History of Excellence

Eagle County School District has had a long standing history of excellence.  We’ve been a state and national leader in 21st century education.

• Are one of the first districts in the nation to successfully implement a pay-for-performance system and abolish the lock-step salary schedule over a decade ago. ECS has lead the pay-for-performance reform, receiving national attention for innovating and transforming education. ECS has been recognized as a leader in using teacher evaluation to enhance professional development and elevate the teaching profession.

• Established a record of high student achievement. Trend data for the past four years shows an increase in the percentage of students in grades three through ten scoring proficient or advanced in the areas of reading, writing and math.

• Made significant and measurable progress in closing the achievement gap that exists between minority students and non-minority students, while achievement scores continue to rise!

• Been successful in recruiting and retaining highly-qualified and knowledgeable educators. ECS has been recognized as a national leader in instructional development and teacher practices.

• In 2010, ECS’ graduation rate was 81% and the state graduation rate was 73.3%, and we have exceeded State graduation levels for the past 10 years a direct result of the instructional development and teacher practices implemented ten years ago.

• Gained national attention for several District initiatives, including the rigorous curriculum redesign and professional excellence, accountability and recognition’ program (formerly known as the Teacher Advancement Program). Additionally, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently mentioned one district in his speech at the Iowa Education Summit as a school district to watch…Eagle County Schools. Lastly, Leadership and Learning Center is featuring ECS in its upcoming publication on current practices in the District related to the rigorous curriculum redesign process.

• Had three principals named Colorado National Distinguished Principals in the past four years: Brian Hester (Battle Mountain High School Principal, 2008), Mark Strakbein (Eagle Valley High School Principal, 2010) and Mitch Forsberg (Gypsum Elementary School Principal, 2001).

• The Colorado Legacy Foundation (CLF) along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have selected ECSD as one of four districts in Colorado to be a partner in the Colorado Integration Project. They will work to significantly improve the number and rate of students who graduate from Colorado high schools ready for college or a career.