Digital Promise and the League of Innovative Schools will be visiting Cajon Valley Schools on April 20th. We are in the planning stages for site visits now. For more information on Digital Promise click here.

Across the country, forward-thinking education leaders are improving outcomes for students and solving the challenges facing K-12 schools through learning technology and research.

The Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools is:

A network of superintendents and district leaders leveraging technology to improve student outcomes
A national coalition of public school districts partnering with entrepreneurs, researchers, and leading thinkers
A testbed for new approaches to teaching and learning
A representation of the diversity of public education in the U.S.
League members represent more than 3.2 million students in 73 districts and 33 states. Their experiences reflect the diversity and shared challenges of public education in America.

Members of the League of Innovative Schools are selected once a year through a peer-reviewed application process supported by Digital Promise. Superintendents apply to represent their districts and are chosen based on the following criteria:

Vision and Record
Potential for Impact
Commitment

Digital Promise is a Bi-Partisan initiative commissioned by Congress.

Here at Lexington, we are raising the bar for students, teachers and staff to think in new ways and discover the world around us through science, technology, music and art. We understand the importance of keeping fit both mentally and physically and are sharpening our communication, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking skills on LEXTV live broadcast.

Karen Sapper, Principal
Lexington Elementary School

To say that a lot is happening at Montgomery would be an understatement. Faculty, staff, and students are working hard to push innovative thinking and design through rigorous coursework and real world application. Project-based learning is highlighted across all disciplines and even extra-curricular clubs! As a recent recipient of the P21 Exemplar School recognition, Montgomery continues to push boundaries of what is possible when teachers are facilitators and learning is in the hands of students.

—
Jackie Luzak, Ed.D.
Principal, Montgomery Middle School
luzakj@cajonvalley.net

Dr. Mostafa Minawi, Assistant Professor at Cornell University came to visit CVMS students on Friday, February 19. A refugee himself, Dr. Minawi spoke with students on the importance of using their preexisting knowledge as a motivating tool in order to thrive in this country. A big thanks goes to the Newcomer classes, Broadcasting, and History teacher Ms. Wiese, for hosting Dr. Minawi.

El Cajon’s 4th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Half-Marathon and 5K is right around the corner. It’s a great day for the whole family… Especially the kids! Check out highlights from last year above. Check out the website for details. http://www.stpatricksdayhalf.com/

Sharing what Blossom Valley’s 4th grade is doing to reinvent our classroom space… 4th Grade Teacher, Janice Humphrey, wrote a Donorschoose for 6 stand up desks and 6 bean bag chairs. It was fully funded in 5 days by awesome BV parents, and the items were delivered about a week ago. Blossom Valley’s three 4th grade teachers (we departmentalize) have shared these items and the kids are loving it! They’ve had many comments from their most wiggly kids that the standup desks have helped them focus more on instruction and keep them engaged longer during classwork! Here are some pictures of the kids at work!

Thank you for sharing Janice!

Over the Thanksgiving Break, the Information Technology Team performed a major upgrade to our wireless infrastructure. During this upgrade, we encountered about a 60% failure rate, which required staff to physically remove, disassemble, upgrade components, and re-mount the access points in about 400 classrooms district-wide. Every individual on our team worked to get this done before school returned on the following Monday. I would like to congratulate our team on pulling together to get this done for our students and staff.

After the upgrades were finally completed we engaged Xirrus management to work on how we could rebuild our relationship. While I know this doesn’t fix the many hours of frustration, I am happy to report that we received two years of free hardware and software support from the company, totaling almost $280,000 in services.

While I feel like we have turned a new page, if you’re encountering any issues, please be sure to submit a help request to help@cajonvalley.net. On behalf of Xirrus and our team, we appreciate your patience while we worked through these issues.

Jonathon Guertin | Chief Technology Officer | Cajon Valley Union School District | 619.590.5868

…and it has to do with so much more that Valentines Day. Each educator has embraced blended learning as a vehicle for facilitating learning in small groups or 1:1. Technology is used as tool to supplement instruction and to motivate and inspire exploration and learning in every learning space. As Magnolia gears up to move back to our home, we look forward to redesigning learning space that facilitates the implementation of our branding, increased individualization of education through project-based learning opportunities, and growth as a school that embraces and empowers our community of learners. We all know that everything our team has accomplished has involved extraordinary effort, innovation,and risk-taking, but we have enjoyed our journey because we have been careful to cultivate and maintain what matters most…our relationships-the heart and soul of our school.

Amanda Silva, Principal
Magnolia Elementary School

On February 9th, Vista Grande hosted its’ first annual TED Ed Talk Showcase. Teachers Nina Tubbs and Leslee Gritz-Zitren led an inspiring group of courageous kids through the journey of developing an “idea worth spreading” and delivering it on stage in a TED-like fashion. Our fearless leader, Liz Loether, captured a few snapshots of the action…