District's 1:1 Device Initiative Expands to Grades 3-5

Lakota’s WE are Empowered program continues to grow for the 2021-2022 school year with one-to-one (1:1) access to learning devices expanding to all students in grades three through five.

“The goal of this initiative is to empower our students through personalized learning approaches purposefully supported by technology,” said Lakota’s Chief Technology Officer, Todd Wesley. Now, all elementary-aged students will have access to a district-owned Chromebook during the school day. Similar to sixth-graders, who began participating in the program in 2019, students will leave their devices at school at the end of the day.

Beth Morgan, a third grade teacher at Cherokee Elementary School, is looking forward to her students having access to a wide variety of online books that they do not have in the classroom and “daily access to programs that increase student achievement like Canvas, RAZ kids, Read Theory, Dreambox and Xtramath.” Katie Kincaid, a fourth grade teacher at the school, noted that there are many programs the teachers will be able to use in order to differentiate their instruction, making learning even more personalized.

‘WE are personalized and WE are future ready are two pillars of our strategic plan,'' continued Wesley. “WE are Empowered directly supports Lakota’s personalized learning initiatives by vastly expanding student-centered teaching and learning opportunities. This will further support the development of students’ individual interests, key skills and responsibilities as they advance through Lakota and prepare for the technology driven world of tomorrow.”

“Having 1:1 devices opens up equitable learning opportunities for ALL students,” said Cherokee Principal Valerie Montgomery.  “1:1 enhances the student learning experience by giving them access to digital resources that can be personalized for each student and their individual learning needs.  This is truly a game changer for our students who don’t have access to devices at home, as they now will be able to become digitally literate at school.”  

Concern for student safety is always the district’s first priority. “Always-on” internet filtering will be in place for each device and only allow access to approved website categories and apps that support our instructional practices.

As part of our take home 1:1 program at the secondary grades, devices are already scheduled to cycle down to lower grades at the end of the school year. Lakota will use Federal ESSER dollars as well as its permanent improvement funds, which are already allocated for technology replacement, for additional funding.