Principal's Page


Photo Principal McPherson
 

Hello Cougar Run Community,

My name is Shannon McPherson and I am humbled and honored to be the principal of Cougar Run Elementary. I am over the moon to begin my 14th year at Cougar Run, learning and growing along side all of you. My goal is to continue our journey together toward educational excellence - cultivating the knowledge, skills and dispositions that we believe all students need in order  to be successful beyond their educational careers. I chose Cougar Run because I have firsthand knowledge that this school is filled with the most talented, compassionate and dedicated educators. Cougar Run has been an organization of excellence since it opened in 1996. Together, we will continue that tradition of excellence. Get excited because this is a journey of hard work mixed with a lot of fun!


During my last 13 years as a staff member at our fantastic school, I have gotten to know many of you. For those of you I will soon meet, I am excited to build relationships with you! I am a people person - I love partnering with families and have a strong belief that the best way to foster educational excellence for our students is to have a strong school/family partnership. That is one of the things I am most excited about this year; building relationships with families and providing opportunities for families to be involved in our school. Another thing I am excited about is reconnecting with our students and staff. These last few years have been the hardest most of us have had educationally and even personally. It made things the most difficult on what we value most, such as building and maintaining a strong, positive and inclusive culture and climate in our school. We will be continuing the work on fostering a welcoming, loving and nurturing environment for our kids in order to ensure academic and social-emotional growth and progress of every single one of our students.  


I began my educational career 25 years ago as a teacher in the Weld County School District. After years in the classroom, I obtained an instructional literacy coach position in Aurora Public Schools. My family had always resided in Douglas County, so I then seeked and obtained a teaching position here at Cougar Run. It is here where I threw out my anchor, and have since grown  from classroom teacher into leadership as our building’s Professional Learning Specialist, Assistant Principal and now, the Principal of this fantastic school. When I first walked through the doors of this fabulous school, I knew I never wanted to leave. When you know you are in a great place, your goal becomes to continue to grow and foster greatness alongside all of those humans who make Cougar Run one of the premiere schools in Douglas County. 


When I am not at school, I have many outside interests. I love the outdoors and being active. Alongside my large family of four teenage boys and husband, we ski in the winter, and hike and wake surf in the spring, summer and fall. I have some solo passions, too. I am an avid runner and yogi as a firm believer in health and wellness to maintain balance. I have an amazingly supportive husband. In addition to our four boys we have a fur baby named Jameson who joins us on many of our outdoor adventures.


We are glad you made the decision to join our Cougar Run Family. We look forward to our time together and know that you, too will feel the magic once you walk through our front doors! 

Sincerely,

Shannon McPherson

Principal, Cougar Run Elementary



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In compliance with Titles VI & VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, and Colorado law, the Douglas County School District RE-1 does not unlawfully discriminate against otherwise qualified students, employees, applicants for employment, or members of the public on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, religion, ancestry, or need for special education services. Discrimination against employees and applicants for employment based on age, genetic information, and conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth is also prohibited in accordance with state and/or federal law. Complaint procedures have been established for students, parents, employees, and members of the public. The School District's Compliance Officer and Title IX Coordinator to address complaints alleging sexual harassment under Title IX is Aaron Henderson, 620 Wilcox Street, Castle Rock, Colorado, [email protected], 303-387-0127.

Outside Agencies

Complaints regarding violations of Title VI, (race, national origin), Title IX (sex, gender), Section 504/ADA (handicap or disability), may be filed directly with the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 1244 North Speer Blvd., Suite 310, Denver, CO 80204. Complaints regarding violations of Title VII (employment) and the ADEA (prohibiting age discrimination in employment) may be filed directly with the Federal Office of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 303 E. 17th Ave., Suite 510, Denver, CO 80202, or the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 1560 Broadway, Suite 1050, Denver, CO 80202.

NOTICE OF DESTRUCTION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION RECORDS

Special Education records which have been collected by Douglas County School District related to the identification, evaluation, educational placement, or the provision of special education in the district, must be maintained under state and federal laws for the period of five (5) years after special education services have ended for the student. Special education services end when the student is no longer eligible for services, graduates, or completes his/her educational program at age 21, or moves from the district. This notification is to inform parents/guardians and former students of Douglas County School District's intent to destroy the special education records of students who exited special education services as of June 30, 2016. These records will be destroyed in accordance with state law unless the parent/guardian or eligible (adult) student notifies the school district otherwise. After five years, the records are no longer useful to the district, but may be useful to the parent/guardian or former student in applying for social security benefits, rehabilitation services, college entrance, etc. The parent/guardian or eligible (adult) student may request a copy of the records by requesting the records at this link ( Douglas County School District Transcripts and Records Requests ).