Good News Bulletin

Welcome to ESD!

Here's a look at some of our new staff members from all of our schools. This week they have been attending onboarding sessions at Elizabeth High School and they can't wait to get started with the new school year.

Throughout the week, new staff members have stayed busy with training and learning about school procedures and ESD benefits.

This group brings so much experience to the school district and we are thrilled to have them on the team.

New hire!

Elizabeth School District is proud to announce Jeff Maher as our new Public Information Officer. Jeff brings over 20 years of communications and marketing experience. Prior to joining ESD, Jeff served as Communications Manager for the past four years at STEM School Highlands Ranch. While at STEM, Jeff was recognized for significantly growing STEM’s social media and digital presence, helping turn it into one of the top performing charter schools in the state.

Prior to his career in education, Jeff spent 15 years as a television anchor, host and multimedia journalist for ABC, NBC and CW affiliates across the country. Most recently, Jeff was the host of “Wake up with the CW” in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Over the course of his career, he has received top awards from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, New Mexico Broadcasters Association and the American Cancer Society (for helping raise over $3 million for cancer research while serving as Ambassador).

Jeff is a graduate of Metro State University and Ponderosa High School in Parker, Colorado.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be part of the team” says Maher. “Elizabeth School District is a place known for excellence and achievement. The staff regularly demonstrate a level of kindness, professionalism and innovation that you don’t always find at a lot of schools. I am greatly looking forward to developing creative and engaging content for this school district that matches the level of excitement that is already in place as we look toward the future.”

“We are excited to welcome Jeff to the Elizabeth School District team. His background and experiences will help us to continue to share the amazing stories of what our educators accomplish each and every day in the classrooms around our district,“ says Elizabeth School District Superintendent Dan Snowberger. “In addition to helping to expand our already diverse communications protocols in the district, Jeff also brings vast experiences that we hope he can share with students interested in careers in media and broadcast journalism. “

Elizabeth School District also congratulates Jason Hackett, for starting a new position with Douglas County School District as its new Director of Communications. Jason served as ESD Public Information Officer for the past three years, and played a big role in sharing news and updates from within the district, contributing to the development of the ESD website and much more.

"I'm incredibly grateful for my time at Elizabeth School District," says Hackett. "I took it as my duty to tell as many stories as best I could about the amazing students, faculty and staff in Elizabeth, and I hope I did right by each of them. They made my work fun, fulfilling and heaped with hope for the future."

"Elizabeth families have many years of pride ahead of them because of what students are learning and achieving in Elizabeth Schools! My heartfelt thanks goes to every person with whom I had the honor of interacting." He said.

“Jason dedicated countless hours to the district and built amazing systems by which the district has communicated with our many stakeholder groups,“ says Snowberger. “While I was disappointed to hear of his departure, I was excited for the opportunity that was offered to him and strongly support any of my staff in seeking career advancement opportunities. Jason has continued to supported Jeff in the transition process and won’t be a stranger in the district. We were glad to honor him at our last board meeting in June for his dedicated service to the district.”

For media inquiries, contact Jeff Maher at: jmaher@esdk12.org

Leadership retreat!

This week the ESD Leadership Team gathered at Cielo at Castle Pines to brainstorm, take part in group discussions and strategize for this school year.

The Leadership Team Retreat is a chance for school and district leaders to come together and establish goals and expectations for every department.

The team is greatly looking forward to the start of the 2024-2025 school year and implementing fresh tactics and ideas. You also may notice some new faces within the group and we look forward to introducing our new department leaders at upcoming events.

This team is ready and excited for what's to come!

Developing leaders!

The Elizabeth School District Leadership Institute took place this week at Elizabeth Middle School. This was the first year ESD launched the event and the goal of the three day session is to give returning teachers the professional development they need to bring back leadership skills to their schools and classrooms. The sessions are specifically designed for teachers who are interested in leadership roles.

The sessions include instructional design focused on curriculum mapping, specifically designed instruction, meeting the needs of all students and more.

Our staff had a great time with the sessions and plenty of engagement and creative ideas for how to implement the information into their classrooms this school year. This group of classroom leaders will be using what they learned in the sessions to provide teacher support on a regular basis.

At Elizabeth School District, we want to make sure that our teachers feel valued, supported and also have pathways to leadership roles. Thank you for all that you do!

Job fair success!

Thank you to all of our applicants who stopped by Elizabeth High School for our job fair this week. The event has already led to nine new hires with more expected to be finalized in the coming days. Some candidates were offered positions on the spot and we look forward to bringing our new employees on board.

Some of our job openings included teachers, bus drivers, paraprofessionals and more. Many of those positions are still available, so if you did not get a chance to visit the job fair, we encourage you to visit the ESD employment page to view current job openings:

https://bit.ly/4dn5M8B

Elizabeth School District is opening a Childcare Care Center for our community:

• Infant care: ages six weeks through 18 months

• Toddler care: ages 18 months through two and a half

• Each classroom will have a 1:5 caregiver-to-child ratio

• Capacity of 10 children in each classroom

• Center will be licensed for 20 children

Currently the center will run through the school-year calendar. With interest, we will extend through summer.

Send all questions and inquiries to: Karena Dohman, director of early childhood

Aug. 6 & 8 – EMS/EHS student check-in/registration

Aug. 12 – EMS student registration make-up day

Aug. 12 – Board of Education meeting, 6 p.m.

Aug. 14 – First day of school for Grade 6 and 9 only (half day)

Aug. 15 – First day of school for EMS and EHS

Aug. 15-16 – Elementary student orientation/assessment days

Aug. 19 – First day of school for elementary schools

EMS sports calendar

EHS sports calendar

**Reminder to all parents: Be sure to check the websites of your individual schools for more information regarding the registration process.

Elizabeth High School: https://www.elizabethschooldistrict.org/EHS

Elizabeth Middle School: https://www.elizabethschooldistrict.org/EMS

Singing Hills Elementary School: https://www.elizabethschooldistrict.org/SHE

Running Creek Elementary School: https://www.elizabethschooldistrict.org/RCE

The Elizabeth Education Foundation partners with Elizabeth School District in numerous ways throughout the year to support students and teachers. This volunteer-led, independent fundraising foundation provides scholarships for graduating seniors, classroom grants for teachers, and the STARS Awards for outstanding citizenship among students.

Learn more about the EEF at its website.

American Furniture Warehouse maintains a year-round opportunity to help Elizabeth Schools anytime you buy home furnishings.

When you check out at any AFW location, just mention "Elizabeth Schools" or the Partner ID, EC1SD, and AFW will donate 2% of the purchase to the Elizabeth Education Foundation. Additionally, anything purchased of the Beautyrest, Serta or Simmons brands results in an additional 2%. This includes online orders, too.

See the attached flier for more details.