In November of this past year, local voters overwhelmingly approved Measure L, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Bond. The bond, worth over $150 million, passed with over 69% of the vote and is the largest bond in Santa Cruz County history. The bond priorities are listed as health and safety, improving academic achievement and modernizing school facilities into the 21st century. The proceeds from the bond cannot be used for district salary or benefits.
At the time of the bond passage the district indicated that the Aptos area schools would start to see changes to the school sites almost immediately. I feel that now that the district has had an opportunity to start to plan some of these changes it is important to start to monitor and review what changes and improvements will be made at our local school sites in the near future. So, I have put together a list of things to come to the Aptos area schools in 2013 broken down by individual school site.
One item that has not been included on this list is the replacement and improvement of locks on classroom doors. In talking to district leadership, it has been disclosed that this process will start this spring across the entire school district including the Aptos schools.
At Aptos High School, there are a number of changes that will be taking place in the summer of 2013. The water tank on campus will be completely removed and replaced. Freedom field will be re-graded and new turf and drainage will be placed on the field. Finally, the visitor bleachers in the stadium are scheduled to be replaced.
In terms of technology Aptos High, as well as several other local schools, are set to go through several phases of upgrades. This will include network improvements at the entire site. These technological upgrades will allow what is called the “intelligent classroom” to begin to be implemented. Intelligent classrooms assist teachers and students to be more interactive through the use of technology. Many intelligent classrooms have features such as smart boards and student response systems that give teachers an opportunity to assess a class’ progress immediately. This type of classroom has already been rolled out in several Watsonville area schools due to Federal funding and has been quite successful in improving student achievement. This type of upgrade will give Aptos area students the same opportunity.
AptosJunior High School is not slated to get any new construction through this summer, however, they are on track to, like Aptos High, get network upgrades. It should be noted that every elementary, middle and high school in Aptos experiences significant slow downs in internet speed during peak business hours due to heavy use and outdated network systems. Despite new computers placed in the schools on a semi regular basis, this slow down impacts their usefulness. These network upgrades are meant to remedy this issue at its core.
Like Aptos Junior High School, Rio del Mar will not have any structural work completed on it during the summer of 2013. During the fall of this year, however, the upgrades of network systems will begin. As mentioned earlier these upgrades will allow for the introduction of intelligent classrooms at the site and move Rio del Mar to be on par technologically with many of the Watsonville schools.
In the summer of 2013, both Mar Vista and Valencia will see improved access to playground structures for students and again network improvements.
Though this list is far from complete, it does indicate a focus on the Aptos schools and the importance of technology in our children’s education. The use of smart boards and the introduction of intelligent classrooms are all positive changes that will improve the quality of education at our local schools.
On a final note, this list also leads to what is to come in 2014 and beyond. These site improvements such as a new gymnasium at Aptos Junior High in the summer of 2014 or the replacement of portable classrooms at Rio del Mar in 2016 all show the changes that are coming to our local schools.