Superintendent’s Statement

For more than 130 years, the Alta Loma School District has been a source of pride for our community. Generations of families have learned at our district’s schools. As these individuals have gone on to college, careers, and service to our country, many have returned to Alta Loma to raise their families, providing their own children and grandchildren with the foundation for an outstanding education. Truly, the Alta Loma School District is deeply embedded in the fabric of our community, just as the entire community plays a critical role in the continuing success of our schools.As we head closer to the year 2020 and beyond, the Alta Loma School District faces both significant challenges and tremendous opportunities.

Our campuses are aging. All of our schools were built decades ago and were designed for a much different set of teaching and learning methods and standards. Our children today must be prepared to succeed in an information based society. Our students are “digital natives” who think and process information much differently than the students of the past. Because of the constant and rapid advancement of technology, today’s students must be equipped to adapt in a digital, media-saturated world and require a media-rich learning environment to prepare them to navigate their world successfully. Today’s classrooms, instruction styles, and learning standards must keep pace to support student programs in science, technology, English, arts, and math.Our school buildings are aging. They must become more energy efficient. Irrigation, lighting, heating, and cooling systems must be upgraded to a changing utility infrastructure. School roofs and plumbing systems require modernization. Flooring, hardware, and cabinetry require attention. Classroom furniture needs to be flexible and adapt to facilitate instruction.In today’s world our schools need to become more secure. More than ever we are concerned with who is on our campuses. Visitors, parents, students, faculty, and staff must feel welcome at our schools, but we must also know who is at school, why/when they came, and why/when they left.Our Long Range Facilities Master Plan will serve as a road map forward as the Alta Loma School District solves these challenges and embraces the many, many opportunities to remain a central focal piece and gathering center for the community.

Superintendent

Jim Moore

Maintenance and Operations

The Alta Loma School District’s Maintenance and Operations Department strives to maintain our schools in the best condition possible, lending to the support of our instructional program for students.

All of our facilities are neat, clean, safe, and well maintained, thus enhancing their respective neighborhoods with positive curb appeal and added property value. In continuing to preserve our ability to enrich our neighborhoods and the community, we have identified several priorities that must be addressed in the near future.Our initial focus is campus safety. We hope to soon install a central electronic lockdown system at all 10 of our schools and the District Support Center to allow school personnel and law enforcement to respond much more quickly to a potential safety threat and to better protect our schoolchildren.

We have many more critical projects that need our immediate attention, including the replacement of aging air conditioning units to improve energy efficiency, replacement of older roofs, and the installation of modern playground equipment.

Instructional Services

There are two very prominent signs on display in the Alta Loma School District’s Educational Services Department. One reads, “Encourage, Engage, Enhance, and Elevate.” This mantra speaks to the learning goals we desire for both our students and those who teach them. We believe that through encouragement and support, our classrooms and learning environments will be engaging and interactive. As such, student and teacher learning will be enhanced and elevated accordingly. This same approach also applies to all staff members; when they are encouraged and engaged, great things will happen.

Our second sign is becoming more and more commonplace in educational communities and beyond. It simply reads, “Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, and Communication.” The 4 C’s, asthey are known, speak to the infusion of 21st Century Learning Skills that we seek to embed into our classrooms, learning, and work environments. The “4 C’s and the D” (digital literacy) are emphasized in district professional learning offerings.

The Alta Loma School District’s vision of the 21st Century Classroom is to engage and energize both natives and non-natives to be active participants in the global community, and technology is a perfect vehicle to facilitate this.School-wide “maker spaces” for hands-on STEM and engineering practices as we fully implement NGSS, inquiry labs, project-based collaborative space, and community project learning space.School hallways and classroom walls that are interactive and flexible to be used as part of daily learning activities.

Nutrition Services

The Child Nutrition Department focuses on not only exceeding State and Federal requirements, but nourishing the whole child. This includes enhancing the experience of eating by providing tastefully presented, thoughtfully prepared foods that are as fresh and local as possible.

Our current model of on-site preparation reflects our philosophy of preparing foods as close to serving time as possible to ensure fresh, safe food, while conserving energy. Due to limitations of our current facilities, many entrees are pre-cooked frozen instead of prepared from scratch. Future plans include a move towards scratch cooking, with an increased need for ranges, ventilation, and cold storage solutions.

Child Care Services

The Child Care Department is committed to offering a quality year-round program that is both fun and educational where children feel safe, valued, and supported. We provide a safe and affordable option for parents who need before and after school care for their school-age children.

Our staff strives to provide an atmosphere where students are engaged, educated, and enriched through activities that promote their emotional, physical, and cognitive development. Additionally, students have the opportunity to develop positive social skills and values. Collaborating with instructional staff, we act as an extension of the classroom experience and support the District’s educational goals.