New Instructional Technology Comes to Greene Street Friends

In the past year, Greene Street Friends School has brought together a variety of resources to add instructional technology throughout the School.

A 2010 Technology Audit by NPower helped identify near-term goals. The administration’s primary goal was to provide more computers for student use.

Thanks to careful management of the budget last year, Greene Street Friends funded a new computer lab. Twenty-two MacBook Airs have replaced twelve eMacs, which dated back to 2003. The new lab supports a one-child-per-computer model for a class rather than the two-children-per-computer model which has been the School’s practice. A May 2011 grant from the Tyson Memorial Fund funded a mobile laptop lab of Ipads and now the School can serve two full classes simultaneously.  

Support has also come from within the School community. The Class of 2011 made a gift of two interactive projectors, which function like SmartBoards but can display on any smooth surface and are portable, and the Parents Association gave three more. The Parents Association also funded two wireless printers for the Armat Street building as well as a computer and digital projection system in the art room.

A Greene Street grandparent identified a source of high-quality reconditioned computers and Business Manager Teri Buda arranged for the purchase of 60 tablet computers for use in the Lower School. Lower School teachers can flexibly pool these tablets for group work or for whole-class activities. Whereas Lower School classrooms used to have one or two computers per classroom, now each classroom has four tablets.

Instructional technology goes beyond classroom computers. A June 2011 grant from the Legacy Grants Group funded the automation of the School’s library catalog. Librarian Karen Buchan is excited by the idea of greater access to the School’s materials. When the catalog is complete, students will be able to look up materials and place holds on books through the School’s website. The new system has a much larger capacity, allowing for the eventual incorporation of classroom libraries and learning resource room materials.

Getting students off to a strong start, encouraging independence, teaching research skills, and responding to individual learning styles form the heart of a successful elementary and middle school program. These new learning tools support this work in fun and engaging ways.