Educational Technology

In the Lower School, we empower our students to explore the various areas of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) through hands-on activities. The STEAM curriculum fosters creative, outside-of-the box thinking and encourages students to ask questions, problem solve, think creatively, design courageously, and reflect thoughtfully.

From their very first year, students become inventors, creators, designers, programmers, and engineers. Kindergarteners program a robot, design and build a maze, and invent a new toy. As they go up through the grade levels, students work with 3D printing, circuitry, Scratch programming, and more. By grades 3-5, students also focus on software applications such as Google Drive, Docs, Slides, and Spreadsheets, as well as other online production software.

EdTech classes meet once a week for each grade level, either in the computer lab (K-3) or the students' homeroom class (4-5).

For all of their projects, students follow the Engineering and Design process to provide structure for their thinking. They learn to:

• Ask questions
• Imagine and brainstorm the possibilities
• Plan an idea, sketch a design, select materials
• Create their prototype
• Test their prototype
• Improve, modify, or upgrade their prototype
• Share with others
• Reflect on the process

Middle School students foster the 21st century skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, communication, and collaboration. 

Teachers utilize a wide variety of education technology tools and concepts, meaningfully integrated into subject area classes. Through our 1:1 MacBook program, technology both compliments and extends the teaching and learning environment, as students mature in the key areas of digital communication, digital citizenship, and digital literacy. With Google Tools or our learning management system, Schoology, our students are connecting and collaborating daily.

In the Upper School, we build on the wide exposure and use of digital tools that students gained in middle school by guiding them to choose the appropriate tool for a given situation. Teachers work toward higher order thinking skills, encouraging students to analyze, evaluate, and create with new technologies and their existing knowledge.