Cold Spring School District

At Cold Spring School, we pride ourselves on using lean thinking to truly understand and respond to the needs of our students. This means we don’t just give assessments, we use the feedback from each reading and math assessment to guide our next steps. Our teachers carefully review the data, adjust their instructional strategies, and pivot their approach when needed to ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive.

This process of listening to students through their work and adapting instruction accordingly allows us to design meaningful, project-based learning experiences across all subject areas. It’s what makes Cold Spring unique: we don’t teach from a script, we teach from the needs of our learners.

A wonderful example of this was today’s first-grade music lesson. Our music teacher, Sara Di’Salvo, created an engaging storybook using Gemini’s storybook tool to bring learning to life. She then took it one step further by introducing a real, five-week-old baby goat into her lesson. Students not only had the joy of feeding and caring for the goat, but also connected the experience to music, storytelling, and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In her story, Miss Di'Salvo highlighted the idea of creating win-win situations, while also teaching students how animals respond when treated with kindness and love.

This lesson was magical! It blended standards-based instruction, character education, and authentic, hands-on experiences that students will never forget. It also embodied the heart of our school community: a place where teachers innovate, parents support, and students grow academically and emotionally.

Thank you for being such an important part of this community. Together, we are creating not only strong learners, but also kind and compassionate young people.

With gratitude,

Dr. Alzina