St. Leander School Invests in New Technology

San Leandro's St. Leander School has made an upgrade, installing more than 60 new pieces of technology in the school's classrooms and computer lab.

The $55,000 investment replaced technology that was nearly 15 years old. The project was championed by Principal Lynne Kennedy Mullen, who wanted to provide teachers with new equipment and then build new technology throughout the school.

"It's all about [the students]," said Mullen, who is in her sixth year as principal. "We want them to be successful, confident learners."

The upgrade was funded through capital improvement fees paid by the parents of St. Leander's students each year.

Parents on the school's tech committee volunteered over a six-week period to help with the project. Parents spent one weekend identifying and tracing working cables in the school's infrastructure and then installed the new equipment around the school.

In the updated computer lab, iMacs are lined across three walls and will be used by all 235 students in the school.

Each classroom has been outfitted with a flat-screen television mounted near the classroom's dry-erase boards. Teachers use the flat screens to show YouTube videos explaining math problems as well as other instructional and educational programming. Teachers can also use the flat screens to project images for the entire class to view.

"Technology is not a separate subject, it's cross-curriculum," said John Hall, St. Leander's technology coordinator.

St. Leander eighth grader Matthew Reveles said he loves how quickly the new equipment runs.

"It took the old computers two to five minutes to start up; now it takes under a minute," said Reveles, who enjoys creating brochures and Powerpoint projects. "The new computers are very fast and it's great because you can learn more information."

Learning how to use a computer has helped Reveles to not only apply what he learns in class to projects, but also to take his knowledge home and create projects on his home computer. Reveles said he also helps his mother a lot, teaching her how to use the computer.

Hall and Mullen said instruction starts with pre-kindergarten students. The young students use the computer lab just like all the others and start by learning how to use the mouse.

"Their little feet don't touch the floor," Hall said of the youngest computer lab users.

By second grade, students are learning how to prepare and present Powerpoint presentations with a six-slide family album. Among their favorite options are the sound effects, making for some "hilarious" presentations, Mullen said. For older students, programs like iMovie are taught starting in seventh grade.

The goal is to prepare students with the tools to use word processing and spreadsheet software as well as create multimedia projects by high school, Hall said.

Mullen said she hopes to keep the new technology for five to seven years and plans to create a science lab in the future.

First, however, the school must replace the building's original boiler this year. The school is celebrating its 130th year in operation and is the oldest Catholic school in San Leandro.

To learn more about St. Leander School, its programs and enrollment options, go to http://www.stleanderschool.org/.