students come home and talk about our Pillars themes, the stories and experiences we share with them, and we hope that they find inspiration among these to be responsible, self-aware, and more empathetic to one another.
We have had the privilege to teach at Sage Canyon for many years. Our 6th graders were the first kindergartners to start at Sage. We can honestly say that throughout this time, the conversations we have had with kids are the richest we have ever had. The work that we see kids produce, the problems we see kids solving, the skills that we are seeing them apply, are growing exponentially each day and we again, we are just truly grateful that we get the opportunity to teach them as they become more empowered, creative, and engaged with the world around them.
We love watching their incredible insight to unfold, for the powerful experiences that lay ahead, and opportunities that present themselves before us all as we continue to move forward. We want to thank you for your partnership and support as we continue to work day in and day to make the best personalized experience for your kids.
With love,
The BP Team
We recently had the opportunity to collaborate with Allison Zmuda, a personalized learning and educational consultant. She visited Blueprint and shared some insight if you are interested in reading her blog, you can find it here.
