A Cajon Valley World of Work Video

We have been working for a couple of years now in QPI on effectively engaging the fathers of our middle eastern preschoolers in learning how to support their students early school experiences and readiness for kindergarten.  Our preschool community liaison, Firas Alnaqeeb, had an idea.  Why not offer the literacy workshop provided by SDCOE/QPI, a meal, childcare and a soccer match?  His first attempt on a week day afternoon was somewhat successful; however, input from dads was “we will come for a Saturday workshop”. We got permission to use the Lexington field on a Saturday morning, Firas ordered middle eastern food instead of pizza and got the word out to our preschool dads at Lexington, Chase, Anza and Meridian.  There have been 3 very successful Saturday workshops since the initial weekday workshop.  At this last workshop, 29 adults attended and 30 children. More moms are also attending now.

http://www.cbs8.com/clip/14095197/one-jerks-trash-is-a-forever-familys-treasure

Cajon Valley Warehouse Supervisor, Kerry Osterling and his wife Barbara give loving home to abandoned puppy.

With support of the Cajon Valley Union School District Governing Board, The Cajon Valley Union School District (CVUSD) took the lead in negotiating a countywide settlement agreement between the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) and all 41 San Diego County School Districts.  We asked Peter Fagen to assist with examining contracts, documents, and a long list of performance/service failures that surfaced over the course of several years.  David Miyashiro and Brian Marshall (La Mesa/Spring Valley) negotiated a 25% refund of implementation costs for each district, a stop payment of maintenance fees for two years, and a reconstitution of the service agreement moving forward.  Also negotiated in this agreement was a reimbursement of all attorney fees accrued in relation this this settlement by SDCOE.  Total amount anticipated from the settlement agreement for CVUSD is upwards of $300,000.00.  A portion of this settlement award will be set aside for a strategic planning tour and the remaining balance will augment our one-time fund expenditure budget.

In 2013, as part of its Modernization, Improvement, and Transformation Initiative (“MITI”), SDCOE expressed the desire to implement a County-wide Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) system, called PeopleSoft.  SDCOE intended to modernize systems across the County – which previously varied both in software type and functionality – in order to allow SDCOE to provide human capital management to the County’s school districts.  SDCOE endeavored to provide a County-wide, fully functioning, integrated ERP solution to replace existing software systems throughout San Diego County for and with County school districts in an effort to provide greater ease of use and more consistent monitoring and oversight from SDCOE.

In order to commence implementation, SDCOE and County school districts entered into a series of Memorandums of Understanding and Memorandums of Agreement (“Prior MITI MOUs”).   Pursuant to the Prior MITI MOUs, each of the participating County school districts were required to contribute two forms of payment to SDCOE: initial one-time implementation costs and continuing annual maintenance, upgrade, and support fees.

SDCOE’s MITI Implementation continues to develop functionality to be fully implemented as promised in the original ERP scope included in County school districts’ Prior MITI MOUs.  As such, SDCOE did not foresee or forewarn County school districts that there may be unanticipated additional costs associated with the MITI implementation, such as the funding of new positions, training, and overtime expenses to ensure compliance with required deadlines.

County school districts and SDCOE have mutually determined that it is in the best interest of all parties to together to identify and resolve issues and concerns related to SDCOE’s MITI Implementation pursuant to the terms and conditions contained within this MOU.

David Miyashiro, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Attached are the final MOU (Settlement Agreement), Letter to Superintendents, and a breakdown of the first reimbursements paid out to the 41 districts

MOU (Final Version for All SD Districts) 8-24-17

MITI Letter to Supts

Reimbursements to Districts

As members of both The League of Innovative Schools (Digital Promise) and The National Council on Digital Convergence, Cajon Valley has been in the company of the most innovative and successful school districts in the United States.  One aspect all of the top districts in the county share in common is partnerships both within and surrounding their local communities.  Baltimore County Public Schools and Fraser Public Schools in Michigan are prime examples where the school district and city have collaborated on projects to elevate both the students and community at large. 

In preparation for making decisions about the future of our property on Park & Ballentyne adjacent to Cajon Valley Middle School and also to formalize a new district mission and vision statement, The Governing Board and Cabinet will be taking a small group of district stakeholders on a 5 day Edutour starting in Jacksonville Florida and ending in Fraser Michigan.  The weather will be cold and the itinerary will be intense in order to make the best use of our time.  The itinerary and list of participants can be found at the end of this post.  This trip is paid for from a portion of the settlement agreement money David Miyashiro and Brian Marshall (La Mesa-Spring Valley) secured (see story above) from the San Diego County Office of Education.  The remainder of the settlement money from the “MITI” resolution will go to augment our one-time fund account.  

District Participants:

Other attendees (Paying own way):

Daryl Priest – Community Leader  (Entire trip)

Amy McCammon – WOW Consultant  (Entire trip)

Lisette Casey – Modern Teacher Rep  (Entire trip)

Karl Mueller – Coronado USD Supt  (Entire trip)

Jill Vinson – Cardiff USD (NCDC Conference only)

Julie Parker – Cardiff Principal (NCDC Conference only)

Janelle Scheftner – Cardiff Principal (NCDC Conference only)

Debbie – Cardiff Technology Coach (NCDC Conference only)

There were so many impressive creations in personalized learning, World of Work, Sanford Harmony, and visible learning that I couldn’t fit it all into one video. Above there is one video of Naranca’s amazing staff and students and a separate video with pictures of great examples of visual displays, artifacts, student work, and teacher creations around our district focus areas. A couple community members who were curious to see what was happening at their neighborhood school joined Principal Mike Serban, Governing Board Member Karen Clark-Mejia, Chief Innovation & Engagement officer Ed Hidalgo, and me on our visit. They left completely blown away by what they observed. At the end of the tour we explained that what they saw is not typical of schools and classrooms outside of Cajon Valley. They said, “This principal and these teachers are models for the rest of the country.” I couldn’t agree more! Every grade and every classroom… System-wide progress in modern learning!

Governing Board Member Karen Clark-Mejia, Greenfield Assistant Principal Joan Knoersnschild, and I were treated to a preview of the 6^th grade opening number for Suessical. Principal Mike Kuhfal shared that they had just begun rehearsals for their spring musical. Excited to share this short video with you from their rehearsal. Every sixth grade student at Flying Hills participates either on stage or behind the scenes in the production. Principal Kuhfal also shared that a few of the classrooms were beginning to show implementation of district-wide initiatives (blended &personalized learning, World of Work, and Presentation Literacy. I will look forward to seeing the progress at our visit in the spring.

David Miyashiro, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Earlier this month Mayor Bill Wells, the El Cajon City Council, and our local government officials were highlighted by local news media on our efforts to make El Cajon a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family… “For Everyone”.  CVUSD Governing Board members Karen Clark Mejia, Tamara Otero, Jo Alegria and I have served on the East County Homeless Task Force led by several community leaders including CEO of the East County Chamber of Commerce, Eric Lund; ECPD Police Chief, Jeff Davis; and Meridian Baptist Church Senior Pastor, Rolland Slade.  SD Union Tribune reporter Karen Pearlman has been documenting community efforts to improve conditions.  http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/east-county/sd-se-elcajon-homeless-20170809-story.html

Mayor Wells has been interviewed by most of our media outlets on the city’s efforts.  The one below is from KUSI.  Mayor Wells has a background in clinical psychology and deep expertise on root causes behind homeless and mental health issues.

It is important for all of us to know that we have proven solutions that are helping our homeless students and their families transition into permanent housing and gainful employment.  The East County Transitional Living Center is a prime example of “What Works”.  Several of our students and their families are served by this community led effort to provide permanent solutions.  Please check out ECTLC here and share with anyone you know who can benefit from these efforts the City of El Cajon and the East County Homeless Task Force are directing our efforts toward.  https://www.ectlc.org/

We recognize that those contributing to panhandling and giving food to the homeless are doing so out of good will and intention.  Enabling homelessness, however, has proven to only prolong and potentially derail any opportunity for those in need to find permanent housing and pathways back to being contributing members of society.  It is important that the CVUSD family supports the El Cajon City Council, El Cajon Police Department, and the East County Homeless Task Force in our efforts to provide a permanent solution for the homeless in our community.

Very Sincerely,

David Miyashiro Ed.D., Superintendent

Cajon Valley Union School District

It can be challenging to help younger children connect, in a meaningful way, to the idea of someday having to get a job and go to work…It’s seems an abstract and distant goal. Something for adults to be concerned with, not children.  But the journey to a “someday” career, at least one that has meaning, and purpose, and feeds the soul, begins with knowing who you are, what you’re good at, and what you enjoy.  And that journey begins with exploration.  With a little creativity, a pile of cardboard boxes, and some thoughtful planning, kids can engage with the World of Work and experience a taste of what it might be like to have a real job, with real purpose.  Mrs. Reed’s 2nd grade class had the opportunity to do just that when she presented them with a challenge based on one of the career studies found in the 2nd grade WOW box.  It seems Santa was in the market for a new sleigh, and he was looking for a skilled Carpenter to build it.  Working with partners, Mrs. Reed’s students drew up blueprints for their original designs, and went to work cutting, assembling, and decorating their creations, in the hope one of them would be selected as Santa’s new ride.  The atmosphere in the classroom, and the hallway outside (turns out you need a lot of space to build a sleigh), was as lively as Santa’s Workshop. Kids got to experience, first hand, the challenges a real carpenter faces when pieces don’t fit together the way you planned…They had to think on their feet, problem solve, work it out.  It was a lot of hard work, but it was also a lot of fun.  In the end, what they designed was a fleet of unique creations, any of which “The Man in Red” would be proud to drive.  And who knows, maybe a seed was planted.  A seed that might one day bloom, and grow into an amazing, and soul-satisfying career as a carpenter.

Kirk Hoeben, Principal

Blossom Valley Elementary School