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KCSOS details countywide curriculum supports: TK, Project GLAD, STEAM camps and a new 'Steamyard'
Summary
Kern County Superintendent of Schools staff outlined a broad set of curriculum supports across 41 districts and five charters — from Project GLAD bilingual teacher certifications and TK block deliveries to expanded STEAM camps, a new Steamyard facility and more than 2,600 contracted support days — and previewed regional expansion plans.
Dr. Cole Samson, Kern County Office of Education’s chief curriculum and instruction officer, presented a countywide portfolio of curriculum and instructional supports at the April 8 board meeting, telling trustees the office provides in‑class coaching, multi‑day professional networks and a menu of conferences and student events.
"We support 41 of the Kern County districts and five charter schools," Samson said. "We have over 2,600 contracted support days directly on sites… and more than 75 centralized networks, trainings or workshops." He described the office’s shift from one‑day workshops to multi‑engagement coaching and classroom modeling intended to improve teacher practice and implementation.
Samson highlighted four major initiatives in humanities and multilingual education: building an asynchronous structured literacy program for a targeted site (Jameson), statewide recognition for the office’s TK podcast, regional leadership for Project GLAD bilingual certification and a TK block delivery and professional learning rollout that provided 285 block sets to every TK classroom countywide. He said the office has certified or supported certification for 125 teachers this year through the Project GLAD effort and anticipates creating 125 bilingual‑authorized teachers in Kern County over the grant period.
On STEAM, Samson described expanded learning camps, a mobile equipment check‑out model for teachers (3D printers, robots, drones) and field trips at the Steamyard, a retooled facility now offering teacher training and summer camps. He said KCSOS operates 130 after‑school days across three sites, six weeks of summer programming and expects almost 4,000 students to participate in the upcoming summer camps.
"We’re trying to recruit the teachers of tomorrow through some of the work that we’re doing here," Samson said, describing mentors, many of them STEM majors from local colleges, who serve as camp staff and potential future educators.
Board members asked where to find event calendars and dates; Samson said the student‑events tab on KCSOS’s website lists field trips, competitions and the Steam Olympiad (May 3), and that the office would deliver an annual calendar to trustees for 2025–26.
The presentation covered family literacy events, language and literacy conferences, dual‑language immersion supports and plans to expand offerings into North and East Kern next school year. The board praised the breadth of programming and asked for future budget and metric briefings to better understand returns on investments and staffing implications.
