Board Member — La Canada Unified School District

Caroline is a La Cañada native. She lives with her husband, Marcotte and their two boys, Ethan and Liam. When her oldest son Ethan entered the inaugural Transitional Kindergarten program in 2012, Caroline began volunteering at the school. Since then, Caroline has served across the District as a school volunteer, and in various Executive Board positions within the PTA at Palm Crest Elementary School, where she is the current PTA President.

This year, Caroline is also on the La Cañada High School 7/8 Executive Board as Historian, and she currently serves as Executive Vice President on the Executive Board of the La Cañada Council PTA, representing all LCUSD schools.

She served six years as a Director of the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation, including one year as President. Through her experiences, Caroline gained a broader view of needs across LCUSD -- a whole-District perspective she sharpened as a member of local schools Site Council and District Local Control and Accountability Plan committees. Now, with her sons entering 7th and 6th grades, Caroline seeks election to the LCUSD Board of Education.

Caroline Anderson advocates tirelessly for our local schools as a volunteer in the La Canada Unified School District (LCUSD). Wherever there is a gap, a need or an opportunity to volunteer, Caroline is the first to raise her hand. 

Caroline will bring her grassroots energy to policy decisions that best advance the interests of all LCUSD families. In the community, Caroline is a member of the La Cañada Junior Women's Club and the La Cañada Chinese Club. Additionally, Caroline played a major role in the successful passage in 2020 of Measure LC to secure much-needed funds for local schools, as a campaign committee member responsible for voter outreach and voter call banks. Caroline looks forward to deepening her commitment to La Cañada schools as a Board member.

A wide cross section of community members endorse Caroline as a proven leader and dedicated advocate for La Canada students. This includes current and former La Canada elected officials, educators, parents, and other community leaders. Vote for Caroline for School Board to build our future together.

Through years of grassroots volunteerism in La Canada, and as a La Canada native, Caroline cares deeply about the community's public schools -- considered to be among the best in the state and a continued draw for homebuyers. Educational excellence is a cornerstone of La Canada Unified schools, and as a board member Caroline will enhance and build upon this legacy. Now in these pandemic times, innovation, creativity, and forward thinking are critical to engage our students in preparing for their life's purpose. A student-centered focus is at the core of Caroline's vision for LCUSD. Here are her four focal points: 

1. Designing education success during COVID and beyond

The COVID pandemic forced us to reevaluate how education is delivered. We turned 385 years of public education completely upside down in a matter of weeks. Together, we can use this opportunity to improve experiences and outcomes for all learners. Instead of looking at this disruption as a burden or chore, let’s look at it as a chance to be innovative and create new ways for educators to work in partnership with students who may benefit from different approaches to their coursework. We can spur innovation and support students as they discover their own strengths and passions.

2. Spotlighting Social and Mental Health

The social and emotional health of our children is paramount. A child who is struggling with depression, substance abuse, or anxiety will face difficulty succeeding in the classroom. With the added pressures / stress of the pandemic, we need to find additional ways to support our students. This includes growing our commitment to students’ well being through greater access to mental health counseling services TK-12.

3. Building a strong IT infrastructure

A critical part of any LCUSD technology plan is improving IT infrastructure and allocating adequate funds to support distance learning in a post-COVID world. This means working through security challenges with distance instruction, efficiently delivering professional development to support our teachers in delivering a world class education, and streamlining the amount of platforms that the district uses to push out school work. Our changing digital world necessitates building a stronger system for use districtwide that promotes cohesion and simplicity of navigation. Importantly, with robust planning, we can track students who are not engaged in learning and get them the help they need.  

4. Enhancing Communication

Improved communication starts with a commitment to engage and inform students, families, educators, district staff, and the broader LCUSD community on School Board actions and progress with transparency. By widely sharing up to date policy decisions that impact our students across all available platforms, the District is better positioned to prevent misinformation from spreading, and to build a greater sense of shared priorities and goals with families.

Josh has been teaching college students since 2006 and has most recently joined the faculty at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. Since last spring he has been learning and sharing remote teaching best practices and evolving his education and assessment styles.

Besides working as an adjunct USC faculty member in the School of Dramatic Arts, Josh is an award-winning live events designer. Josh also took on the role of technology entrepreneur when he and his wife Beth founded the software company Cuelist: an eco-friendly and economical paperless collaboration tool for live events.

Here in La Cañada, Josh has been a volunteer for our local schools since moving to the community in 2009. He served on the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation for six years. During that time he was on the executive council for three years and was President of the Foundation for the 2016/2017 term.

Following his term on the Educational Foundation, he served as co-chair of the Yes on Measure LCF bond committee in 2017 and as co-chair of the Committee for La Cañada Schools working to pass the renewal of our measure LC parcel tax in 2019/2020.

He has also served on the Master Planning Committee, the Rose Harrington Award Committee, Measure LCF Bond Citizens Oversight Committee, and most recently the Secondary School Reopening Committee. 

He is honored to have been recognized for his contributions with the Golden Apple and Founder’s Day Awards.

Throughout his years of leadership Josh has been known for:

• Flexibility & Creativity
• Thoughtful process development
• Communication/Listening
• Openness to new ideas
• Data-oriented decision making
• Sweating the details

Josh has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and a Master of Fine Arts degree from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.