La Cañada Unified School District is acknowledged as one of the top school districts in California, ranking ninth in Niche.com’s list of Best School Districts in the state. LCUSD students have consistently scored in the top 10% of all students in California, and the school district is one of the reasons families choose to move to the community of La Cañada Flintridge.
As part of its cutting edge academic programs, LCUSD has embraced technology as a tool to further improve the learning and teaching environment in its schools. This move just gained added value with the sudden need for distance learning, as all schools in the district have been closed temporarily due to the COVID-19 crisis.
With the need to incorporate technology in education becoming more pressing than ever, LCUSD’s instructional technology initiatives puts it a step ahead of other school districts. And it doesn’t stop there. In 2019, the three-year LCUSD Technology Plan was rolled out, detailing goals aimed at further improving these initiatives.
What are LCUSD’s instructional technology initiatives?
- Bring Your Own Chromebook
In 2015, the district launched the Bring Your Own Chromebook program, initially including only 5th and 7th graders, but expanded to include 5th to 8th graders the following school year.
The goal of the BYOC program is to have a 1:1 ratio of students and devices, with every student having access to a Chromebook. Provisions are made to accommodate students whose families choose not to be a part of the program.
The Chromebooks are used to complement offline education and are intended to expand students’ learning experiences with the incorporation of technology. Activities using Chromebooks include research, content creation, and collaborative work. Students are also taught how to use the applications that come with a Chromebook, such as spreadsheets, slideshows, and word processing.
- Computer labs
Computer labs in the district’s schools have greatly expanded over the years. Activities in elementary schools now include STEM projects, self-driven problem solving tasks, 3D printing, coding, and LEGO Robotics. In the district’s sole high school, computer lab activities include graphic design, photography, computer science, and design and engineering.
- Digital citizenship and literacy
This program teaches the responsible and efficient use of technology, including the internet, computers, and other digital devices.
- Special education hardware and software
This is provided to students qualified for special education services, and is based on each student’s individual education plans.
The goals of the LCUSD Technology Plan
The technology plan lays out the district’s goals for its technology department in the next three years. The plan is anchored on six pillars, each with its own specific goals, as summarized below:
- Teaching
Develop a culture of experimentation and curiosity where trial and error experiences are encouraged
- Learning
Empower everyone, from students to teachers and parents, to develop the competencies they need to fulfill their present and future roles in the learning environment with technology as a tool
- Infrastructure
Create a reliable network and infrastructure to support learning initiatives and high quality teaching and learning
- Assessment
Improve current assessment systems and develop new ones to provide meaningful and faster feedback to students, support better use of student data collected from assessments, and move toward self-analysis among students
- Leadership
Develop internal structures that will allow for more collaborative planning and implementation of technology goals, as well as better transparency in budgeting and planning
- Community
Explore opportunities for community partnerships to expand the learning experiences of students, teachers, and parents in the school district
If you want to learn more about the LCUSD and your real estate options in La Cañada Flintridge, don’t hesitate to call me, Kathy Seuylemezian, at 818.949.5205 or leave me a message at kathy(at)imuragent(dotted)com.
