After a very busy summer, the Jackson School District is excited to launch the 2010-2011 school year with new initiatives designed to save money, to better communicate and connect with the parent community and to provide better educational tools for students.
As part of our continuing efforts to save money, conserve natural resources and increase efficiency, the Jackson School District is changing the way we think about paper, printing and energy. We have made great strides recently to implement district-wide energy-saving practices and to "reduce, re-use and recycle," but this year we are taking even bigger steps by utilizing technology as a tool to INCREASE parental involvement and awareness while DECREASING costs.
A widely recognized fact about student achievement is that it is positively affected by family involvement. Over the past few years we have strengthened the connection between school and home utilizing various tools, but there is more we can do.
We are encouraging our parents to use the technology we already have in place to GET CONNECTED with us by providing us with multiple phone numbers and e-mail addresses via a tool called Parentlink. Given our increasing focus on e-mail communications, providing e-mail addresses to us is critical.
We are also hoping our parents will STAY CONNECTED with us through the use of our student information Portal. This portal enables parents to view student schedules, grades, report cards and interim reports online. In fact, beginning this year, we will no longer be mailing this information home.
At the end of August we sent home login and password information to all parents and instructions for how to utilize these tools and gave instructions for how parents could use the Portal to access their child's schedule and teacher assignments.
As the school year progresses, we will be asking our parents to use the Portal to monitor their child's educational progress and to utilize the portal to view interim reports and student report cards.
We will, of course, be giving our families who do not have Internet access the option to receive this information through traditional methods, but we are confident the parent community will see the financial (thousands of dollars less in paper, printing and postage) and other benefits (consistent access to student grades) that come from embracing this "greener" approach.
We are also committed to making our district web site a more dynamic, timely tool for information and to further developing the programming on TV, which is our television station on Cablevision Channel 77.
In addition to these efforts to strengthen the home-school connection, we are also excited to be enhancing some of the educational tools we use in the district.
For example:
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We will be using a program called Destiny in our school libraries that will enable parents and students to explore research topics from home.
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We will be expanding the use of our phonic ear systems in both general education and special education classrooms. The use of these auditory devices enhances instruction and helps to increase student attention.
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We will be moving forward with our Digital Media Academy, which was made possible by a $100,000 competitive grant the district won last year.
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We will also be building upon the success of last years STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) initiative by developing courses and programs with Drexel University for students in grades 5-12.
I hope parents and community members alike will take the time to visit us in person, or online, to keep up with district developments and information. It is going to be a great year.