News
It is no secret that the involvement of parents in a child’s schooling is imperative to his/her success. To help you maintain an active role in your child’s education, we have created this “News” page, keeping you informed of the latest happenings at Park Elementary.
The News-Sun
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Fairmount, IN- The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) recently announced Madison-Grant United School Corporation was the recipient of a $50,000 Digital Learning Community Advisory Grant. For 2020, grants were awarded to districts focused on building digital initiatives around the purposeful and strategic integration of technology into instruction.
"Immersing children in a curriculum centered around technology and community establishes an academic environment whereby current and future success is certain to follow," said state superintendent Dr. Jennifer McCormick. "I congratulate our awarded districts for their commitment to creating lasting partnerships within local communities, and for their continual efforts to making a positive impact in the lives of students."
With a continued spotlight on enhanced technology integration, IDOE expanded the digital learning grant to include a focus on building community partnerships. Eligible partnership opportunities also provided matching grants by way of monetary funding or in-kind services.
Along with the expanded focus, 2020 Digital Learning Community Advisory Grants centers around connecting academic concepts to real-life applications, both in the classroom and abroad. By doing so, schools can maximize relevancy and engagement, thus transforming K-12 education for students. This year's grants requested schools further develop technology integration capacity through implementing transformational initiatives in one of three areas - Instruction and Learning, Leadership and Development, or College and Career Ready.
In total, 52 districts were awarded nearly $2.5 million in funding, with grants ranging from $19,000 to $56,000.
Madison-Grant announces its partnership with Waterford.org as an addition to their early childhood curriculum as yet another piece of curriculum to round out a cutting-edge education through their early childhood programming. Waterford.org “seeks to blend the best aspects of learning science, mentoring relationships, and innovative technologies to form community, school, and home programs that deliver excellence and equity for all learners.” The program is currently being offered through Madison-Grant’s early childhood education programs and is being utilized in the classroom. Dr. Scott Deetz explains how Madison-Grant uses the tools provided by Waterford.org, “it's a vehicle for pre-k students to deliver curriculum that lends to academic development for our students. It’s part of our foundational curriculum that is in concert with live teaching. In our pre-k classroom, for example, a teacher is working at a center, then we'll have some students working independently through the software and monitor the progress on teacher assigned lessons based on level and interest that can adopt to students.”
Madison-Grant extended their offerings in their community this year with the addition of the Argyll Adventure Academy, a STEM focused pre-k. Dr. Scott Deetz says, “The intent of our early childhood programming, regardless of the program, is to develop a sound social and emotional foundations that will last through their career.” The addition of a STEM specific preschool is only one aspect says Deetz, “The steps we have taken is to have STEM related activities in each one of our pre-k programs. We went above and beyond to find outside funding through the Department of Education and grants to help develop our teachers professionally and also provide them with top notch resources like additional robots, computers, circuit boards, and software to deliver hands on experiences to our pre-k classes so our transition into our k–12 program is virtually seamless because this is the same focus we have in the rest of our system.” Waterford.org is an exciting part of this STEM focus in supporting teachers and students to be kindergarten ready as Waterford.org believes, “while every individual has the capacity for growth at every stage of life, childhood academic experiences are uniquely critical for setting a lifetime learning trajectory.”