INMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL MOVES FORWARD ON THE PATH TO 1:1!
Submitted by Kim Meyer, Trustee, Inman Middle School Foundation
Atlanta Public Schools recently received the amazing news that all 6th and 7th grade students will benefit from the T-Mobile Empower Ed program. What does this mean for Inman? Lenovo laptops will be issued to all 6th and 7th grade students in January. In addition, certain students will qualify for wireless “hotspots” to ensure the availability of WiFi service at home.
Thanks to donations from our Inman community that includes our Candler Park neighborhood, the Inman Middle School Foundation had already succeeded in funding over 400 Chromebooks that are already being used in classrooms every day across grades and subject areas. These devices, when added to the new T-Mobile laptops and existing Inman devices, mean that EVERY Inman student will have access to a dedicated device by February!
The Grady Cluster is aligned to support the College and Career Readiness platform for our students. These technology initiatives result in students gaining skills to best prepare them for their college and/or job experiences. In the shorter term, increased exposure in the classroom helps increase students’ comfort level for the spring Milestones assessments which are conducted on a laptop or Chromebook. Finally, this technology enables teachers across all grade levels to interact with their students in new and engaging ways while delivering real-time, differentiated instruction based on individual student needs and abilities.
Tenecia Powe, Inman’s Instruction Technology Specialist, said “The most powerful aspect of being one to one is the unique learning experiences that will now be offered to our students. They will be able to interact with content in a way that’s just not possible with the traditional paper and pencil method. Skyping content experts, virtual field trips, and other digital activities take learning beyond the borders of our brick and mortar school. With effective and efficient integration, we will not only engage and instruct our students today, but we will also prepare them for future success in college and careers.”
The success of this initiative will continue to require support in the areas of teacher professional learning, educational software, and technology updates/accessories. Continued financial contributions from our Inman families and community are therefore critical to maintaining the great momentum we’ve built so far.
Please visit www.inmanfoundation.org to learn more on how you can support our Inman Eagles!