Austin Simpson

Dr. Coke
E401
01 Apr. 2015
Teaching Context
Community

Fort Collins, CO
o Population: 152,061 (quickfacts.census.gov)
89% White
10.1% Hispanic or Latino
2.9% Asian
1.2% Black or African American
0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native
0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
3.1% Two or More Races
o 18.6% below the poverty line
List of major employers: (All information from
fortcollinschamber.com)
o Overview: Fort Collins' economy has a mix of
manufacturing and service-related businesses. Many hightech companies have relocated to Fort Collins because of
the resources of Colorado State University and its research
facilities (fortcollinschamber.com)
o Advanced Energy, Agilent Technologies, AMD, AnheuserBusch, Avago Technologies, Qualfon, City of Fort Collins,
Colorado State University, Columbine Health Systems,
Eastman Kodak Colorado, Hewlett Packard Company,
Larimer County, LSI Logic, Poudre R-1 School District,

Poudre Valley Hospital, Wal*Mart Supercenter, Water Pik

Inc., Woodward Governor

Voting Trends and other Useful Information:
o Larimer County has a strong school system that has been
on the rise since the 2003-04 school year. Student funding
has grown dramatically, despite a steep drop in pupil
funding and total program funding over the past five to six
years (http://www.larimer.org/compass/).
o Fort Collins will not be applying for grants to take
advantage of marijuana taxes that have been in place
since the legalization of marijuana. $40 million has already
been set aside to assist in the construction of schools and
expensive school projects to public schools that apply.
Again, Fort Collins has no plan to apply and most likely will
not see any of that money (The Coloradoan).

School

Fort Collins High School

Demographics (usnews.com)
o 1,655 Enrolled (52% male, 48% female)
70% White
22% Hispanic
3% Asian
2% Black
2% 2 or More Races
1% American Indian/Alaskan Native
0.3% Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander

Mission Statement: Fort Collins High Schools mission is to

provide an excellent education for all students in a nurturing,
creative, challenging, and disciplined environment so that all
students have the knowledge, values and skills to be productive,
responsible participants in our society and to successfully pursue
careers when they graduate from Fort Collins High School (Fort
Collins High School 2014-2015 PDF document).

83 full-time teachers. 15 teachers in the Language Arts

department. Student to teacher ratio is about 20:1 both in the

Language Arts dept. and school wide.

FCHS has a tracking system. They have sheltered ELL programs
and classes as well as AP and Honors classes.

Course

5863 United States Literature and Composition (English 11):

American Literature courses focus upon commonly known
American authors and their work. Students improve their criticalthinking skills as they determine the underlying assumptions and
values within the selected works and as they understand how the
literature reflects the society of the time. Oral discussion is an
integral part of this course as is the emphasis on narrative,
informational/explanatory, and argumentative writing (from
FCHS 2015-2016 Curriculum Guide).

Modified Block Schedule: 45 min. classes Monday, Tuesday, and

Friday with a 95 min. block period on either Wednesday or
Thursday.

Expected class size of about 22-26.

Student breakdown:

o White: 15-18
o Hispanic: 4-6
o Asian: 1
o Black: 1
o 2 or More Races: 1
o American Indian/Alaskan Native: maybe 1
o Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander: maybe 1