10300 N Magnolia Avenue, Santee, CA 92071

Cajon Park School

10300 N Magnolia Avenue, Santee, CA 92071

619.956.2400 fax 619.956.2408

June 10, 2016

Hello Cajon Park Families,

As we approach the end of the year, is important to reflect on the great strides we have made and identify the great things we have planned for next year.

Cajon Park implemented a strategic and targeted program called Response to Intervention (RTI) to support students by identifying learning gaps and filling those gaps with targeted instruction. All grade levels have established an intervention block of 30 minutes per day, 4 days per week. Teachers utilize common assessments to screen students in order to identify skill deficits. Students were placed in small intervention groups that teach to that targeted skill. Students were reassessed after six weeks of intervention. Growth was measured and students were regrouped. Every grade level experienced many success stories. Lemon Crest Elementary from Lakeside brought a team of teachers to Cajon Park to learn from our program due to its success and incredible efficiency. This was our first year of implementation and has become a model for our district and others.

We also focused on becoming aware of how the 21st Century skill of engineering could be incorporated in classrooms from Kindergarten through 8th Grade. We focused how to integrate engineering across curriculum by incorporating math, language arts, and science. Cross-curricular engineering activities were conducted at Leadership Meetings and Faculty Meetings. As a result, several teachers that were once hesitant were engaging their students with meaningful engineering activities. We visited progressive programs at Feaster Charter School and Design 39 Campus to observe innovative engineering programs and to begin the visioning of how we will move forward at Cajon Park.

Strong community partnerships are essential for the success of 21st Century innovative schools. This year, we were able to establish a strong, mutually beneficial partnership with Qualcomm. We established strong relationships with the Think-A-Bit Lab teachers and managers in order to secure a partnership for support with the construction and operation of an engineering lab at Cajon Park. During my last visit, the co-director of the Qualcomm Education Program said, “Our door is always open for you (Cajon Park).”

We recruited an Eagle Scout Candidate from Santana High School to serve as a project manager for equipping the lab with the necessary resources. This will also provide the needed volunteer hours to prepare the lab. Qualcomm visited Cajon Park and was quite impressed with how far we have come in such a short time.

Our students deserve every opportunity that any other student in the world is afforded. Last year we connected with Santana High School to establish elective pathways in order to identify our students’ passions and learning interest before the go to high school.

This year, we created three elective classes in Junior High: Culinary Arts, Environmental Engineering, and Coding/Robotics. We secured initial curriculum and materials and collaborated with the Santana teachers of these same subject areas. Each Cajon Park teacher of electives was released to visit Santana’s programs to strengthen connections and observe. This is just the beginning of our partnership with Santana. In the near future, former Cajon Park students will support our programs by teaching current students what they are learning in their courses at Santana. Again, this is an amazingly mutually beneficial partnership.

Finally, we are moving towards an innovative and therapeutic philosophy regarding our character education and behavior management program. No child gets up in the morning and says to him/herself, “I want to get into trouble today.” We have the most amazing staff at Cajon Park. We are going to learn a few simple practices that keep our students from feeling disengaged and disconnected when they make mistakes.

Every staff member at Cajon Park is going to be trained on Trauma Informed Care. This transformation in philosophy and practice will shift the outcomes of our discipline procedures from punitive to therapeutic. I will be hosting an initial parent information meeting next Friday, June 17th at 8:00 a.m. There will also be several parent meetings in the evening hours next year.

It is because the integrity of our staff and community that these great things are happening for our Cajon Park children. This is the most demanding time in the history of education in American history. I have no doubt that, due to our teachers and staff, Cajon Park will be a model of excellence for all other schools and districts.

Please see the following for important information:

Volunteer Tea

We will be thanking our volunteers by hosting a Volunteer Tea in the Library on Tuesday, June 14th from 8:30 to 9:30. If you have volunteered, please stop by!

Last Day of School

The last day of school is June 22nd. It is a minimum day with dismissal for all students at 12:20.

Message from our PTSA

• The deadline to order K-6th Memory Books (to have them delivered to the school prior to the last day of classes) is May 15th!You may still place online orders after this date, they just will NOT be delivered to the school. They will be delivered to your home for an additional shipping charge.

ALL online orders have the option to add personalized pictures for your child (no other book will have these pictures). If you need help personalizing your book online. All Memory books cost $22.00 at this time!

Enjoy the weekend,

Mike Olander

Cajon Park School inspires meaningful learning through creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking to prepare students for an ever-changing world.