Continuing with a series of technology upgrades, Green Park Lutheran School has received a grant that will introduce iPads to its early elementary students for use in the school’s Balanced Literacy curriculum.
Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, kindergarten and first-grade classrooms will incorporate tablet technology as part of their reading and comprehension with the expansion of iPads for second grade-students in the following year, according to a news release.
The grant for Green Park was awarded by the Innovative Technology Education Fund with matching funds from the Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis after a competitive grant process that included more than 50 applicant schools.
The school’s new “iKids Balanced Literacy Program” will combine iPad technology with its existing K-8 Balanced Literacy curriculum, which encourages students to achieve reading, writing and comprehension skills at an individualized level, regardless of their grade in school.
For Debbie Prange, second-grade reading specialist and head of the school’s Balanced Literacy program, the award provides a tremendous tool.
“Integrating iPads into our reading program for young readers will give us greater options for personalized learning and will also offer students various and fun ways to experience reading,” she stated in the release.
The grant award is the latest improvement to Green Park’s technology assets, following the recent replacement of 64 lab computers set up on Microsoft Multipoint Server 2011. Earlier this year, Green Park raised nearly $50,000 for future curriculum and technology upgrades through a dinner auction.
The school also benefits from the participation of a group of parents who are IT professionals and volunteer to maintain and improve the school’s technology and computer programs.
“We are blessed to have parents and faculty who are continually devoted to maintaining a high level of modern computer technology in our classrooms, so our children have every opportunity to expand their horizons and prepare for their future educational goals,” Green Park Principal Gary Spieler stated in the release. “It’s amazing how quickly students grasp the use of computers at such a young age and we hope to make use of that intuition to help them learn and grow.”
