Monday, April 21, 2025
California Avenue School has been honored as an Apple Distinguished School for the second time, and welcomed representatives from Apple on June 4 to further promote technology in the classroom.
“We are hosting the event because we are a two-time Apple Distinguished School,” Principal Bryan Bruno said. “We’re collaborating with other districts who are maybe interested in also becoming an Apple Distinguished School, or they already are, and just really talking about best practices and working with each other on how to utilize the device in the best interest of children.”
The Distinguished School awards have three-year terms. California Avenue was first recognized in 2021, and the honor has been renewed and will last until 2027.
“In conversation with Apple about our partnership,” Assistant Principal Michelle Minnelli said, “they asked if we would be willing to host other school districts and allow them to see all the innovative, inspiring work that’s happening here at California Avenue.”
The event also served as an opportunity for more than 20 schools from eight districts, as distant as upstate Coxsackie, to learn about combining technology and instruction to enhance students’ classroom experience from California Avenue’s innovative educators.
“We are using the devices the district gave us to the absolute maximum capacity that we can,” said Library Media Specialist Delores Frost, who is a certified apple learning coach. “They are being utilized not as a toy, but as an educational tool, so that our children are just that much more successful in their academics.”
Every student is assigned an iPad, which features school-approved software in addition to Apple’s built-in suite of tools, allowing teachers to lead more advanced lessons more quickly. “It’s really leveling them up,” Frost said of the students.
“We were able to share our journey with them of where we began,” she said of the visiting district representatives. “It all started with an iPod Touch, and now we have students creating presentations and videos on iPads.”
After an overview, the tour stopped in classrooms ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade, in which students were using Apple devices and apps for a variety of programs: American history, music, graphic design, podcasting and video creation.
To earn Apple’s certification, staff members undergo rigorous training in using the tools properly and developing educational programs. “It’s really great that we do it, because it gives our students at Uniondale a really fantastic advantage with the technology,” Frost said. “Once we became Apple Distinguished, that wasn’t the last stop. The staff continue to keep on learning more, and then it trickles down to benefit the students.”
Over 1,000 schools in 39 countries are using Apple devices as part of their lesson plans. According to a 2022 report by the company, the program dramatically increased engagement of at-home students during lockdowns necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, while digital attendance rates slipped around the country.
