San Diego Unified is the second-largest district in California. Like many large urban districts, it's been losing students — to charter schools, to the high cost of living, to a thousand reasons families choose somewhere else.

About the District

• District: San Diego Unified School District
• Type: Public, K-12
• Size: Over 95,000 students

Millennial Tech Middle (MTM) School decided to do something about it. Here's how a drone program and a city partnership changed the school's enrollment trajectory — and what other districts can learn from it.

In March of 2026, we sat down with Sarah Hillard, CTE and Science Teacher at Millennial Tech, and Abel Garnica, Recreation Services Supervisor with City of San Diego Parks & Recreation, to hear the story firsthand. Watch the full webinar below, or keep reading for the highlights and four-part Flight Plan to recreate what they’ve done at your district.

The School That Drones Rebuilt

Sarah Hillard has been teaching at Millennial Tech since 2013, with about 20 years in education total. In 2024–25, she was named the RECF Western Region Middle School Coach of the Year and a Department of Defense STEM Ambassador.

But there was one category of educational technology she didn’t have experience with: drones. 

Then, UCSD came along and offered Millennial Tech and Hillard an opportunity to form a team for the Aerial Drone Competition (ADC). Organized by the REC Foundation, the non-profit behind the Vex Robotics Competition, the ADC has grown more than 1,000% from 191 teams in its inaugural season in 2020 to over 2,200 teams in 2025.

"I'd never even flown a drone," she said. "But I was sure we could figure it out."

UCSD facilitated a grant through the REC Foundation, and MTM got its first three CoDrone EDU units. From those drones, the program grew into a force of its own. In Sarah’s words, "what made us ultimately commit to it as much as we did was just the kids' high engagement and interest."

MTM is a middle school in southeastern San Diego and is 100% free and reduced lunch. Three years later, they have over 20 drones, three teams at Regional Championships, have demoed drones at a Clippers game. and been interviewed on local news. For some, a recent trip to Colorado for a competition was their first time on a plane — or seeing snow.

MTM students now visit all five feeder elementary schools, demo at "coffee with a principal" events, and represent the school across the community. One parent enrolled their child specifically because of the drone team's reputation.

"We want people in the neighborhood to know that their kids are safe here, engaged, and held to high expectations. That's what we care about."

The Parks & Rec Partnership: A Not-So-Secret Weapon

Space. Staffing. Sustainability.

These are the three walls that stop other drone and robotics competition programs — and exactly what a city partnership solves.

Abel Garnica, Recreation Services Supervisor with City of San Diego Parks & Recreation and RECF Regional Support Specialist, scaled drones in San Diego by encouraging more schools to build them out the same way MTM did: "We literally physically went to every school in our area — hey, are you interested in this program?"

Parks & Rec facilities are free between 8am and 4pm. For nearby schools, no buses are needed. When staff transition, the program survives and the community connections run deep: the San Diego PD drone unit, SDG&E, and firefighters have all engaged to show students what drone careers actually look like.

"They can come to one place, learn from each other, compete, and socialize — for free," Garnica said of the teams from Compton and Los Angeles they host annually.

That continuity matters more than school and district leaders might realize. Drone programs — like any CTE program — can lose steam when the person running them leaves. A city partnership changes the institutional math. And it runs both ways: if Garnica left Parks & Rec, Hillard and team would be there to work with new Parks & Rec staff to keep the partnership going. 

Sarah and Abel have also pointed out that drone competition programs are distinct from robotics competition programs for two reasons: 

1. Faster wins – With CoDrone EDU, there's no building required before students can take flight and start getting engaged.
2. More affordable – At $249 each and sold in Classroom Packs that include PD, CoDrone EDU is far more affordable and easier to get off the ground (pun intended) than robotics.

Sarah has stated that you can have multiple drone teams for every single robotics team, cost-wise. Now, at year three, funders are actively seeking MTM's drone program out and budgets are scaling with the program.

The Flight Plan

1. Pre-flight check - Know what problem the drone program solves for your principal or district — enrollment, CTE pathway completion, community engagement. Come in with the answer, not just the ask.
   
   
2. Takeoff - Finding funding is easier than you might think. The RECF offers grants for new drone teams, and CoDrone EDU qualifies for Perkins funding and Title I funds. 
   
   
3. Altitude - Find your Parks & Rec equivalent — a city department, community organization, or college partner with space, staffing continuity, and community relationships.
   
   
4. Landing - Use the program as a recruitment and community engagement tool. Go out to feeder schools. Attend STEAM nights. Say yes to community events.

School and district leaders, ready to take your STEM or CTE program to new heights? Reach out today →