By Chris Briggs-Hale
When the 2021-22 school year comes to a close this spring, I will be hanging up my principal’s “hat” and retiring from Ute Pass Elementary School.
It has been my privilege to work in public education for 29 years. During this time, I have served 14 years as a teacher, teacher leader and educational consultant as well as 15 years as a principal.
The past 11 years as principal of Ute Pass Elementary School have been among the greatest honors of my professional career. Now is the time for me to step back and welcome the next generation of leadership at the school.
Ute Pass Elementary School is on a great trajectory. Student enrollment and learning scores are on the rise. Our music, arts, environmental learning, Spanish, library and special education programs are outstanding.
The teachers are masters of their craft. This truly talented, dedicated staff partners with the school and district to turn the community’s highest dreams into reality. I am grateful for each and every one of them.
Every member of this staff, including teachers, para-educators, custodians, food service, security and district leadership shares a collective heart for the whole child. They laid plans for future academic learning embedded in environmental science, created an inspiring new mission statement to guide the next 10 years (or more), and masterfully learned from each other and the best, most recent educational research.
With a new strategic plan underway and a community-wide vision statement yet to be created, it is the perfect opportunity for this community to come together and ask, “What shall we create together, next?”
As I make this announcement, I’d like to thank the district’s leadership: Dr. Elizabeth Domangue, Eric McMartin, Suzi Thompson and our MSSD14 Board of Education. Collectively, they have the heart, integrity, analytical skills, commitment to the whole child and passion to bring School District 14 to ever-greater levels of learning excellence.
Trust and love them. I have … and it’s been fantastic to learn from and work alongside them.
In Manitou Springs, Woodland Park and Cripple Creek, it’s so easy to bond and connect across buildings, systems and communities — it’s not just my time at Ute Pass that I’ve found so special, it’s my work within the larger Ute Pass community as well.
I have bonded with the principals of all our Manitou schools — Maria Masone, Dustin Cady and Jesse Hull — and am deeply inspired by their vision, skill and commitment to the whole child. The leaders and teams in our transportation, Ute Pass BOCES, nutrition services, buildings and grounds, and athletics departments are world-class, highly skilled people.
Our children have benefited deeply from the commitment of our community partners, including the Manitou Springs Arts Academy, Green Box Arts Festival, Sanborn Western Camps, The Nature Place, and Colorado College, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and the Kirkpatrick Family Foundation.
Their work has also brought joy to my own work with the children of Ute Pass, Manitou Springs and Woodland Park.
Ute Pass Elementary School has been very special from the day it opened. The late founding principal, Anne Foster, her staff at the time and all the generations of children, families, teachers and principals have been inspired by how human beings have used this mountain pass for thousands of years.
It has and always will be a place where people have traveled and shared their knowledge of two different Colorado environments: the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. When people meet here, they learn from each other in powerful, new ways.
For 52 years, Ute Pass Elementary School has been committed to the whole child and to the truth that small groups of people can do the greatest things for each and every child. I have loved my time in Manitou Springs School District 14 and the Ute Pass region and look forward to helping the new Ute Pass Elementary principal transition into this position at this amazing school.
I also look forward to finding new ways to support this school district and community in the future. Thank you for this current opportunity to serve you all.
With my love and gratitude.