Dear Parents:
I am thrilled to announce that beginning with the 2013-14 school year, St. John's Episcopal School will become a 1:1 computing environment. This transformation will mark another step in our ongoing quest to integrate technology into our educational programs in meaningful ways. The school has been an early adopter of a variety of technologies, using them to enrich your child's experiences. In recent years, we have:
- Used Skype to connect with other schools and area experts
- Integrated SMART BoardsŪ into daily instruction
- Taught students to create powerful videos and multimedia presentations
- Used probes and software for the real-time analysis of scientific data
Ultimately, providing our students with the best educational experience in the modern age means more than equipment; it requires the technological fluency and digital citizenship necessary to sustain learning, encourage leadership and promote success.
When we launch this initiative, we plan for fifth grade and above to have "take-home devices." First through fourth grades will have classroom sets so students will have access to the devices during class and under more closely supervised conditions. We are still evaluating and considering the options for equipment, and thus the pricing and other specifics are not finalized at this point. However, we do expect that the associated annual cost to families will be in the range of $250 to $350 per first through eighth grade child.
Why not make this move sooner? We want to do it in the best fashion. I have seen schools do this poorly, and I have seen schools do it well. Those that successfully transitioned to a 1:1 environment have been thoughtful and thorough in their preparation. The administration has myriad details to work out, and the teachers need time to consider in depth how this will affect program and pedagogy. Currently, we are involved in a time-consuming reaccreditation process. Once we finish that in the fall of 2012, we will focus our energies on creating an outstanding 1:1 program, which will prepare our students for the challenges of modern times.
You will hear more about our plans and progress as the year continues. Meanwhile, I wanted to share this very exciting news.
