Technology
Here at RCLS, we are proud and thankful to be able to offer our students one of the more sophisticated technology programs in all of Rochester’s schools. New technologies come in many forms at RCLS—Chromebooks, SmartBoards, laptops, tablets, phones, virtual reality headsets, 3D printers, drones, and many forms of robots––and are used by teachers and students, alike:
- Each grade has access to a cart of Chromebooks so that students may utilize technology throughout the day.
- Every classroom features an interactive whiteboard.
- In Middle School, students participate in our one-to-one technology program. They are carefully guided and supported in their use of technology so that they experience the benefits of technology.
Clearly, technology is prevalent in all areas of today’s world. To interact functionally in that world, students must have knowledge about how to do so. This reality demands a Christian approach to understanding, respecting, utilizing, and mastering technology.
This intentionality shapes students’ technology use and instruction at RCLS, where students use technology in content-area classes to access information, assess learning, and create projects; in tech class, where students gain new skills in all technology areas and methods; and in after-school programs, where students may deepen knowledge gained during the school day.
Progressively, students learn to make the most of the tools available to them. As younger students explore applications, they begin to journey down the path of creation of content. In the upper grades, many avenues of content creation are available to students, and they begin to synthesize creation by using multiple creation methods to finalize a coherent project.
Technology at RCLS does not replace traditional learning methods that include phonics and math instruction, handwriting, literature, critical thinking, composition, and more. Instead, technology is a tool that supplements and enhances such learning. In fact, technology is often the tool by which students' knowledge is synthesized and expressed, just as knowledge is expressed in the professional world. RCLS’s technology is constantly monitored, maintained, and updated by our Technology Committee and on-site staff so that instruction and application stay in-step with cutting-edge methods and on-target with RCLS's whole-child educational model.