The Hardware!
- Starting in the 2014/2015 school year, St. James is rolling out a 1-to-1 Technology Program that will eventually put a learning device in the hands of each student. We're starting with Chromebooks for all teachers, and for all of the 5th and 6th grade student. It has taken a lot of work toupgrade the wireless network, train the teachers, and update our schools' policies and procedures in preparation for this endeavor. But we feel that giving our students real-time, individual access to this technology will greatly benefit their development.
- Our computer lab is equipped with 20+ iMac's. All of the student's have the opportunity to work in this lab throughout the week on various class projects. This not only gives them access to the unlimited resources of the internet, but also starts familiarizing them with the latest Apple Operating Systems.
- Each individual classroom is equipped with 2-3 Windows PC's. These workstations allow instant access to the St. James network from the classroom environment. Furthermore, these are connected to Smartboards in each classroom that are used to deliver interactive lessons to the students.
- Our goal is to expose our students to a wide variety of technology so that no matter what the future brings, they are prepared with the fundamental skills to deal with the latest devices and operating systems.
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The Software!
- Google Apps for Education - this is the backbone of our email system, our cloud-based storage and a huge source of educational apps that are being used on the Chromebooks.Accelerated Reader (AR) - we use this web-based system to promote reading exercise and also track students' reading progress for all grades.
- IXL - similar to AR, IXL is a web-based mathematics application that allows the students to practice their math skills both at school and at home.
- Houghton Mifflin - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) has been a standard in St. James classrooms for years. We're taking that to the next level now with their web-based lesson plans and testing to leverage the power of the technology that we're delivering to the students and teachers in our 1-to-1 Technology Program.
- Option C - this is a school management tool that we use to report grades, track attendance and monitor other various student activities.
- Other - beyond the core programs mentioned above, our teachers are using a number of other applications to deliver a technology-rich education to our students. We are a progressive school. We encourage the teachers to research and test new technology in the classrooms where it benefits the students. And we encourage the students to use the power of their technology and the internet to enhance their educational experience.
- Note to parents - all internet content is monitored and filtered while connected to the internet through the STJ network. For more information on our IT policies, feel free to contact the principal or anyone on the technology committee.
- Fastt Math - is a must-have solution for all students in Grades 2 and beyond, both those who are accelerating their acquisition of math facts as well as those who are struggling to catch up.
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