State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced, Alta California Elementary School, as one of the winners of the newly created 2022 California Pivotal Practice (CAPP) Award Program. The award program is being utilized by California in 2022 in place of the California Distinguished Schools (DS) Program. It celebrates schools and districts that implemented an innovative practice during the 2020–21 school year, when California required schools to offer distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m incredibly proud of these schools and districts for their creativity, dedication, and innovation in the face of adversity,” Thurmond said. “These schools led incredible efforts to engage students, distribute technology, provide meals, and support the social and emotional well-being of students during an incredibly difficult time for schools and families.”

In a period when pandemic disruptions made it hard to collect data for statewide assessments, the CDE worked with education association partners to create the CAPP Award to honor the efforts of schools and districts who designed and implemented unique opportunities and strategies to support students in this most challenging time.

727 schools and 121 school districts are being honored for their demonstrated efforts to support students in four target areas:

• Student Engagement
• Distribution of Technology
• Nutrition Services
• Social Emotional Well-Being of Students