The program is one of only four in California designated as a SIP Demonstration Site — and educators from across the country and the world have taken notice.
(CLAIR | Moorpark, CA) — Moorpark Preschools is being recognized as one of the best early special education programs in California. On April 7, the program received the SIP Demonstration Site Recognition Award — honoring its role as one of only four Supporting Innovative Practices (SIP) Demonstration Sites in the entire state.
Dr. Lilia Magana, Director of Special Education for Moorpark Unified School District, and Moorpark Preschools Program Coordinator Deonna Armijo accepted the award at the SIP Spring Institute, held at the Riverside County Office of Education Conference Center.
The SIP Demonstration Site designation is not handed out freely. It signals that a program has reached a level of practice worth replicating. Supporting Innovative Practices is a California-based initiative that works with school districts and the California Department of Education to advance inclusion through culture, practice, and policy. California identifies sites where early childhood special education is being done at the highest level, then opens those sites to visiting educators who want to learn and bring better practices back to their own communities.
Moorpark Preschools has done exactly that over the past year. Educators from across California have visited the program. So have professionals from as far away as Singapore. The Moorpark team welcomed them all, opened their classrooms, and showed them what quality early childhood special education looks like in practice.
That kind of visibility matters. When a program draws observers from another continent, it is no longer just serving Moorpark — it is shaping how other communities approach the education of young children with special needs.
The work behind this recognition belongs to the teachers, specialists, and support staff who show up every day for the youngest and most vulnerable learners in the district. The designation and the award reflect a team that has built something worth seeing.
Program Coordinator Armijo and Dr. Magana represent leadership that made this possible — not by chasing recognition, but by building a program that earned it.
For Moorpark Unified, this moment is a signal of what the district is capable of. Strong leadership, a committed team, and a willingness to open the doors and share the work — that combination is rare. Moorpark Preschools has it, and California has taken notice.
