September 25, 2017
BLACKMORE
Continued from page 1
USD, this year’s Technology Administrator
of the year.
Ask anyone who knows him, Jonathon
Blackmore is no traditional technology
administrator. He spent 15 years as high
school assistant principal and principal. He
credits his successful journey to his current
position to early mentorship.
“Early in my career, I was fortunate
to work with great leaders who put the
needs of students above all else,” Blackmore
said. “They showed me that school leaders
have a tremendous impact and are able to
effect positive change on many levels. My
mentors encouraged me to work hard and
do great work, but also to look to the future
and they inspired me to see the long view.”
Blackmore took their advice to heart,
looking far into the future to focus on tech-
nological innovations for students. Under
his leadership, Covina-Valley has under-
taken an ambitious $10 million infrastruc-
ture project, replacing all network hardware
and software, implementing district-wide
wireless access, building a state-of-the-art
district data center and implementing a uni-
fied communication program.
He has been instrumental in transform-
SURVEYS
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ing, in that order.
The percentage of Americans who rate
private school education positively is only
a bit higher than the 63 percent positive
rating for parochial schools but far outpaces
the percentages for charter schools (55
percent), home schooling (46 percent) and
public schools (44 percent).
This year’s overall rank order is the same
as what Gallup found in its only prior mea-
surement, in August 2012. However, since
then, the percentage of U.S. adults who con-
sider public school education as excellent
or good increased by 7 percentage points,
while positive perceptions of private school
EDCAL 7
ing the district into one which runs, literally
and figuratively, on technology. He focuses
foremost on the inspiration he experiences
in his work and his ambitions to lessen the
digital divide, saying, “Despite the chal-
lenges we face in public education, I believe
that we are doing great work and that great
minds are looking to the future. While the
digital divide still exists, educators are look-
ing at new and innovative ways to use tech-
nology to accelerate student learning and to
close the achievement gap.
“It is an exciting time to be an educator,
and it’s an exciting time to be a student.”
Blackmore and his team implemented a
variety of programs designed to foster high
levels of achievement by every student. He
is currently leading a Digital Modernization
initiative in Covina-Valley USD that he
believes will act as “rocket-fuel” to accelerate
student learning and prepare students for a
fast-paced, technologically driven future.
With Blackmore’s help, Covina-Valley
has increased graduation rates, enrollment
in A-G classes and funded all high-school
students taking the PSAT, the SAT and the
PSAT 8/9. His ambitions extend to future
projects as well.
“I am extremely proud of the students,
teachers, and administrators in Covina-
Valley USD,” Blackmore said. “They are
embracing technology and have open minds about using technology to better the edu-
cational experience for all. I am immense-
ly proud of the Technology Support Services
team. They have worked extremely hard to
bring Covina-Valley into the 21st Century.
It’s amazing to see what a smart, committed
team can do in a short amount of time.”
In addition to his direct impact on stu-
dents, Blackmore has also provided leader-
ship on Professional Learning Communities
and data integration. He is currently work-
ing toward his doctorate in K-12 education-
al leadership at the University of Southern
California Rossier School of Education.
He completed the ACSA Curriculum and
Instruction Academy last year and the
ACSA Innovative Technology Academy
the year before
Blackmore believes that technology is an
integral part of the lives and relationships
of both teachers and students. He partnered
with Code to the Future to create computer
science magnet schools and leads Covina-
Valley’s participation in the Code.org
Inland Valley Consortium. He has led an
initiative to train all Covina-Valley educa-
tors to become Google Certified Educators
and is an active participant in social media.
Under his leadership, Covina-Valley is on
track to be 1:1 with Chromebook technolo-
gy by the end of the 2018 school year. He is
also working with local wireless providers to ensure that families within the community
have access to low-cost internet at home.
He credits h