LCAP
Nestled at the southern base of the Santa Cruz Mountains along Highway 17, the Scotts Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) proudly serves its community. The district is comprised of four award-winning schools: Brook Knoll Elementary, Vine Hill Elementary, Scotts Valley Middle School (SVMS), and Scotts Valley High School (SVHS), with a high percentage of students matriculating to colleges following graduation from Scotts Valley High School. The district also supports an independent Charter School, California Connections Academy, Monterey Bay. Although the .02% Foster Youth, 2.5% English Learners, and 12% Socially Economically Disadvantaged counts seem like relatively small numbers of students, there are various languages and situations that contribute to the diversity and a need for support from this highly acclaimed district. The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) includes supplemental dollars, LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) base, categorical, grants, and other general fund dollars. Scotts Valley Unified School District remains one of the lowest funded unified school districts in the state of California. The low funding creates unique challenges in meeting the needs of all learners.
This Local Control Accountability Plan tells the story of Scotts Valley Unified School District, the goals, actions, and services, and means of measuring progress over three years.
Our Mission: Scotts Valley Unified School District will provide each student with quality educational and social opportunities needed to thrive in a modern world.
Vision: Our students will be socially responsible, pursuing their full potential in intellectual, social, and physical development, and be engaged, ethical and effective citizens.
Core Values and Guiding Principles:
1. Our role is to develop academically capable, culturally attuned, and socially responsible students.
2. There is strength and value in diversity of thought and experience.
3. District decisions, at all levels, should be thoughtful, equitable, and transparent.
4. We value commitment and collaboration from our engaged students, families, and the community.
5. We value trust, respect, and teamwork from our highly skilled and dedicated team.
6. We are accountable to our public for setting clear expectations and optimizing resources to meet our goals.
Our process has established district priorities, actions, and allocations of resources. It is important to all the stakeholders in SVUSD that we support the continuum of abilities and learners, including English Learners, Socio and Economically Disadvantaged Students, Special Education Students, Homeless Students, and Foster Youth, students who are high achieving such as those involved in advanced and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes, and those who are meeting or nearly meeting standards. Communicating the goals and vision of the district to our community is imperative, and families are actively involved in the education process. We are especially proud of the changes we have made and the focus we have given to climate and culture, and have spent a great deal of time focusing on CTE (Career & Technical Education) pathways with a focus on Media Arts and Design. Building local assessments and participating in regular data cycles across the district, as well as communicating our goals, expectations, and resources, have been important focus areas over the past three years. An Alternative Education academy, K Street, was implemented at the high school to keep students engaged and incorporated at SVHS. Additionally, leaders from our District have participated in a county-wide science effort with plans to continue to infuse Environmental Literacy into District practices over the next three years.
SVUSD is fortunate to provide quality professional development to its teachers and staff. The first lens when determining professional development is to analyze the needs of its unduplicated students. (An unduplicated pupil is the count of students who (1) are English learners, (2) meet income or categorical eligibility requirements for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program, or (3) are foster youth.)
All four of our schools are Gold Ribbon Schools, three of them receiving Blue Ribbons and SVMS receiving a Distinguished School Award and Schools to Watch Award, renewed in 2019. Our highlights include an International Baccalaureate (IB) program at the high school, electives at the middle school, and strategic implementation of core standards including Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop and math strategies at the elementary schools. As we return to in-person learning after living through the COVID-19 pandemic for over a year, SVUSD is committed to serving and meeting the needs of all students academically, socially, and emotionally. Collaboration with our parent clubs and our local foundation and looking creatively at our programs has allowed us to support engagement and commitment to excellence in our schools. The site administrators communicate with district office personnel and they collaborate on a regular basis about goals and stakeholder feedback, which brings a connectedness across the District. As the District has engaged in the LCAP process over the years, the systems and procedures put in place have become more ingrained in the culture of the District.
Highlights include:
* Increased technology implementation with tools and professional development
* Support programs for English Learners, including training in English Language Development (ELD) standards
* Common Core State Standards and Math strategies with professional development and training
* Academic support and enrichment in all subjects
* Parent trainings and extensive involvement/volunteer base
* Social-emotional and guidance counseling services at all four schools
* Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Program
* Implementation of and county-wide focus on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), including an Environmental Literacy Focus
* International Baccalaureate (IB) at SVHS
* A new action step that supports Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
GOAL 1 PUPIL ACHIEVEMENT
English Learners:
* Focus on achievement gaps, particularly as English Learners move through the District
* Continued support for parents of English Learners through language translations, DELAC (District meetings) and ELAC (Site meetings)
* Homework clubs after school focused specifically on the needs of English Learners
* Dedicated pull out and push in support at every level
Differentiation/Intervention:
* Homework clubs before and after school
* Alternative Education program (K Street) at the high school
* Credit recovery at the high school
* Increased aide support in the classrooms
* Quality intervention programs at all sites focused on ELA and math, particularly for students who struggled during distance learning in the COVID-19 pandemic
Student Achievement:
* Assessment Implementation Plan/Data Cycles
* Purchase and identification of local standardized assessments
* Professional development to ensure teacher and staff readiness to support all levels of learners, with a focus on unduplicated students, in all subject areas
GOAL 2 SCHOOL CLIMATE
Parent Engagement:
* Communication
* Training
Culture:
* Social-Emotional Support through schoolwide activities, counseling support, and staff trainings
* PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention Systems and Supports) i.e. curriculum mapping, programs, materials, training, website resources
* Full-time Social/emotional counselors K-8
* Focus on attendance and increasing enrollment
* Focus on DEI (Differentiation, Equity and Inclusion)
GOAL 3 COURSE ACCESS
College and Career:
* District Arts Task Force
* College visits and participation in College Week/Month across the District
* Naviance College support and SAT prep
* CTE (Career Technical Education) pathways in Media Arts and Design
* Dual enrollment offerings SVHS
Technology:
* Technology support focused on alternate learning opportunities and the new Student Information System and training, allowing for increased differentiation across grade levels
* Professional development to ensure teacher and staff readiness to support all levels of learners, with a focus on unduplicated students, in all subject areas
* A new Comprehensive Technology Plan
SVUSD is proud to collect feedback and input from a variety of stakeholders:
- Parent LCAP Survey
- Parent School Site Council Surveys
- LCAP Parent Advisory Committee
- District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC)
- Community Advisory Committee for Special Education Families (CAC)
- Scotts Valley Educational Foundation (SVEF)
- SVUSD Board of Trustees Strategic Plan Community Advisory
- Health and Wellness Committee
- District Arts Task Force
Please contact Alex Friel to find out how you can participate in any of the above committees.
