Health & Fitness
Talk of the District: The "Bridge to Excellence" plan is now in action!
If you’re like me, you may feel like you are just beginning to thaw out from the deep freeze of this winter. Things inside our schools, however, are starting to heat up!
We’re making great progress on many of the Year 1 action steps within our new Bridge to Excellence (BtE) plan. Last week we shared our first “Bridge to Excellence in Action” report with the school board and we also brought one of the first BtE items to the board for approval. I’ll talk more about that later in this column. Many more exciting items will be coming to the board in the next few weeks, including plans to redesign our elementary school day to incorporate art and world language. You can follow along in these discussions by attending school board meetings, viewing live and taped meetings on our website and reading about this progress in upcoming school columns.
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The BtE plan includes actions steps to integrate technology into classrooms and provide students with more access to mobile devices. It also calls for expanded literacy instruction, with a focus on personalizing instruction to meet the specific learning styles and address the unique needs of each student. Last Thursday, the school board approved the purchase of new books and technology, which will be appearing in elementary classrooms this spring and next fall.
Each elementary teacher will receive a collection of books for their classroom libraries. The books will be organized by level of difficulty, and will allow teachers to help students select books at their level while providing instruction to help them become stronger readers. Elementary classrooms will also be equipped with 15 mobile devices (roughly one device for every two students). The devices will include a mix of iPads and Chromebooks, and the plan also calls for more technical support and ongoing training for staff. A three tier plan is in place to address the most significant needs at our elementary schools yet this spring. By fall, all of our elementary schools should have new technology in place. Originally, expanding technology and providing more literacy resources was slated for Year 2 of BtE as part of our efforts to enhance 21st century learning. The action steps have been accelerated, however, based on feedback from teachers who felt these resources were essential to support learning in our classrooms.
Find out what's happening in Stillwaterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
At the secondary level the board is considering a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approach where we would encourage students to bring the devices they already have, or offer an opportunity for them to purchase or lease devices through the district. The board will vote on the BYOD plan on March 13.
I want to be clear – it is not our intent at this time to provide district-owned devices to each student at a 1:1 student to computer ratio. While 1:1 is the trend nationally, with many public schools and colleges/universities providing or requiring student to have mobile devices, it is our plan to provide a similar experience in a more cost-effective manner. Our plan allows us to expand access to technology for all students by blending student-owned and district-owned devices. The increased use of mobile devices also means fewer textbooks and paper copies, which further reduces district expenses.
There is much exiting work happening in and for our schools. I look forward to these results being shared with the school board and public soon. I hope that you find a way to keep informed, become engaged and ask questions as needed. As we are completing Year 1 of the Bridge to Excellence plan we are well on our way towards offering the learning experiences that will be important for the future of our students. Stay tuned for more!
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Superintendent Corey Lunn can be contacted via email at lunnc@stillwater.k12.mn.us or by phone at 651-351-8301. Questions can also be sent by mail to Superintendent, Stillwater Area Public Schools, 1875 South Greeley Street, Stillwater, MN 55082. Register for Stillwater Area Public Schools E-News at www.stillwater.k12.mn.us/subscribe.
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