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Offerings:

K - 8: Mathematics
K - 9: Physical Education
K - 4: Technology Literacy
5 - 8: Social Studies
9: Latin

A letter from our director:

Dear CEP Families,
Everyday in Durango I am reminded how fortunate we are to have school choice for education and the community it serves. Columba Enrichment Program was started in Fall of 2023 to ensure parents who make the choice to have their children receive education services outside of the public system will have access to homeschool enrichment programs of the highest quality.
As CEP continues to serve as an HSE to meet the needs of our Durango community, we are facing an ever changing society. Due to concerns about public education systems, we are serving a wider school population of families with individual values and goals for their children.This number continues to grow as more families choose private education and HSE programs to support parent choice in education. CEP and our community are also experiencing great demand for the traditional approach to education steeped in family values. With greater numbers interested in our program, I am often asked, “Homeschool Enrichment Programs” Over these years, I have come to a definitive answer: School choice is many things to many people.
Traditional Education:
Many families come to the CEP system for one reason. School choice forms part of the mission of the family, especially for education in a manner that meets family values and traditional approach to education. Through its school, parents know that CEP will help fulfill its obligation to foster a full awareness of our children’s place in the community they live, learn and serve. The family who chooses CEP finds its belonging in the act of school choice to attend an HSE and is empowered by the programs of CEP. This is why many seek alternative education services to the public system.
Moral Development:
For some families, it is as simple as this: HSE, students learn to recognize and to act on the difference between right and wrong. Children are taught the values of integrity, truth, honor, kindness, and compassion. They learn to participate in community, to follow the rules, yet retain the freedom to enrich their experience. When sending their children to a HSE, parents know their children will be taught to follow the pathway of goodness and to seek truth and in how they live and interact within a community. Children learn how to live every day as a representative of good judgment, empathy, and service. The moral development of our children is a powerful complement to our mission.

Discipline:
CEP families know their children will learn in a structured and orderly environment. Students learn the virtue of self-discipline while behavior expectations are clear, consistent, and enforced judiciously. Teachers in a HSE school classroom have school policies to follow, but they have the freedom to individualize attention to each student’s gifts and needs. We can use words like service, compassion, community, and reconciliation to emphasize the significance of appropriate social behavior. We teach our children more than tolerance and how to get along. CEP expects children to respect the dignity of all people, to act with empathy, serve with compassion, and to participate in their education. With that, students are also encouraged to grow in self-confidence and self-awareness. They will lead through their actions and are empowered to be active in their role as students; children are given the opportunity to succeed as well as falter. When this occurs, we as HSE educators, are there to encourage and assist.
In CEP HSE programs, discipline is not a punitive endeavor. And we are not limited by a school district policy or a generalized rubric intended to meet the broad needs of a “student population.” While we do have clearly written rules and expectations, it is how we implement those rules that is different. We use a “discipline situation” as an opportunity to teach individual responsibility, the power of reconciliation, and humility through reflection to grow as a whole person responsible to the community.
High Academic Standards:
People are often surprised to see “Academics” listed fourth. However, if students have a vision, a strong moral compass, and a disciplined approach to life, academics will flourish and measured success will occur naturally. CEP creates a learning community with high expectations and accountability. We begin with the premise that parents are the primary educators of their children. We require a high level of participation and collaboration between parents, teachers, and the entire school community. CEP uses traditional, proven methods to lead our students and families to academic success. We expect children to achieve.
Within our system, instruction is child-centered and is focused on the foundations of learning. We commit to providing individualized instruction to meet the needs of every family and child. CEP schools instruct the bedrock principles of traditional education. With this foundation, we give the students the tools they will need to be successful. Students learn to be responsible, accountable, and independent learners. They are challenged to perform, but more importantly, they learn to challenge themselves.
Small School Environment:
The small school environment is an attribute of many HSE programs. Smaller student populations and fewer class sections serve to create an immediate sense of community. Students, teachers, and parents are all stakeholders in the school. Cooperation and participation for everyone involved is a hallmark of CEP school governance and success. Small schools, especially CEP, enjoy the shared covenants of education, belonging, and responsibility. The school is not just a building, but also the place where the children and families know they are loved, protected, and safe. They are free to learn, love and support each other in an atmosphere of care and community.
Every student has the opportunity to know everyone in the school. This leads to strong relationships and a social environment of trust and behavior accountability. At CEP, students are encouraged to know and care for one another. In this environment, students are safe and encouraged to report and advocate against cruel or bullying-type behaviors. Every student is visible and an important piece to every regular school day. Teachers know the students across grade levels. Their “students” are not just those in the classroom they teach. In a small school, teachers know all the students and students know all the teachers. People do not “fall through the cracks” at CEP. They offer each student a safe and supportive environment to help them grow into responsible, successful adults.
HSE schools are many things to many people. CEP provides formation in traditional education practices, moral development, a culture of discipline, academic excellence, and small, connected community. Families seek HSE education for their children for one or any combination of these attributes. But, above all, CEP teaches love, kindness, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, and the immense value for every life. Together, we celebrate who we are as people of community seeking to grow united in our mission..
All peace and success in your vocation,
Mr. Kevin ChickCEP Executive Director(970) 764-8888

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