Coronado Schools Receive $110,000 Gift from Local Family

received a $110,000 donation from Bernardo and Luzma Gomez. The money will fund a new digital media lab for , Superintendent Jeffrey Felix announced Thursday.

The Gomez’s wanted to “thank the school for all they have done for their children and felt that bringing high-quality learning to all students was the best way to express their gratefulness,” Felix said.

The new equipment will feature 41 new Apple computers loaded with professional quality software. Middle school students enrolled in digital media classes will have the opportunity to create imagery and content for a TV station, photo gallery, newspaper or yearbook. The visual opportunities are endless, according to district staff. 

Digital media classes are currently available at , so middle school students can continue there studies through 12th grade, Felix pointed out. Coronado teachers are currently being trained and certified, so students who complete all the courses can earn a digital media certificate.

The donation was the second gift from the Gomez family this year. They also gave money to help fill the state deficit in attendance revenue. 

Along with the digital media lab, Felix announced that the the board approved at its last meeting would be completed by the beginning of the next school year.

“We have the heart and the lungs of the system,” the superintendent said. “The brains are soon to come.”

In other action, the trustees voted unanimously to at Village Elementary and the Early Childhood Development Center. The playgrounds will be open from dawn to dusk. For now, only those two playgrounds will be open to the community. Felix said once the , it may also be open to the public.

Trustee Dawn Ovrom wondered why the public couldn’t use the track at Niedermeyer Field at Coronado High School. Felix said there were security concerns, including equipment in the press box that could be vandalized or stolen. Ovrom argued that by opening only one gate, just before the breezeway, people could have access to the track, but not the stands or the press box.

Felix said there were costs and security issues he and his staff would need to research. He asked that the matter be taken up at the next board meeting in August. The board agreed. 

The board also voted to expand the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) program. About 900 students will be enrolled in the program this fall, said Claudia Gallant, director of curriculum and instruction.

The only concerns raised were how to fund the program, after the grant from the Department of Defense (DOD) expires in 2012.

“The value of this program for the district is immeasurable,” trustee Ledyard Hakes said.

Gallant wasn’t sure how much money would be needed to continue the program. The DOD grant was for $1.2 million. Much of that money went toward buying the equipment, but the software licenses must be purchased each year.

“The cost per student is $12.50 for all three subject areas assessed,” Gallant explained.

“The real value of the program is intervention,” Felix noted. “We wrote the program with the idea of training our teachers with intervention techniques that could be taught to students and other teachers.”