The Innovation Department is charged with promoting a future-forward mindset for students, teachers and staff so that we can collectively create the conditions necessary for learning environments and pathways that prepare students to be confident and make positive contributions in an increasingly complex world of higher education and careers.

To this end, our focus as a department is on expanding academic and social/emotional outcomes for students at the earliest ages, engaging students as stewards of their learning pathway, and making relevant, hands-on connections to the real world of work.

Department Lead: Nicole Allard
Executive Director of Educational Excellence and Innovation
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 760-726-2170 Ex. 92102

Vista Innovation Center Directory

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P-3 CONTINUUM

Vista Unified's Prenatal to 3rd Grade Continuum aims to close the achievement gap before it opens. We are committed to quality early education and a continuous learning path that unites families, teacher leaders, school leaders, and community partners.

Lead: Sandra Ceja, Director of Student Services and Early Childhood
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 760-726-2170 ext. 92182

More Details: P-3 Continuum Web Page

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PERSONALIZED LEARNING

Vista Unified's Personal Learning Path is a student-centered collaborative journey that is aligned to core curriculum standards. It builds on each student's strengths, interests, and values.

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CAREER SUPERHIGHWAY

A Career Superhighway is a metaphor for creating an uninterrupted career development pathway for students to discover their strengths and interests and transform these into talent capital that aligns to the demands of the global marketplace.

Lead: Nicole Allard, Executive Director of Educational Excellence and Innovation
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 760-726-2170 ext. 92102

More Details: Career Superhighway Web Page

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TALENT CITIES AND SERVICE LEARNING

Talent Cities is a partnership between Vista Unified School District, New Learning Ventures, the Vista Chamber of Commerce, and local businesses to expand young people's vision of themselves in the world of work. This program brings  students into the workplace, allowing students to speak to employers and employees and see for themselves what it takes to be successful. More than a field trip, students engage in self-exploration activities and assessments, research priority sectors, and develop the background knowledge to make the most of the experience. In exchange, the local business gets a voice on what young people are learning and experiencing, as well as valuable analytics about their future talent pool.

Lead: Robert Crowell
Email: [email protected]
Phone:760-726-2170 ext. 92010

More Details: Talent Cities Web Page

Service Learning Web Page

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FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

An important component of the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation is to develop a Family Engagement Network that will offer a variety of workshops, resources, and activities designed to assist parents and family members to play an active role in their students' education.

Lead: Kiki Bispo, F.A.C.E. Lead
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 760-726-2170 ext. 92011

More Details: Family and Community Engagement Parent Web Page

Family and Community Engagement Team Web Page

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MEASUREMENT AND MONITORING

The Vista Unified School District honors its commitment to transparency. The Department of Innovation measures and monitors demographic, achievement, and behavioral data in its commitment to keep the students, parents, teachers, and the community aware of progress and growth in VUSD. 

Lead: Steve Davis, Coordinator of Measurement and Monitoring
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 760-726-2170 ext. 80123

More Details: Measurement and Monitoring Web Page

CAASPP Web Page

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ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

Assessment for learning has been highlighted in all content area frameworks in California as a high priority. Vista Unified has identified formative assessment practices as integral to a balanced assessment system and inseparable from teachers' pedagogical practice. Formative assessment practices support self-regulation, 21st-century skills and personalized learning for students. Our efforts in Vista Unified are centered around continuous support and professional learning to build assessment literacy within our valued educators.

Information and resources may be accessed below.

Lead: Nicole Allard, Executive Director of Educational Excellence and Innovation
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 760-726-2170 ext. 92102

More Details: Assessment for Learning Web Page

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PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK

The vision for the Vista Unified School District Performance Framework is to improve the quality and coherence of children's learning from preschool through high school graduation. The comprehensive Performance Framework has the potential to improve student outcomes, prevent and close achievement gaps, promote effective instruction, build instructional coherence, and support ongoing progress monitoring.

Information on the goals, development process and work in progress may be accessed below.

Lead: Nicole Allard, Executive Director of Educational Excellence and Innovation
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 760-726-2170 ext. 92102

More Details: Performance Framework Web Page