Excellence in Learning
Shaping the Future of Education
Paradise Valley Unified School District is taking students on a “Journey of Excellence”- preparing them for success through their education and beyond. Guided by the vision “To empower every learner for a lifetime of success,” the goal is to equip graduates with the skills and knowledge needed for lifelong achievement. The district prioritizes academic excellence while also valuing the whole child by offering a broad spectrum of programs including gifted education, the arts, athletics, and career pathways.
“We are passionate about creating safe, inclusive environments with diverse learning pathways, so kids have multiple choices as they start to think about what they’re going to do after Paradise Valley,” shares Jean Koeppen, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. “When parents choose Paradise Valley for preschool, we are providing a nice, vertically aligned opportunity for their students all the way up to senior graduation.”
Early Childhood Initiatives
The district has implemented several programs designed to build strong educational foundations. “Childhood development in those early years is very important,” stresses Koeppen.
“The more we can do there, the better it sets up our whole system for success.” PVSchools offers an array of preschool options, including tuition-based community programs as well as federally funded initiatives, with the intention of providing every young learner a strong start to their education journey.
“We dedicate some of our federal funding through Title One funding to preschool,” Koeppen details. “Not all districts do that, but we know that that’s where we can make the most growth and get them before they enter kindergarten. And we do offer full day kindergarten across all of our elementary schools.”
For children who score above the 90th percentile on ability testing, the district offers specialized gifted programming, designed to challenge and nurture those identified as advanced while balancing the need for age-appropriate development. Karen Brown, Director of Gifted Education expands, “We don’t ever want a child to miss a year of childhood. So yes, while they can function at a much higher level academically, we still recognize that developmentally they need that opportunity to do all of the things that go with being a four-year-old. We are very proud of our gifted preschool programs, and parents love them.”
A Commitment to Innovation
PVSchools recognizes the importance of technology in the classroom and has made significant efforts to include it throughout the curriculum. “In our CTE STEM programs at the high school level, it’s just an integrated tool,” notes Pamela Fulk, CREST and STEM Coordinator for the district. “It’s just like a pencil. It’s a tool to do the research, and the projects as they’re looking to solve the problems around them.”
As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent, district leaders are working out ways to incorporate it, recognizing the changing landscape of education. “Our IT director came up with a saying that’s kind of stuck with me,” recounts Koeppen. He said, “We can take the karate approach, block this from our system and carry on as normal, or we can take the judo philosophy and go with the energy and figure this out.” And I said, “I think we’re more of a judo type of district.”
The goal is to embrace the use of AI to support and extend learning rather than letting it become a shortcut for academic work. With this mindset, the district has approved ten AI sites specifically for teacher use, with parameters that allow students to begin accessing these tools only once they reach high school. The district has also initiated a staff pilot program using Gemini Plus, a Google-friendly AI tool. “We’re in the pilot right now, and our IT director is leading it, because if we’re going to lead this, we need to first learn how to use it,” Koeppen acknowledges.
The district is also running a pilot in partnership with the state of Arizona to introduce students to Khanmigo, an extension of Khan Academy. “It is like having a personal assistant on your computer. They can ask questions, it will never give them answers, but it guides them through their own thinking to lead them ultimately to what they’re going to answer for the assignment,” she elaborates. “We’ve had to do a lot of education on both sides, not only with the students, but we’re helping our instructors become more comfortable with it, so we’re eliminating that fear around AI.”
Fostering Excellence through CREST, STEM and CTE
PVSchools’ CREST (Center for Research, Engineering, Science and Technology) is a four-year STEM and CTE program designed to help prepare students for the careers of tomorrow. “The real magic that happens with CREST is that it’s a small learning community that celebrates innovation, problem solving and leadership,” explains Fulk. “It’s an application process, so they’re choosing to come to CREST because they’re looking for rigor. They want to be with a collective of students that are forward thinking, that are doing career exploration, and they just strengthen each other.” Students in the program have access to a curriculum that spans computer science, engineering, and emerging fields like bioinformatics.
The district’s commitment to career and technical education is evident in its partnerships with local industries and higher education institutions. “Right now, being in CTE is a pretty exciting space to be, because industries are in such need of employees, so they’re really starting to work with us at a rapid rate and a higher level,” Melissa Molzhon, Director of CTE, portrays. “We have internship programs where students can work with our local businesses and gain hands-on experience in their field of interest, while also earning academic credit. All of the CREST kids in their junior to senior year do an internship. So that’s about 150 students, in that one program alone.”
PVSchools Schools relies on a network of partnerships helping to bridge classroom learning with these real-world experiences. Honeywell is one example, bringing together students at all levels to collaborate on large projects, and giving opportunities for future leaders to step up. “Honeywell has been a huge part of that, with engineers elbow to elbow with kids doing all kinds of projects,” relays Molzhon. In addition, the district partners with organizations like Wood Patel, Gen Tech, Axway, McCarthy Construction, the Mayo Clinic, and Abrazo, each enriching the career and technical education programs.
The district also maintains strong relationships with Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, Grand Canyon University, and local community colleges. “We have been able to expand some of our CTE offerings with Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC), so we have some additional opportunities that students are able to take advantage of,” Fulk elaborates. “They can get concurrent credit through programs that are new and available to high school students that are being hosted at Paradise Valley Community College.” Along with this, the district’s connection with the Western Maricopa Education Center (West- MEC), provides access to specialized pathways not available in high school, such as EMT clinical training and other industry-specific programs.
Molzhon outlines, “They have developed pathways that are more expensive, pathways that often we can’t offer at the high school, but our kids can apply, and they go to West- MEC at the same time they’re coming to high school.” Fulk adds, “We’ll have our first students graduating next year with programs in bioscience and also doing the EMT program over at PVCC.”
Moving Forward into a Future of Possibility
Looking ahead, Koeppen says Paradise Valley Unified School District is committed to preparing kids to succeed in a global economy. “Whether that’s teaching them another language, getting them into the CTE programming or into the right growing fields, keeping on top of the technological advances, all of that is going to be constant work for us,” she imparts.
Along with this, Koeppen underscores the importance of student focused learning. “We are shifting a lot in our approach to learning,” she highlights. “Our teachers are becoming facilitators of an inquiry- based classroom. Leading through inquiry is a big push, especially in our elementary classrooms, and our teachers are doing a wonderful job learning how to do that.”
Together, these forward-thinking initiatives exemplify an innovative and highly engaged district, fostering a community of lifelong learners who remain curious, resilient, and eager to embrace new challenges long after graduation.
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AT A GLANCE
Who: Paradise Valley Unified School District
What: An innovative district focused on student success in an evolving world
Where: Phoenix, Arizona
Website: www.pvschools.net
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