Facilities
Our planning phase for this school year (2019-20) was completed over the summer as we facilitated the relocation of the two 700 Building first grade classrooms into vacant 1st Grade pod classrooms at Village Elementary. Excess, damaged, and outdated materials were disposed of throughout campus and our CUSD Maintenance and Operations completed ‘deep cleaning’ of classrooms in preparation for the first day of school. Only minor cosmetic work was necessary to prepare the classroom spaces. Teachers and support staff are unpacking instructional materials and all five first grade classrooms, located in the 100 pod, will be ready to welcome students on the first day of school.
All work needed to facilitate this transition was performed by our CUSD Maintenance and Operations team and teachers/staff impacted by the move.
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Bell Schedule
A significant consideration for the relocation of the TK/K program back to Village Elementary ‘Main’ was to provide educational benefit to all students in our care. These benefits will be realized (TK-5) through ongoing staff collaboration, alignment and fidelity of newly adopted curricula, and expanded access to intervention and enrichment experiences for all learners. Our newly adopted bell schedule for elementary supports our efforts in these areas.
Math and Science Lab-Based Application - Beginning this year, our students will have access to Project Lead the Way curriculum in new innovation lab spaces designed to connect and apply math and science skills in a fun and engaging environment. Furniture for our iLAB space has been ordered (rendering below) and we anticipate student access to this resource by January 2020.
Elementary Mathematics Instruction - Our newly adopted math curricula, Bridges, requires additional instructional minutes, and these adjustments provide this time to challenge our youngest learners in math. In addition to expanded instructional minutes, our teachers will benefit from frequent and ongoing staff collaboration and articulation as students TK-5 are exposed to the new math program. TK-5th grade Bridges math kits have been deployed and teachers received training this summer to implement the program, along with enrichment and intervention supports, for the start of our school year.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) - In addition to supporting instruction and learning, our new elementary schedule affords time for daily ‘meet ups’ allowing our teachers and students to nurture a sense of community and strong connections. Student connectedness to school is essential to create a comfortable and safe learning environment for each child, and this time is used to foster relationships between students and their school champions! In 2020-21 we will expand these experiences to encourage peer mentoring and leadership programs for students TK-5th grade.
We believe these changes will strengthen the culture and community for TK-5th Grade Village students by enhancing and expanding the academic and enrichment experiences available.
Enrollment & Staffing
We are fully staffed at both ECDC and Village Main for the first day of school. Purposeful placement of interdistrict transfer students has allowed us to maximize enrollment across TK-5. Our intentional and strategic placement of IDT students will ensure our ability to accommodate enrollment TK-5 at Village Main for school year 2020-21.
Traffic Plan
Representatives from the Coronado Police Department, Governing Board, and community met on several occasions during the Spring to observe morning and afternoon traffic patterns at Village Elementary School. Although the TK/K program will not relocate during the 2019-20 school year, the team offered suggestions which will mitigate congestion and support student safety in response to our newly adopted bell schedule. As a result of aligning instructional minutes, all VES student’s (grade 1-5) instructional day will end at 2:55PM. By extending the day for our 1st - 3rd grade learners, we anticipate an increase of traffic during release time; however, by staggering our start and stop time by 10 minutes between Village Elementary and Coronado Middle School, we are decreasing overall traffic congestion.
The chart below was developed in an effort to mitigate traffic and reviewed with the Coronado Police and the City of Coronado Public Service and Engineering Departments and includes designated and grade specific drop off/pick up locations. Traffic adjustments prioritize pedestrian safety and adherence to traffic laws which compromise the safety for all during pick up and drop off.
Please note this chart includes TK/Kindergarten although our TK/K families will remain at ECDC for the 2019-20 school year.
Proposed Changes for vehicle drop-off in 2019-20:
? 1st-3rd Grade student drop off on Sixth Ave (enter campus at east gate playground).
? 4th-5th Grade student drop off on H Avenue (enter campus at west gate playground).
? Students only exit vehicles directly onto the sidewalks adjacent to school or onto sidewalks with designated crosswalks and/or guards.
? No U-Turns or Drop-Offs on the west side of H Avenue.
? No Double Parking (CPD will issue traffic citations).
? Crossing guards will allow multiple cars to enter/exit to ease congestion and sustain traffic flow.
We will continue to monitor traffic patterns and receive feedback from our community throughout the 2019-20 school year as we prepare for the transition in 2020-21.
ECDC Facilities Use Update
The CUSD Board of Trustees approved the relocation of our TK/K classrooms from the Early Childhood Development Center back to the 700 Building at Village Elementary School, effective school year 2020-21. We are excited about this initiative and believe it will provide numerous benefits for our students and our community.
One aspect of the move involves finding ways to maximize the ECDC facility to benefit our District and the community of Coronado. To this end, our goal is to involve shareholders in a study to guide our decision-making. We held an initial meeting with shareholders no April 30th, 2019, to brainstorm potential uses of this space. Some considerations we explored included:
- Expansion of existing CUSD pre-school and child-care program
- Lease Agreements with outside agencies
- Partnerships with outside agencies (EG: Colleges, Training Programs, Navy, City, etc.)
The committee provided excellent feedback on the structure of the meeting and in identifying what information was needed to explore all viable options. We will reconvene this team in early September to share updates, provide facility options and limitations, and determine appropriate next steps.
CUSD Website
Per CUSD Governing Board direction, a new link has been added to our website (www.coronadousd.net/about/one-school-one-campus). This link will house answers to frequently asked questions, prior updates regarding the TK/K relocation back to Village Main, timelines, photos, and ongoing updates for our community to view. In addition, we will provide a ‘community outreach’ link to collect and respond to specific questions, concerns, and considerations regarding the move.