San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD) is now ranked #1 in San Diego and Imperial County for the statewide College/Career Indicator—thanks to a comprehensive Career Technical Education (CTE) program that blends academic rigor, hands-on learning, and strong industry and college partnerships. Among these valuable partnerships is innovative work with Robolink, where we bring engaging drone experiences into the classroom.  

School and district leaders,
Get a quote for your own drone program >

Location: California

Enrollment: 11,800  students across 10 schools ( 5 middle and 5 high schools)

CTE Fast Facts:

• 17 unique pathways across high-growth industries, including Advanced Engineering, Automotive Technology, Film & Video Production, Culinary Arts, and Business Management

• 2-year sequenced workbased learning courses with internships, tours, and guests

• Early College Credit through MiraCosta, Palomar, and Grossmont Colleges

The Impact

For CTE Month in February 2025, Director of Career Technical Education and Work Experience Manuel Zapata and students presented to the School Board about the districtwide impact of SDUHSD’s CTE program. Over the past five years, a coordinated effort involving CTE and STEAM educators, counselors, administrators, and multiple industry and college partners has led to: 

• A 5.6% increase in CTE enrollment (with 6,600+ students in the 2024–25 school year alone)

• A nearly 30% increase in CTE pathway completions

• 83.8% of students reaching “Prepared” per the California Department of Education’s College/Career Indicator (CCI)
  

These gains reflect growth across the 17 pathways, from engineering and computer science to culinary arts and film production. Partnerships like the one with Robolink add unique and real-life learning experiences that complement the district’s broader CTE vision.

SDUHSD is now ranked #1 in San Diego and Imperial County on the CCI.

“We recognize the profound impact of Career Technical Education in shaping students and in strengthening our workforce pipeline.”
– Manuel Zapata, Director of Career Technical Education and Work Experience 

Three seniors from Canyon Crest Academy (CCA) also took the mic at the School Board meeting to share a drone choreography project they completed in collaboration with one particular industry partner: Robolink. 

At Robolink, we make CoDrone EDU – a classroom drone used in over 7,000 US schools for hands-on STEM and CTE learning. For their project, these students:

• Designed and executed  a drone choreography project, with programmed lights, coordinated movements, and LEDs. 

• Got to troubleshoot like real Robolink engineers, tackling challenges like latency and lag.

• Designed a graphical user interface (GUI) for connecting to and controlling multiple drones.

• Got support from their teacher, Engineering & CS Teacher Dvora Celniker, as well as Robolink Software Engineer and Product Manager Leila Firestone.

• Presented to the Board and  also documented the project so future teams could pick up and fly forward.

“We’d like to thank the Robolink company as a whole,” Krish Mandadi, CCA senior, put it, “for providing us with this very unique opportunity to learn and apply our engineering and computer science skills.”

3 Steps to Building a CTE Program That Soars

1. Forge Industry + College Partnerships Early

Bring in the pros. SDUHSD leverages 55 CTE and STEAM teachers with designated subject CTE credentials.—and brings in outside voices through industry partners like Robolink.

2. Use Communications and CTE Month to Go Big

CTE Director Zapata and Comms Coordinator Edwin Mendoza collaborated to spotlight student projects every week in February—on social media and in schools.

3. Make Pathways Visible, Year-Round

Pathway posters = more enrollment and better partnerships. SDUHSD distributes its CTE Pathway posters through counselors’ offices, in presentations, and on the district website.

Over 100 CoDrone EDU units are used across SDUHSD CTE classrooms. Dvora Celniker’s CCA students also compete in the REC Foundation’s Aerial Drone Competition—applying flight physics, Python, teamwork, and real-world problem-solving.

School and district leaders, if you're ready to take your district’s STEM or CTE program to new heights, start your quote today.