iPad Workshops For Incoming Belmont High 9th Graders This Week

The first tentative steps to bring personal technology into the classroom begins today, Monday, June 10, as parents of Chenery Middle School 8th graders will be updated on the iPad program their children will undertake on their first day at Belmont High School in September.

The pilot program, a partnership between the School District and the Foundation for Belmont Education dubbed the Innovative Teaching Initiative, will allow Belmont teachers begin applying new teaching techniques to motivate and engage students to prepare for education and the workplace in the 21st century, said Dr. Thomas Kingston, Belmont's school superintendent at a recent Belmont School Committee meeting. 

"This is not a substitute for learning but bringing in a tool that will enhance learning," said Kingston. 

The Initiative is a four year, $450,000 campaign with the directive to train teachers throughout the district with new skills in using the iPads to improve education and pay for iPads so that every student in the High School will have a tablet by the time the incoming class of 9th graders graduates in 2017.

Want to learn more about the Initiative and the ins and outs of the 9th Grade iPad project? Click here. 

The Initiative piggy-backs on the Foundation's successful Technology Tools for Teaching campaign in 2008 through 2011 that brought SMART Boards into all classrooms.

Grade 9 iPad Program Update for Parents

Monday, June 10

Belmont High School Library Mezzanine, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, June 11

Belmont High School Little Theatre, 8 a.m.

Belmont High School Library Mezzanine, 6 p.m.

"The Innovative Teaching Initiative furthers our goal of providing teachers with the training and tools necessary to produce innovative classroom instruction," said Deb McDevitt, Social Studies curriculum director for Belmont Public Schools who was the co-creator of the 

“We are thrilled to be a driver on innovation in the Belmont Public Schools and to support our teachers in their quest to bring the best to Belmont ’s students,” said Jamie Shea, president of the Foundation for Belmont Education, in a press release from the Foundation.