Coronado’s principal, Darin Smith, is excited for this year. Coronado is facing some exciting changes and prospects and is also ready to face some challenges. But, he says that if  “students work hard in all they are doing” it will be a good year.

In academics, some of our hardest-working students in particular have a good year ahead of them with the Legacy Grant Program. The grant has customized support for its beneficiaries, and through their support claims to improve on average core AP enrollment by 74% and the number of passing AP test scores by 64%. At Coronado, the grant has allowed for cash incentivisation for students and teachers and expanded teacher training to improve their classroom rigor and course quality. Beyond the academics, Mr. Smith was excited about positive extracurricular prospects for Coronado this year, including a small, but effective and committed community-building committee dedicated to involving Coronado with outreach and creating a more positive culture on campus. Helping with this positive culture is a new student spirit campaign through student council, including new “spirit shirts,” and efforts to boost student attendance at sporting events. On the academic front, new strides are being made this year in departmental communication and unification, teachers are talking more this year, and those who teach the same courses are making efforts to ensure students are getting similar experiences no matter which teacher they get at the beginning of the year.

On the horizon for technological improvements, Mr. Smith says changes are slow and steady; efforts include installing mounted projectors, making improvements to computer labs, distributing a selection of Microsoft Surface Pros to teachers whose curriculums need them, and MacBooks for KUGR TV and other electronic arts classes. “The truth is that it’s not enough,” Mr. Smith said, after listing the changes we are looking at this year. However, Coronado could be seeing drastically more improvements (including technological) if the D11 November bond issue and MLO pass. The specific capital improvements which will be made to Coronado include a new gym floor and pool ceiling, an artificial turf track and field ($1.5 Million), replacing out-of-code fire alarm systems ($600,000), new HVAC airflow units ($2.5 Million), and removing the asbestos tile flooring throughout the school ($2 Million). Non-capital improvements include raises for teachers and non-administrative educational support personnel. In the event the bond issue fails, none of the above improvements will be made, no raises will be given, and Mr. Smith warns that significant cuts will have to be made at Coronado. “Our teachers can do a lot with not very much,” the principal praised, but Coronado’s robust course catalog is unsustainable without further funding, and if the bond issue fails we will be looking at losing many of Coronado’s non-core classes.  

On a student level, Mr. Smith has questions, marking how well Coronado is serving the student population. He wants to know if students are connected, if their teachers are there to help them, if they feel like they can be successful, and chiefly if students feel as if they are getting better and if they feel what they are doing at Coronado has value. He firmly and passionately believes that “if 100% of students are in a sport, club, or extracurricular Coronado will hands down be the best school in the state,” and that ultimately, his only goal for Coronado is for “people to love this place as much as I do.”