CHARLOTTE — St. Patrick School is one of only 10 schools in the country to be awarded the Roberts Award for School Innovation, a $25,000 grant designed to assist schools in developing an innovative solution to a challenge within their school.
The award came from New Leaders, a nationally-recognized school leadership program. Board member Linnea Roberts established the award for outstanding New Leader principals.
St. Patrick Principal Amy Tobergte applied for the award with an enrichment project idea entitled Tech Hub.
“This project seeks to change the landscape of our school by personalizing learning for our students through mobile technology, learning applications, and assistive devices,” Tobergte explained.
“Our Tech Hub project will impact our whole school, with a main concentration on our students with diverse learning needs including Matthew Morgan, Learning Support, LEAP and English Learners,” she said.
The idea behind Tech Hub is three-fold: redesign the computer lab to become a flexible learning environment; provide mobile technology of various types throughout the building as a-la-carte options for learners; and empower teachers and students with current, relevant applications to enhance learning experiences and outcomes.
The Tech Hub project will include redesigning the furniture and devices in the computer lab; purchasing new devices and assistive technology for “hubs” throughout the building; offering professional development for school staff on research-based best practices for technology integration; and providing time for teachers to plan meaningful lessons for students based on their learning targets.
“Tech Hub is a wonderful chance to look critically at the needs of our children, to add to our learning environment (and) to push them to meet their goals,” Tobergte said.
A committee of teachers who have the basic ideas of what they want to accomplish is ready to start planning this school year.
“We want to be thoughtful that these funds complement our resources that we have in our budget,” Tobergte noted. “We hope to begin this project this year, but see the full project taking life in the 2019-’20 school year.
“We are all honored to have been selected for this incredible award, and we look forward to the impact these funds will have on our whole school community,” Tobergte said.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter