Jeff Bushnell Email & Phone Number

Denver Metro Area

Founding Program Director at Center for Compassionate Connections (C3) a not-for-profit 501(c)3. Providing services in curriculum writing, educator/parent training, and coaching. Offering Compassionate Communication/Heart Talk workshops and classes in schools and community centers for educators, families and students in local schools. Writing social emotional learning curricula for early childhood (ages 4-8)C3's Vision: Center for Compassionate Connections is dedicated to advancing… Show more Founding Program Director at Center for Compassionate Connections (C3) a not-for-profit 501(c)3. Providing services in curriculum writing, educator/parent training, and coaching. Offering Compassionate Communication/Heart Talk workshops and classes in schools and community centers for educators, families and students in local schools. Writing social emotional learning curricula for early childhood (ages 4-8)C3's Vision: Center for Compassionate Connections is dedicated to advancing compassionate thought, communication and action within all communities: home, school and work.Mission: C3’s mission is to provide children, families, schools and other community organizations with resources that empower them to create the compassionate, fulfilling and happy relationships and lives they desire.Utilizing an adaptable and replicable framework, we provide training and tools for developing compassion for self and others. Compassion is a fundamental human quality that we cultivate through C3’s evidence-based communication and curricular resources designed to develop skill sets, heighten self-awareness, and strengthen human connection. By gaining a personal understanding of the power we possess to transform our emotions, perceptions and behaviors through compassion, we can shift the culture of our homes, our schools and our communities so that we experience more happiness, success and well-being in our lives. Show less

Boulder, Colorado

After co-authoring a Heart Talk for Teachers curriculum and Heart Talk for Parents activity guide, I facilitated Compassionate Communication/Heart Talk workshops and classes in local schools and community centers for school staff, families and students.

Isabella Bird Community School

One of three founding leaders at Isabella Bird Community School, an Innovation School in Denver Public Schools. The school's educational program and culture are built upon the following five Guiding Principles for Academic and Personal Excellence: Compassion and Relationship; Collaboration and Shared Leadership; Inclusive and Meaningful Curricula; Service Learning and Global Citizenship; Health and Wellness.I participated in all phases of the school’s opening, ongoing development, and… Show more One of three founding leaders at Isabella Bird Community School, an Innovation School in Denver Public Schools. The school's educational program and culture are built upon the following five Guiding Principles for Academic and Personal Excellence: Compassion and Relationship; Collaboration and Shared Leadership; Inclusive and Meaningful Curricula; Service Learning and Global Citizenship; Health and Wellness.I participated in all phases of the school’s opening, ongoing development, and operation, including innovation plan research and writing, mission and vision articulation, teacher training, as well as educational program and curriculum development and implementation. I participated in every phase of the facility design process, school naming, FFE ordering, writing administrative documents and handbooks, staff hiring, and community and new school family outreach, marketing, and tours. During the school’s opening year I worked as both a half-time Kindergarten teacher and as a half-time School Leader. The following two years I served in a full-time leadership capacity. I supported teacher development and success. Like the other School Leaders I served as a mentor to teachers, provided coaching toward teachers implementing best instructional practices aligned with data driven inquiry and the district's teacher evaluation framework. I helped develop a compassionate learning culture both within individual classrooms and within the school at large. I was active in opening and developing all phases of our school’s Newcomer Program, including developing partnerships with refugee/immigrant families, local resettlement agencies, refugee housing personnel, interpreters/translators, the creation of all marketing materials, as well as building relationships within the DPS ELA and PAC communities. I was responsible for completing teacher evaluations of the Spanish, ESL, and Newcomer classroom teachers. Show less

International School Pointe-Noire (Republic Of Congo)

I was both co-principal and teacher in a culturally, racially and linguistically diverse preK – 6th grade international school in Republic of Congo. Under difficult circumstances my wife and I, as school leaders, managed the school’s budget; carried out employee hiring and evaluation, attended and wrote follow-up reports of monthly board meetings; communicated regularly with and wrote reports for our home office at ISS in Princeton, NJ; designed, built and equipped a for-purpose school;… Show more I was both co-principal and teacher in a culturally, racially and linguistically diverse preK – 6th grade international school in Republic of Congo. Under difficult circumstances my wife and I, as school leaders, managed the school’s budget; carried out employee hiring and evaluation, attended and wrote follow-up reports of monthly board meetings; communicated regularly with and wrote reports for our home office at ISS in Princeton, NJ; designed, built and equipped a for-purpose school; designed school furniture for local construction; wrote operating policies; created day-to-day school forms and documents; wrote and designed a school website; wrote the student-parent handbook, as well as all international standards and benchmarks documents; created standards-based report cards tied to a standards-based curriculum we designed and implemented to connect with the school’s IB-, EL- and Arts-based focus on social justice, environmental sustainability and personal fulfillment; and created and offered monthly parent education workshops on topics of educational and/or parenting significance to school families. In addition to managing the school’s predictable day-to-day administrative functioning and my full-time teaching duties with 2nd through 6th grade students, I was often called upon to deal with the unpredictable, notaby electrical and internet outages, sewage challenges, and covering for staff with malaria who were unable to work. Show less

Denver, Colorado

I was adjunct professor at Regis University, teaching two semesters of a 3-credit course entitled "Theories and Strategies for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students K-12" that is required for pre-service education students. Each of the two classes was taught in large part on site at Anunciation School, a K-8 school where Regis students could benefit from applying and integrating the instruction they received in English Language Acquisition (ELA) sheltering strategies directly into… Show more I was adjunct professor at Regis University, teaching two semesters of a 3-credit course entitled "Theories and Strategies for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students K-12" that is required for pre-service education students. Each of the two classes was taught in large part on site at Anunciation School, a K-8 school where Regis students could benefit from applying and integrating the instruction they received in English Language Acquisition (ELA) sheltering strategies directly into their practicum experiences with the school’s culturally- and linguistically-diverse student population. Show less

Wuxi, Jiangsu, China

One of 6 founding members of the American International School of Wuxi. Job included school visioning, learning materials ordering, curriculum writing (IB), educational program delivery. Along with four other teachers and one administrator, I helped to design, equip, found and grow this entrepreneurial international K-5 school on the Guanghua Chinese School campus in Wuxi, China. I worked with a student population comprised exclusively of EAL learners (primarily South Korean), and used second… Show more One of 6 founding members of the American International School of Wuxi. Job included school visioning, learning materials ordering, curriculum writing (IB), educational program delivery. Along with four other teachers and one administrator, I helped to design, equip, found and grow this entrepreneurial international K-5 school on the Guanghua Chinese School campus in Wuxi, China. I worked with a student population comprised exclusively of EAL learners (primarily South Korean), and used second language acquisition/learning strategies regularly while implementing a project-based curriculum rooted in the primacy of self discovery and creative expression. I co-authored operating principles and policies, and an integrated K-5 IB curriculum following my training in the International Baccalaureate Organization’s Primary Years Program (PYP). I also taught art, music and physical education to the K-5 students. I designed and adapted curriculum in an ongoing way to meet the diverse learning needs of the Kindergarten through third graders with whom I worked. Show less

Boulder, Colorado

In this public charter school in Boulder, Colorado, I taught the first grade in a combined classroom with another teacher, my wife Traci. Together, we planned and implemented differentiated, heart-centered curricula in language arts, mathematics, scientific inquiry, studies of societies, technology, and the arts. Our 34 students were active participants in project-based learning, constructing their own meaning through the work they did. In addition to the first grade curricula, we taught… Show more In this public charter school in Boulder, Colorado, I taught the first grade in a combined classroom with another teacher, my wife Traci. Together, we planned and implemented differentiated, heart-centered curricula in language arts, mathematics, scientific inquiry, studies of societies, technology, and the arts. Our 34 students were active participants in project-based learning, constructing their own meaning through the work they did. In addition to the first grade curricula, we taught other students in the school (from 2nd - 8th grade) throughout the year, during Arts and Sciences, a ten-hour class (one hour a day) when the school’s students chose from a variety of scientific, movement and artistic offerings. I participated in Horizons shared leadership model of governance, called Council—the all-inclusive governing body of the school—and served on the school’s Teacher Board for 6 of my 8 years of employment. I returned to Horizons from 2008-2010, and was responsible for providing part-time social-emotional program support to students and teachers in the areas of friendship-building and effective communication and problem solving strategies. Show less

Master Of Education (M.Ed.), Curriculum And Instruction With An Emphasis In Arts Integration, 4.0

Bachelor'S Degree, Psychology, Pre-Med, German 3.75

Activities and Societies: Phi Beta Kappa I studied psychology and pre-med. I returned to CU in 1982 to earn my elementary K-6 teaching.