Leadership Forum: Reimagining the Learner Experience with Santa Ana Unified School District

Our Learner-Centered Leadership Forum series is an opportunity to gain timely, first-hand insights, examples, ideas, and lessons learned from learner-centered district leaders doing the work in the field with their teams, community, and learners.

In this first event in the series in September 2023, Santa Ana Unified School District leaders, Superintendent Jerry Almendarez and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Lorraine Perez, opened up about their transformative journey in reimagining the learner experience across their district.

The urban/suburban public school district is the second largest in Orange County, CA serving 45,000 students from early childhood through high school. Hear about their big moves and how they approached:

  • Creating dynamic learning environments that prioritize the aspirations of each learner
  • Development and implementation of their Graduate Profile
  • Alignment with board priorities
  • Leading with social influence

IMPACT STORY: How Santa Ana Unified School District is Listening to Learners to Drive Districtwide Learner-Centered Innovation.

View recording

By loading this video, you agree to the privacy policy of Youtube.

Explore the ultimate opportunity to learn from innovative schools across the country in our Learner-Centered Connections program featuring school and industry visits, networking, communities of practice, and coaching.

It’s Your Journey

Explore More Topics

Blog
3 Leadership Building Blocks for Meaningful Change in Education
Schools have operated like factories for too long, with top-down control and rigid structures. Real change happens when leaders embrace relationships, shared purpose, and deep collaboration, creating schools that function as dynamic, interconnected communities. When educators work together, trust each other, and share responsibility, small actions can lead to big, lasting improvements. If we…
BlogWebinars
Webinar Recording: Reimagining Education Through Innovative School Design
In this webinar, Learner-Centered Collaborative’s Jesse Ross hosts a conversation with three educators from Escondido Union School District—Dr. Bryanna Norton, Principal of Hidden Valley Middle School, and North Broadway Elementary teachers, Gina Matthew and Katie Taylor. They share the transformative process of school redesign to foster learner-centered practices. The discussion highlights how strategic design…
Blog
Rethinking Time in Schools: From Rigid Blocks to Meaningful Learning
  I recently visited two different schools on back-to-back days, and I was struck by the stark contrast in the schedules and the impact on the learning environment. In the first school, the day was broken up into short blocks of reading, math, intervention, recess, lunch, and science. This type of schedule is often…