At Lois Lenski Elementary School in Centennial, fun in learning is not optional.
It’s strongly encouraged as a necessity for authentic learning. Principal Barb DeSpain thinks that’s one reason the school was named a Blue Ribbon School last month, one of five Colorado schools to win the distinction, and the only one in Littleton Public Schools. But this is nothing new for the school, which also won the designation in 1998, DeSpain said.
The national designation also recognized the school has not only been high achieving on standardized assessments, but has grown in achievement over the last five years in regular and special education.
“We’re all about tracking growth of kids when they come to us a kindergartner, and we try to track them where they are,” said DeSpain, who has been principal since 1990. “We want everyone to show at least a year’s growth, so we try to differentiate our instruction so we can make a difference for kids.”
Second-grade teacher Tina Kurtenbach, who has taught at the school for 11 years, said it’s not unusual for a large group of students to finish their school work during lunch or recess because they get so engrossed in it.
“We try to build that strong community where they want to excel, where they want to be ready to learn,” Kurtenbach said.
She said most parents are involved in the daily activities of the school of about 600 students in kindergarten to fifth grade, and their help is invaluable. They also help create an atmosphere where kids are excited to learn. Parent volunteers also allow Kurtenbach more one-on-one learning opportunities.
“It’s very exciting to work at a school of such a high caliber, but I really think it’s a congratulations to everybody, not just the teachers and the principal, but to everyone for pushing these kids to the next level,” Kurtenbach said.
Amy Kurtz’s son is a third-grader at Lenski and she has been a volunteer at the school since her other son, now in sixth grade, started as a kindergartner. She said she feels the school did an excellent job of instilling critical thinking skills and confidence through regular public speaking opportunities.
“The application of technology is something that both excites them and gets them ready for learning but also prepares them as they get to the higher grades,” said Kurtz, who also is co-president of the parent-teacher organization. “They are so adept at learning new skills because that technology doesn’t even matter because it changes all the time, and then that technology fuels their learning.”
She said the school also focuses on having kids engaged in projects during which they have to think critically rather than just remembering something for a test. She said parents have logged about 7,000-10,000 volunteer hours over the past few years, and the school tries to make volunteering easy for parents.
“It’s amazing, it’s the equivalent of providing for several additional staff members,” Kurtz said.
The school has managed to grow in achievement despite budget cuts and losing 1½ teacher positions over the last 10 years.
DeSpain said they also try to instill good social behavior by teaching the kids to be respectful, responsible and being ready to learn.
“We like goal setting and we try to help kids learn that it’s fun, so we focus on behaviors that can lead in that direction,” DeSpain said.
Collaboration and authentic inquiry is crucial to how they teach because they want to get kids set up for a future in which collaboration and critical thinking are requirements in a career.
“Students just get very excited about learning here because they get to develop some of the essential questions and show some way of presenting learning and becoming better writers and users of technology,” DeSpain said.
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2671, cwoullard@denverpost.com or
