Dr Carreon Academy

Dr. Carreon Academy is part of Desert Sands Unified and is located in Indio, CA. It serves students from grades tk-5th. The school site sits on land that once belonged to Indio resident Dr. Reynaldo J. Carreon. The grant will provide funding to build a garden where students can learn through the process of growing plants how to be a responsible, caring, and dedicated steward of the land. The garden serves not only as a place where students can learn about the physical health benefits of growing one’s own food, but also the positive mental health benefit that can stem from a students involvement in gardening.

Contact: Brian Foley, teacher

Email: Brian.foley@desertsands.us

Last year, Dr. Carreon Academy began its first yearbook club, which focuses on the integration of digital arts and media into the yearbook. Students will gain an understanding of the integration of technology and art through a digital medium. Students will learn video editing, still imaging, and image manipulation to create a final yearbook and a "Year in Review" video for our school. Students will have a 1:1 device to student ratio and a 1:2 camera to student ratio. Students will also learn how to use a green screen in their videos and photographs. This project meets our 2nd LCAP goal since it will “continue to provide support for digital learning opportunities.” The project also will be the fifth grade art standard 2.3: Demonstrate beginning skill in the manipulation of digital imagery. This project will not only help support the students becoming a voice for our community, but also will support their academic standards and building on their digital skills. Students will also learn about different careers associated with the digital arts and skills associated with being college and career ready through exploration at a field to the Annenberg Digital Art Space.

Dr. Reynaldo J. Carreon Academy, located in Indio, serves a student population of more than 700 students. The 2017-2018 school year was the first year in the school's history that every student at the school received music instruction within the regular instructional day.

The goal of the grant is to provide opportunity to serve all students in a music classroom and to increase student investment, motivation, and achievement through full active participation in music. The grant provided by the Anderson Children's Foundation will provide musical equipment such as ukuleles, bells, and percussion instruments to students to use on their own while in the music classroom. Furthermore, students will now have opportunity to perform both vocal and instrumental music that have positive messages at future concerts.

Dr. Carreon Academy aims to make STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education a priority. Barack Obama once said "As President, I believe that robotics can inspire young people to pursue science and engineering." In upcoming years, the California STEM Learning Network predicts that the fastest-growing and highest-wage jobs in the upcoming years will be in STEM fields. Unfortunately, financial support for the equipment needed to allow students to experiment in these areas are not always available. Through their growing robotics club, Dr. Carreon academy hopes to equip its students—many who come from low-socioeconomic backgrounds—to learn about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through LEGO robotics.

Fifth grade students at Dr. Carreon Academy are provided with one hour of science instruction per day, and all fifth graders are expected to participate in the Desert Sands Unified School District science fair. Thanks to the grant from ACF, classrooms will purchase 30 LEGO Education mechanism packs that can be reused with each class. With these kits, students will use Lego pieces to build motorized mechanisms that will set them on a path of exploration in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This technological advancement will also foster the establishment of a science club, with the intent that students will continue to hone their STEM skills and eventually compete against other schools.

The music club at Dr. Carreon Academy began during the 2012-2013 school year with 15 students involved after school. In 2013-2014, the music club had grown to over 60 students. Students who participated showed a desire to learn music staying one hour after school per week over the course of the school year. With very little to no instrumental inventory belonging to the school, the students learned music by performing either on recorders or on instruments that were on loan. They learned to perform within an ensemble, while learning to read music notation, performing music from various cultures and time periods.

Thanks to the generosity of the Anderson Children's Foundation, Dr. Carreon Academy has been able to support a music club with considerable growth in student participation. The funds provided by the grant provide instruments to students to play during the school year and helps students prepare for a musical future once they move to middle school. With the instruments provided by the grant, the music club plans to showcase their hard work through a number of performances at school such as the annual Winter Arts program, Read Across America Week, and the annual Cinco De Mayo Festival. Off campus the music club plans to perform at Palm Desert Charter Middle School's Rock-the-House event as well as in the community.