Braiding Initiatives for Better Schools in Lakeport Unified School District

Lakeport Unified School District is not only part of the CCSPP cohort 1 grant, they are also a partner in the Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) cohort 5. LUSD, under the direction of Dr. Matt Bullard, has done an incredible job braiding the tenets of both these initiatives to improve student and family engagement while, at the same time, improving instructional practices at the site level.

At its core, the CEI operates on a peer leading and learning model that emphasizes deep collaboration over a two-year commitment. Rather than working in isolation, LUSD has formed a dedicated CEI team that brings together a diverse group of educational partners—including county office of education representatives, district and school-site leaders, parents, students, and community members. By participating in this cohort, Lakeport Unified is actively collaborating with other leading local educational agencies across the state to build, test, and share California’s best practices for meaningful community engagement.

Focused on a School Redesign plan, Dr. Bullard has centered LUSD improvement on student voice and community feedback. Ongoing community meetings centered on School Redesign and the Portrait of a Graduate have enabled the school teams to identify strengths, challenges and goals for the upcoming school year.

"This is important work that requires us to intensely evaluate our systems; ask ourselves what is working; and then have the courage to unravel what is not," said Dr. Bullard. "We have a long way to go, but I know our team is capable of tackling the challenges ahead of us."