Santa Cruz Valley elementary students will all have access to their own Chromebook

Santa Cruz Valley USD has officially moved into the digital age for all students preK through 12. Thanks to an Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) grant, 3000 Chromebooks recently arrived at the District warehouse for processing. The District has placed a priority on the elementary grade levels which are currently operating a 3:1 ratio. This shipment will bring that ratio to 1:1 meaning one Chromebook for every student. While the Chromebooks will remain in classrooms, this provides tremendous flexibility to staff for creating personalized lessons and learning opportunities and also taking advantage of new flexibility associated with instructional time.

When Steve St. Coeur, the district’s Technology Coordinator, brought news of the ECF to the District Administration,it raised an immediate question of sustainability. However, reducing the replacement cycle to only two fiscal years makes planning easier.

After distributing the first 1103 Chromebooks to the elementary sites the District will use the remaining new Chromebooks to replace all student devices more than two years old.

This means all students will have an identical, touch screen model with no replacements needed until 2027. District Instructional Specialist Alex Palumbo explained, “Having all of the students working on the same, touch screen device makes instruction easier and more efficient for the teacher. Our intent here is to remove as many barriers as we can to allow for a more personalized and competency-based approach to student learning.” ##END

Background: Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 is a growing, dynamic school district covering approximately 267 square miles. The district operates five schools and has approximately 3600 students enrolled.