District 59 Schools Upgrade Tech For 2010

While children were enjoying their summer vacation, the District 59 school board spent the time upgrading computers, software and training for the 2010 school year.

First, the district standardized hardware at its 14 schools, which includes providing all classroom teachers with laptop computers. In addition, those computers are attached to the File Wave software upgrade package, which automatically installs the latest programs to all the school system's computers to keep everything standardized. Upgrades to the Safari Montage system were also completed; so students can now see educational videos in both English and Spanish.

Good old-fashioned paper report cards received an electronic upgrade as well. Schools are now taking attendance and inputting grades electronically using Skyward software.

"In the past, teachers had to fill in a big report card manually and pass it around from one teacher to another. Now they'll use [the Skyward electronic] grade book that does total point scores and everything," said Cathy Savage, director of information systems and services for District 59.

This year the school district is sending letters to all parents providing them with  individual logins. That means divorced or separated couples  will not have to share a family's login. Children will also have access to the electronic report card so they can monitor their progress.

"Some of the feedback I've been getting is that it's actually improving parent-child communication and conversation as opposed to what some people might've thought, which was now that I can look at what my child is doing I don't need to talk to them. Instead it's started conversations about what they're doing at school," said Nancy Wagner, who is on the technology panel with Savage.

Brian Gilligan, a parent and school board member, agreed: "It's certainly sparked conversation in the Gilligan household. It's a very good system. It's so intuitive and easy to use. I think it's a great mechanism to keep up with student learning.

"It's a way to connect effectively with the teachers, with the schools, and I commend the teachers on their ability to use the system," he added.

The new report card is automatically translated into Spanish if that is listed as the language that the child speaks at home. It removes a barrier in helping parents understand their child's school progress.

In addition, the school district moved to the Internet services of Google Mail and Google Calendar. It also updated the district's websites on School Loop, a system that allows both schools and different departments to maintain searchable websites.

To keep up with all this technological progress, the school district has made a commitment to professional development training. Roughly half the staff development days for the school year are dedicated to technology, with sessions occurring once every six weeks.