Construction: Lessons and Otherwise

I think we made some progress today. While most of our students were enjoying a day off, most of our faculty was engaged in trying to infuse technology into lessons already planned for the next couple of weeks.  Faith students will be in for a wide variety of experiences in the coming days.

I spent the day with teachers of freshmen as they learned some of the amazing things you can do with a Mac.  Perhaps you can do the same things on a PC, but I would never have thought to try them because of their complexity.  The Mac makes very cool things relatively easy for this seasoned educator.  Kids will take to it immediately.  I am setting the bar high:  9th graders will do a lot of things next year that make us go WOW!

Everyone who drives on campus has probably noticed by now the construction fence on the north side of the gym.  The expansion of the weight room is underway.  I understand a few parents have wondered aloud why are we spending more money when the economy is so distressed.  The answer is pretty simple: when we decided to move to 4A athletics, it was obvious that there would be improvements to the facility we would need to make in order to operate successfully at that level.  Our student athletes will need access to the same kinds of training and conditioning available to students in larger schools.  This particular expansion has the added benefit of improving facilities for our most popular PE class: weight training.  During the summer, the track will be resurfaced and the outdoor basketball courts reconfigured to work as a tennis practice facility.  These improvements come from our operating revenues, assisted by some short-term borrowing (at very favorable rates).   While we have some other projects in the planning stages, none are likely to get funded in he near future.  Those projects will require more substantial funding and fundraising and that effort will wait for an improved economy.

FAQ 1-to-1.1

In case you didn't see this elsewhere........

Who will get a computer in the 1-to-1 program?

Beginning next August, every freshman will receive an Apple Macbook as part of their education at Faith. Freshman in subsequent years will also get Macbooks, so that by the 2012-13 school year, every high school student will have one.

Why did the school begin with freshmen?  Shouldn’t the seniors be the 1^st beneficiaries?

There are a number of reasons. First, our funding model is built on using each computer for four years. Second, we wanted each student to get a new computer at the start of the program and ideally, be able to retain the computer upon graduation.  Starting with any class other than freshmen would mean we would have to recycle the machines through the program, which would have required more stringent guidelines on their use by our students. Third, many seniors do not have full loads, denying us maximum use of the machines.

So why not give everyone a machine and allow parents the option of buying it at fair market if it was not used for four years?

To fully implement the 1-to-1 program over the next four years the school will spend nearly $1.3 million dollars. If we bought it all at once, parents would have seen a $1000 bill. Even amortizing it over four years, tuition would need to increase by over $250 just for technology. Most parents could not absorb that increase, and fundamentally, we need to keep our doors open to continue to do ministry.  About $75 of the increase in tuition for next year supports the funding for the 1^st year of 1-to-1. We estimate that over four years, tuition will have to go up a minimum of $262 to pay for technology improvements and at that level the 1-to-1 program should be self-sustaining.  Of course, additional dollars will be needed to support other elements of the school program.

A second critical aspect of the decision to deliberately move in this way has to do with teacher preparation. We don’t want the computers to become expensive paperweights, and so we are investing in additional teacher education.  While our entire faculty has been engaged in workshops designed to improve their effectiveness in using technology, we will be providing an additional 30 hours of training in Macbook specific training.  Apple has an excellent reputation for staff development, but it is very expensive. We could not afford to train all of our teachers to the standard we believe necessary if we had to do it all at once.

So if my student isn’t a freshman, aren’t I paying for something my student won’t be receiving?

There are several ways to answer this question.  First, your tuition dollars support the school’s entire program, which includes many things your student may not personally participate in or use. Similarly, every student eats in our student center and only a few current parents pledged to the capital campaign that supported its construction and since it now paid for, everyone enjoys its benefits. But most importantly, there will still be 425 tablet PCs and 35+ computers in the Koerwitz Resource Center available for student use, now with 200 or so fewer students who need to use them.  Our non-freshman teachers will still be using technology in the classroom through the cart program.  Our administrators will still have high expectations for teacher use of technology in the classrooms.

Will there be additional costs for the parents of freshmen?

Probably.  Parents will have to buy insurance on the machines or pay a significant damage deposit.  Parents will also have to provide a school approved protective covering, case or bag for the laptop.

Why did the school switch to Apple when most of the world uses a PC?

Certainly the demise of our original PC provider, Gateway/MPC, encouraged us to look around.  While other companies could have provided tablets, that feature significantly increases the cost per unit. But for most uses, the tablet function was not required and moving away from it made moving to 1-to-1 more financially viable.  Apple is solid company with a strong reputation and growing share of the K-12 market.  Its staff development model is superior. Apple’s pricing structure is now much more favorable than it was a few years back.  Teachers who need the tablet function (particularly in math and science) will still be able to use a PC machine and Apple does make an accessory that functions as a tablet.

What about classes where freshmen are intermingled with other grades?

We will provide a cart or two with Macs on them so that teachers in those circumstances can work with a uniform group of computers. For instance, imagine a Spanish I class with fifteen 9^th and twelve 10^th graders.  Here the teacher could reserve a Mac cart and hand out the Macs to 10^th graders and then conduct the lesson.  In subsequent years of the 1-to-1 program, this becomes less necessary. Even so, in most cases the work students do is web-based, so platform (Mac or PC) doesn’t really matter. Teachers could, depending on the nature of the activity, teach students with PCs, Macs or Linux machines at the same time.

Can I buy a Macbook for my non-freshman student and can they use it is school?

No. When students are at school they connect to a network.  In order to provide security for that network, it is important that the computers are imaged the same and that everyone in the 1-to-1 program understands the rules and protocols.  Rolling out 1-to-1 according to our plan will enable us to appropriately educate both student users and their parents about what can and cannot be done with these machines.  And while I just noted that much of what students do is platform neutral, it certainly is easier on our teachers when they look out at a classroom where everyone has the same computer.

When will my freshman student get his/her computer?

We are developing plans to roll out this program.  Sometime this spring, we will have a parent meeting to present an overview of the 1-to-1 program.  Next August there will be several “pick-up” dates which will require the presence of your 9^th grader and at least one parent.

Will students continue to use textbooks?

Yes. While we are working to equip our students with 21^st century skills, books will continue to play an important role in our students’ education.  We will certainly be looking for textbook providers that include digital alternatives

History

I am a social studies teacher by training, with an emphasis on politics and government.  The last year has held great interest for me.  It probably won't surprise you to learn that I generally favored the other guy, but like most Americans, I am praying that Mr. Obama will eventually be revered as one of our greatest Presidents.  Simply put, we need great, effective leadership for our country.  I am not one of those who believe we are in the worst times since the Great Depression.  I remember gas lines, runaway inflation, and Jimmy Carter's malaise speech.  I do worry that some of the strengths that our country had in the past that could lift us out of economic calamity are no longer present.  I do believe we stand at a turning point and that the actions we take over the next few years will very much determine whether my children will have a standard of living that surpasses the one I have had for most of my life.

I am anxious to hear what he has to say.  It is a time for a return to moral courage, to look beyond our own needs and to build community.  I hope simply he tells us the truth, unambiguously.

I also hope that whenever possible, our students will be able to watch or listen to the speech on Tuesday. History is being made And what President Obama does could have a profound effect on  destinies of the young people with whom we work.  My prayer is that his decisions are guided from on high.

Technology: Some Background

I am always amused whenever we announce something significant that I will have to tamp down rumors about the change for the next couple of weeks. In the Crusader newsletter we announced that beginning next fall, all incoming freshmen students would receive a computer as part of their education at Faith. This week I took a phone call from a parent who had heard we would be eliminating textbooks as part of this program. Not true.



While I am no fan of textbooks (I think they can get in the way of teachers teaching good lessons and students taking responsibility for their own learning) at least in the near term, textbooks will continue to play a role in a Faith education. We will have discussions over the next several years about reducing our reliance on textbooks, we are not there yet. We will promote a move to electronic versions of texts whenever we can.



Over the next few months parents will get more information about what moving to one-to-one will mean for students at Faith, but I do need to immediately talk about some of the thinking that went into the way we are starting the process. The most negative feedback we have received to date has been from the parents of this year's freshmen and I guess that's understandable.

In almost any major decision we make there are competing and often contradictory interests. Throughout the last decade Faith has made an effort to build an excellent school. That has been most evident in the construction and physical improvements that have been appeared: 1st a gym, then student center and now the CPAC. While we have reached the end of a building phase, our school cannot stop improving. Excellence is a journey, not a destination. In these difficult economic times we faced troubling choice: minimize or reduce tuition and further delay implementation of our long-standing goal or begin the process of one-to-one while remaining cognizant of the impact on our families. We chose the latter. But we were mindful of the financial impact this program would have, so our roll out will be slower than we would like. I could not justify to the Board a 6-7% increase in tuition to buy the 400 computers necessary to begin with both 9th and 10th graders.

We didn't start with seniors because they would only be here for one year and many take a reduced load. That would not yield the biggest impact for our precious dollars. Now you can certainly make an argument that your tuition dollars will be paying for computers that your student will never see. The reality is that your tuition dollars pay for the school program. That may include a number of programs that your student never experiences or enjoys. Your tuition dollars support basketball teams, school newspapers, AP Studio Art and the paintball club. You may not have a student in any of them. Moreover, your tuition dollars still support technology. In fact, since the freshmen will have their own computers, our ratio of computers to students is dropping, making it more likely your student will have direct access to one of our existing laptops. Perhaps most importantly, your tuition dollars are supporting additional training that all our teachers have received over the last couple of years to equip them to be more effective users of classroom technology. That will continue to improve the education of all our students.

There is more to be said on this, but the Crusaders are in action tonight!

A Beautiful Sight...Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

It doesn't happen often, but when it does our campus looks beautiful and everyone is in a great mood. Now if we can remeber to drive carefully tomorrow in an icy parking lot, this will be a great experience!

One postscript. Mr. Ball put together this little movie in a matter of minutes on his Mac. It will be great when all our students can do this.

Getting After It

Oddly enough, I am having trouble finding the time to blog this year.  Despite have two extraordinarily capable principals, my time seems as engaged as ever, just with some different things.  So what follows below is a brief compendium of things I have been thinking about, but haven't had the time to address.

I was proud of the way our student comported themselves at Tuesday's basketball game with Bishop Gorman.  The Gorman student cheering section has watched too many college basketball games and apparently believe they are "the show," when it is the players who ought to be in the spotlight.  While I could go into more detail, check out the article in today's Review-Journal. I am hopeful that no similar article will ever be written about Faith students, but it helps that our administrative team makes its presence so visible.  I love our Crusader Crazies and their enthusiasm, but we will continue to hold them to high standards of decorum which leaves a lot of room to still have fun.

Many people have asked how we are doing in this economy.  So far, things are going okay. Giving is down and that is reflected in a number of ways. A few campaign pledges have had to be cancelled; the annual fund is not as robust as in years past.  Some families have talked to us about changing circumstances that have created financial hardship.  Our goal is to work with those families to keep kids in school whenever possible and certainly until the end of the semester. If you have money for a year-end charitable gift our scholarship fund is a worthy recipient. And despite a bad economy, new student enrollment is running substantially ahead of the pace of last year, so that indicator is positive.

People do want to know about what will happen in the future in terms of tuition. I can tell you that it is going to go up, but we hope to keep the increase to a minimum.  Interest payments alone on the new Chapel/Performing Arts building will add about $78 to each student's cost.  With no raises to the faculty our salaries go up over $62,000 because of step increases built into the schedule.  This adds about $48 a student. Then we have to have some room for inflation, technology, any salary/wage increases.  We are hoping to hold the increase to no more than 4% or another $336.  Tuition will be announced in mid-January.  There is no planned increase in fees.

We are very optimistic that we will launch our 1-to-1 computer initiative in the high school next year. In light of the economy, we will be moving conservatively, but I expect that each 9th grader will get an Apple Macbook as part of their educational equipment.  Freshman classes in subsequent years will get one as they enter high school and in four years, all high school students will have this technology integrated in their classes.  Middle school students will still get access through our mobile cart program.  Those carts will eventually be filled with Macs as well. Look for an official announcement after the 1st of the year.

At tomorrow's staff Christmas gathering PTF will once again hand out gifts gathered from our families. This generosity, especially in the midst of the challenging economic times, is a wondrous gift to those who labor to help students meet their potential.  It is always much appreciated.

Counting the Cost

I want every Faith high school student to get handed a laptop next fall and to use it on a regular basis as a tool to engage themselves in the learning process; but what I want and what will happen may be two different things. Our desire to expand our technology is conflicting with an equally strong desire to minimize any increases in tuition increases for 2009-10.

Faith's success is rooted in our constant progress.  Since moving to Summerlin we have spent an average of $2 million a year in improving our campus.  Athletic fields and new buildings have accounted for most of the dollars spent on improvements and there is no doubt that those additions have improved the product and benefitted our students.  Technology, and specifically the use of laptops on a regular basis, tie students into the world in way unthinkable just a few years ago. Just as importantly, they give teachers access to wealth of teaching resources, including lessons recognized as best practices.

We want to operate more efficiently.  We understand our environment is more competitive now that Bishop Gorman and the Adelson School have moved into the community.  It would be unwise of uis not to consider the changing economic conditions of our community. Our distinctiveness will never be rooted in our buildings, our computers, or our athletic success, no matter how successful those elements are.  Ministry is what matters here: taking each student and recognizing him or her as a unique child of God with boundless potential and a strong need to feel valued for who they are.

If we continue to do that, we will weather the storms ahead.