Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Student Pathways topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Durango School District emphasizes student-designed pathways, discusses access to CTE and Big Picture programs
Summary
Administrators, students and parents discussed efforts to make students "co-designers" of their academic and career pathways, the rollout of an advisory curriculum and steps to improve access for Big Picture students to Durango High School CTE courses.
Durango School District No. 9-R administrators, students and parents discussed efforts to let students co-design their academic pathways and improve access to career and technical education programs during a board meeting. The discussion covered an advisory curriculum prototype, 8th-grade transition work and steps to resolve scheduling, safety and data issues that limit cross-campus participation by Big Picture students in Durango High School (DHS) courses.
District staff framed the change as part of the strategic plan goal to make students “co-designers” of their pathway, and said the district piloted a new curriculum this year that will be adopted more widely next year. A staff member (administrator) said, “We're getting better and better. We're getting more comprehensive, and we're getting more student directed in that. So I think next year is gonna be our first year. We we adopted the curriculum as well as the assessment, and we prototyped that curriculum this year.”
The nut of the discussion was how to translate that vision into schedules, advising and practical access to classes and credentials. Staff described a monthly work group of academic advisors and teachers developing an advisory curriculum and advised practices to ensure every student has reflective conversations about interests, career options and the steps to reach postsecondary goals. The staff member said the district aims to hold up a “mirror” so students “know what makes them tick” and can chart pathways that include both rigorous college-prep courses and industry credentials.
Students and parents spoke about how Career and Technical Education (CTE) and CTSO experiences helped students identify interests and build résumés. One student (Student) said, “I've never been turned down for a course ever. Like and I've been able to find my geeky guy because of that,” and described a management-class project to host 100 people and raise funds for search-and-rescue work as an example of CTE-as-resume-building.
Board members and administrators also discussed specific barriers for Big Picture students who wish to take DHS CTE classes: identification and badge systems, transportation, attendance accounting and safety supervision. The staff member summarized the approach as “process mapping” to remove points where students are asked, “Who are you? Why are you here?” and said the district is working to formalize the process so Big Picture students can participate without the ad hoc navigation described by students.
Participants said the district is pursuing multiple partnerships to expand options — including community college arrangements for programs such as auto mechanics and small welding — and exploring industry credential and aviation opportunities where student interest exists. Staff noted that some course access is reimbursable and therefore requires resource allocation decisions on a case-by-case basis.
The discussion repeatedly emphasized that the building and its CTE programs are resources for all students. “This building is not a DHS building. This is everyone's building,” a staff member said while describing efforts to coordinate schedules and safety procedures across programs. Administrators named internal colleagues (Dave Blau) and referenced leaders (Dr. Hurrell, Dr. Chester) as involved in planning and master-schedule design; the meeting record shows ongoing work rather than a final policy change.
The board and staff indicated next steps: continue the advising work group, finalize curriculum and assessment rollout for the coming year and formalize cross-campus participation procedures so Big Picture students can reliably access DHS CTE offerings. No formal vote or policy adoption on those items was recorded in the transcript segments provided.
Minor items mentioned in the discussion included plans to ensure personal finance instruction is available across pathways and to scale advising so families can repeatedly access transition material (for example, an eighth-grade transition presentation) on demand.
