Making Apple Vision Pro a reality in a 6-12 School Environment

This fall, a dream truly became a reality when Apple Professional Learning joined us on the ground to help scale the launch of Apple Vision Pro with our students. With 30 devices in the hands of approximately 60 students, this experience was about so much more than new technology—it was about learning with students, not just for them.

The video captures this journey far better than words ever could, but we couldn’t be more proud of our students and staff for being true pioneers. From the moment students put on Vision Pro and explored the spatial gallery, to capturing spatial video using our iPhone 16 Pros, the learning felt transformational. The sense of curiosity, creativity, and possibility was undeniable.

We are incredibly grateful for Jim Harmon, who was the most fabulous guide throughout this adventure. He stepped into learning a brand-new-to-education technology, and immediately found meaningful ways to bring it to life for both students and staff. Whether students were using LEGO to prototype ideas, creating 3D scans, or leveraging Vision Pro to solve real challenges, the learning was hands-on, immersive, and purposeful. We even got our Superintendent Aaron Engel into a Vision Pro, and within 24 hours I had emails from staff who he had already excitedly shared our story with, ready to expand in new directions.

Our students learned so quickly, and our staff leaned in with openness and courage—willing to try something completely new alongside them.

We went from just weeks earlier, popping Vision Pros on our own heads to put them in Guest Mode for students, to utilizing Siri to make our Vision Pros, a highly personalized device, able to be utilized by different students in mere seconds. Our students navigated with ease, AirPlaying content to their iPads so we could help guide them without ever needing to touch their Vision Pros. The students were awed when they saw their own spatial photography captured by our iPhone 16 Pros on their Vision Pros for the first time.

This experience reaffirmed our commitment to centering students as creators over consumers, and we cannot wait to see the spatial and immersive stories they create this year. This is only the beginning, and we are so excited to see where this adventure takes us next.

(And yes! We will post more about all the things we have learned along the way! - Maybe even a podcast?)

Thank you to the entire SDLAX Vision Pro crew!

Projects like this don't just happen every day and we are extremely grateful that all of the pieces came together to make this a reality. While I may be the one posting the story, it's not only my story to tell. The story belongs to our leaders, our school, our teachers, and most importantly, our students.

None of this would have been possible without the help of critical leaders in our school district. Through grant funding, and innovative leadership, we were able to purchase these Vision Pros and iPhone 16 Pros to truly innovate. Huge thank you to Dr. Stacey Everson, Director of Secondary Education, Quartell Robinson, Principal of Polytechnic, Jeremy Schoonover, Director of Technology for believing in this crazy idea. For continually reminding me to dream bigger for our students, and that even the craziest ideas aren't always that far-fetched. I can't believe how much more students are taking away from it than we had ever imagined possible.

Huge thank you to the entire Poly teaching crew Dan, Katy, Travis, Malcolm, Tara, Katie, and especially project-lead Jason Krug, for their commitment to going with the flow, being flexible, and always being willing to innovate alongside their students. Being a part of this school has truly been a remarkable experience. Julie, Poly's Administrative Assistant has also provided so much support in the ordering, budgeting and managing of all of these devices and we couldn't be more grateful to her.

Alex, Ethan, Brennan, Logan, Dan, Mike, Mark, Megan, and Peter, thank you for helping solve alllllll the technical back end questions that come up when you're launching something totally new. It's not always easy when the ground is unpaved but this team worked together to make amazing things happen for La Crosse students.

Rachel and Julie, thanks for keeping us on track while navigating all of the approvals, purchases and more that this grant and project entailed. You kept us on track throughout the process and the innovation that's happening couldn't have happened without you both.

Jim, JJ, Kelly, Jordan and Angelique, our support from the Apple side of things has been unwavering. We appreciate your kindness and energy as we embark into these uncharted waters. The feedback from teachers, students and administrators alike was so positive. We were all blown away by the entire experience and can't wait to continue working with Jim throughout the rest of the year. He truly brings expert teaching, along with kindness and compassion, to the table and levels up every experience.

And of course, our students. Within just days they easily met and surpassed our goals, making this adventure their own. Coming up with their own cool ideas, and also enjoying playing with dinosaurs along the way. We couldn't have asked for a more open-minded, engaging group of students to try this with and we are grateful for their willingness and flexibility.