Principal's Page
August 2024
P-DUB Community,
The time has flown by, it is already the start of my third year as the principal here at Prairie Wind. That means my first kindergarten class is already second graders! It is hard to believe that we will be a K-4 building this year. It has taken a lot of work to make this transition happen. I know there are mixed emotions on this topic. As the reality of it sets in in a couple of weeks, our staff is committed to making the 24-25 school year an amazing year for everyone.
Our district has adopted a new math curriculum called Eureka Math Squared. We will begin this roll out this year as we continue to implement Wit and Wisdom for Language Arts. Each grade will continue to have an intervention block for reading and math so that we meet all students where they are academically. Prairie Wind looks to have around 390 students this year as opposed to years past with almost 500 students in our building. In addition, our school will house an Affective Needs Program this year to support our Central Triad.
Prairie Wind will have three sections of kindergarten, first, second and 4th grades. We will have four sections of third grade for this academic school year. Our staff will utilize our multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) to help support students academically, socially, and behaviorally. We will continue to implement positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) to meet every learner where they are and to motivate each student to be safe, respectful, and responsible while at Prairie Wind and out in our community. PBIS Rewards will help us to issue points to students that they can use in our school store.
As a member of our school community, I want to encourage everyone to live our vision more so than ever. We Are ALL In! This means that collectively with parents, students, community, and Prairie Wind Staff, we will do whatever it takes to make our students at P-DUB successful.
Welcome back to the 24-25 school year. We are excited to collaborate with you to make this a memorable year for your child/children!
Best,
Brian Aragon
P-DUB Community,
I am energized and encouraged to be stepping into year two at Prairie Wind Elementary. I know as a new administrator last year that I made a ton of mistakes. I plan to use those learnings and failures to make myself better for all our students! As I model this throughout the year, I want to encourage all our parents, guardians, educators, and PW staff to follow this growth mindset. The more we model for our children that failure is a new opportunity to learn and grow, the better we will all prepare our students for their future.
Those of you returning to Prairie Wind will experience some changes this year. We have teachers that desired a change in their day-to-day activities and will be teaching in a new grade. I am excited for the teaming and collaboration of our elite staff this year. Next, we are going to rollout a new positive behavior reward system that will replace Principal’s 200 club. This new system is called PBIS Rewards. We are going to move the needle in motivating students to bring their best selves as a learner every day. Lastly, while the district goes through a leadership change, I am excited about something that the district is bringing back. We will have a new version of Elementary Athletics (more info to come).
One thing that hasn’t changed and will stand the test of time, our school’s vision: We are ALL in! I challenge everyone in our community to reflect on this simple statement. How will you be “ALL in” when it comes to every student in our school. This could be as simple as getting your learner to school on time every day, developing study groups, attending a sporting event of a child outside of school, donating time to volunteer in the building or volunteering to serve the PTO.
I want to welcome you to the 23-24 school year. It is going to be the best year yet!
Best,
Brian Aragon
August 2022
Prairie Wind Community,
My name is Brian Aragon, and I am humbled to be selected as the next principal at Prairie Wind Elementary School. I look forward to serving this community. I want to take a moment to let you know who I am so that we can begin to build relationships with one another throughout your child’s educational career at this amazing school!
Professionally, I will be entering my 18th year in education. I graduated from the University of Wyoming. From there, I taught first and second grade at Trails West Elementary in Denver, Colorado. I earned my master’s degree from the University of Phoenix and moved to Cheyenne. Upon returning to Wyoming, I worked at the Wyoming Department of Education as a School Improvement and Accreditation Consultant. I was missing something over those years and made the decision to get back to work with students as a Behavior Intervention Specialist at Jessup Elementary. The opportunity to gain experience in administration came after one year at Jessup. I have been fortunate to work as an Assistant Principal at Central High School for the past four years.
I want to share a little about me personally as well. If your student has been to a UW sporting event, it is highly likely they have seen our mascot, Pistol Pete. They may be excited to know that while I was in college, I was Pistol Pete! Following college, I found the love of my life. Shalley and I have two children and two golden retrievers. My family loves to be outdoors camping and fishing, and we enjoy all things sports.
I just want to say once again that I am looking forward to this opportunity. This year is going to be full of relationship building, positivity, celebrations, and student achievement. One of the first things I want us to review is what being “All in” means for all stakeholders involved with Prairie Wind. I am excited to begin this journey with you, our wonderful students, and our incredible staff!
My best,
Brian Aragon
We are ALL in!