Four Burton schools are Apple Distinguished Schools
Only school district in world with that many
Burton School District is the only school district in the world to have four schools recognized as Apple Distinguished Schools for their efforts to improve and transform the classroom learning experience through the use of technology.
Summit Charter Academy Lombardi, Summit Charter Academy Mathew, Jim Maples Academy, and Summit Charter Collegiate Academy were officially recognized last month at a Burton School District board meeting.
“Today’s students need crossdisciplinary skills with technological literacy to meet the demands of our ever-changing world,” said Sharon Kamberg, BSD superintendent. “ipads have become a powerful tool in all aspects of our classroom instruction, affording students choice to access the four ‘C’s’ (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity) anytime throughout their lessons while preparing them for their future academic and professional experiences. Our teachers use technology to transform the classroom experience from a classic teachercentered one into a studentcentered experience.”
Recognition as an Apple Distinguished School places a site in truly elite company — of the thousands of schools worldwide that use Apple technology in the classroom, only 400 schools in 29 countries are Apple Distinguished Schools — a distinction reserved for the forefront of technological innovation in the classroom.
Of those 400 schools worldwide, four of them are in the Burton School District, making it the only school district in the world with that many.
Apple describes Distinguished Schools as centers of innovation, leadership, and educational excellence that use their products to inspire creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking, with documented results of academic accomplishment.
Parents of children in Porterville area schools are likely aware that technology plays a large role in the modern classroom. Students at many schools are entrusted with their own tablet, which they use to complete assignments in class, and often they can take them home to do schoolwork.
But Apple Distinguished Schools take the merging of technology and instruction to the next level, redefining how learning happens in the classroom, and even redefining what a classroom can be.
Jim Maples Academy has a Thinker Space equipped with six Apple TVS and mobile furniture that allows for several configurations of student groups. There is whiteboard space around the room and many teachers use this for 360 degree math and inquiry teaching.
At SCCA, teachers use technology to enhance literature lessons. After a close reading of an important passage from a book and discussion, students plan and create an illustration in response while recording the process. This type of activity fosters an atmosphere of academic rigor as students analyze text, discuss meaning, and make connections. They then use their creativity to put together a final piece that is interesting and meaningful.
At SCA Lombardi, students learn about computer coding to familiarize themselves with and strengthen their skills in this critical area. Students write code on their ipads that instructs a remote-controlled
rolling robot called a Sphero to navigate around a track outlined in tape on the classroom floor.
SCA Mathew has a Maker Space where students use their imagination to be creative and become problem solvers. Each week new challenges are posted for students to solve utilizing the many creative apps and tools that are available to them, as well as dedicated exploration time students use to discover what interests them.
“The mission and vision of our district’s technology program is to give students a greater choice and a greater voice in what they create, and to provide them with the access required to do that,” said Alex Tietjen, academic technology coordinator for Burton School District.
In addition to creating site-specific uses of the technology for each grade and subject, each school has worked over the course of several years on the topto-bottom
implementation of Apple technology required to become a Distinguished School. One such requirement is having 75 percent of teachers recognized as Apple Teachers, which involves a series of online courses and exams.
Tietjen said that the district adopted Apple technology district-wide three or four years ago after starting out with PCS and later switching to Chromebooks.
“Giving students more options for being creative in the classroom is a major function of the ipad, specifically the microphone and camera that aren’t available on other devices,” said Tietjen. “Also the devices are very durable, and possess a resale value at the end of their lifespan.”
BSD’S technology team has worked closely with Apple to implement best practices and strategies for the use of technology in the classroom — changes the district were interested in making regardless of recognition
as Distinguished Schools.
For Tietjen, one of the biggest benefits of the recognition is to collaborate with other Apple Distinguished Schools and serve as a mentor to aspiring schools. Next week, administrators from Cutler-orosi Joint Unified School District will be visiting BSD sites to see the technology in action, and Apple Distinguished Schools can participate in an annual world conference in May of next year.
“The farther you get, the more your teachers can do, the harder it becomes to find other schools that have the experiences you have to discuss and grow,” said Tietjen of the conference. “We would get to present on what we are doing, but also hear and make connections with other schools in our country and around the world who are also Apple Distinguished Schools. We’re happy with the progress we’ve made, but we don’t want to rest here.”