Twelve GGUSD Schools Earn State Recognition for Innovative Practice

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Twelve schools in the Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD) earned the 2022 California Pivotal Practice (CAPP) Award for innovative practices implemented during the 2020-2021 school year when California required schools to offer distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

GGUSD schools that received the award include Alamitos Intermediate, Bryant Arts Academy, Faylane Elementary, Garden Grove High School, Heritage Elementary, Irvine Intermediate, Marshall Elementary, Riverdale Tech Academy, Stanford Elementary, Stanley Elementary, Warren Elementary, and Violette Elementary.


GGUSD’s 12 schools are among 727 from across California being honored for their efforts around student engagement, distribution of technology, nutrition services, and social emotional well-being of students. 

Among GGUSD’s numerous pivotal practices were successful initiatives to deliver sensory learning toolkits to families of students with special needs, build school spirit and classroom engagement with fun virtual events, deliver devices to all students, address social-emotional needs with a variety of virtual counseling groups, and more. 

“During the pandemic, Garden Grove Unified School District school teams quickly mobilized to ensure students and families had access to resources that were crucial to support effective distance learning,” said Board of Education President Bob Harden. “In a time of crisis, GGUSD staff were tireless in their efforts to ensure students were cared for with Grab and Go meals, device and wi-fi distribution, hybrid schedules supporting learning at school and home, wellness calls, neighborhood parades, and more.”

The California Department of Education utilized the Pivotal Practice Award Program in place of the California Distinguished Schools Program which is expected to resume in 2023.