All 14 EMCSD Schools Win California Pivotal Practice Award

 

April 29, 2022

 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced the recipients of California Department of Education’s inaugural 2022 California Pivotal Practice (CAPP) Award Program. All 14 El Monte City School District (EMCSD) schools, along with the District itself, were named 2022 CAPP award winners. 

 

In an official statement, Superintendent Thurmond said, “I’m incredibly proud of these schools and districts for their creativity, dedication, and innovation in the face of adversity. These schools led incredible efforts to engage students, distribute technology, provide meals, and support the social and emotional well-being of students during an incredibly difficult time for schools and families.”

 

The CAPP award celebrates schools and districts that implemented innovative practice during the 2020-2021 school year when the state required schools to offer distance learning educational practices because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 727 schools and 121 school districts were honored for their efforts. The state’s award criteria was based on four categories: Student Engagement, Distribution of Technology, Nutrition Services, and Social Emotional Well-Being of Students. 

 

“I hope every single El Monte City School District student, employee, teacher, administrator, volunteer, board member, and family member is as proud as I am for receiving this award,” said EMCSD Superintendent Dr. Maribel Garcia. “The California Pivotal Practice Award is an accomplishment for all of us because we all went above and beyond for each other.”

 

All 14 awarded schools in the El Monte City School District include: Cherrylee, Cleminson, Cortada, Columbia, Durfee, Gidley, LeGore, New Lexington, Potrero, Rio Hondo, Rio Vista, Shirpser, Wilkerson, and Wright schools. EMCSD as a whole also received the 2022 Pivotal Practice District Award for their Distribution of Technology and Nutrition Services.

 

When the 2020-2021 school year began, EMCSD launched their “Road to End Childhood Hunger” initiative and proudly served over 3.5 million meals throughout the school year. “The main goal of the program was to provide quality food to children and limit the burden on parents or guardians who may have lost jobs or had limited access to food during the pandemic,” said Dr. Garcia. EMCSD provided scratch-made meals for kids that included milk and produce. They also developed themed-meals to align with holidays and seasons as well distributions during Winter and Spring breaks, practices they continued this school year.

 

For the Distribution of Technology category, EMCSD’s “Bridging the Digital Divide” pivotal practice saw the district become a 1:1 technological district. Using federal stimulus funds they secured high-speed internet hotspots for students, distributed updated Chromebooks, and mobilized extensive professional development opportunities for teachers to utilize new education based programs like Discovery Education, music editing softwares, virtual field trips, and more. EMCSD’s massive investment into bridging the digital divide netted positive results. Based on iReady Diagnostic Data, their adaptive assessment program designed to highlight our student’s educational needs, students’ educational gain and loss averages were better than the national average. In addition to positive iReady scores, some schools achieved academic honors for their work during the 2020-21 school year. Frank Wright and Gidley gained Lighthouse certification by the LeaderInMe program while Shirpser was recertified as a Lighthouse School.

 

“Positive student growth and development is not possible without the dedication of our students, the constant support of our educators, and the decisions made with their best interests in mind,” said Dr. Garcia. “Having all 14 of our schools and our District receive a Pivotal Practice Award only validates that sentiment, and I cannot thank the California Department of Education enough for recognizing the amazing work that is happening here in El Monte.”