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Volume I, Issue 7
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March 2016
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Greetings!
In order to effectively prepare our students for future success, it is important to provide them with 21st century tools and learning experiences. This issue of our
e-newsletter focuses on the growing influence of technology in the Cypress School District and our efforts to integrate these resources to better meet the needs of students, staff, and parents. From supporting classroom instruction and academic achievement to promoting parent involvement and community outreach, technology is quickly changing the landscape of education. We appreciate the opportunity to share our efforts in this area with our local community.
Sincerely,
Anne Silavs
Superintendent
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Telepresence Robot Makes School Accessible for
Medically Homebound Student
Unfortunately, there are some children who are unable to attend school due to serious medical conditions. Typically, these students receive services through the Home Teaching Program, in which a credentialed teacher provides one hour of home instruction a day. While this program is designed to provide academic support, it is limited in the degree to which it can promote social/emotional development. Homebound students typically feel isolated and miss out on important friendships and peer interaction that other students enjoy. Social isolation can even impact academic and health outcomes. However, telepresence technology can create a bridge between the classroom and the homebound student. Through the generous support of private donors Kevin and Lynn Reimer, the Cypress School District was able to obtain a Double telepresence robot to support a medically fragile student enrolled in our District. To learn more about the different ways in which telepresence technology is being used in an educational setting, please click
here.
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Building a
Solid Foundation for Tech
nology Use in the Classroom
In order to effectively use Chromebooks, iPads, and Smart Boards in the classroom to support 21st century teaching and learning, there must be a robust infrastructure for reliable internet connectivity. At one time or another, we have all suffered through the frustration of waiting (... and waiting... and waiting....) for a website to properly load. Such conditions are simply unacceptable in the classroom, and that is why the Cypress School District is investing nearly 1.5 million dollars to improve our network infrastructure. Our goal is for each school to have the bandwidth capacity necessary to meet student access needs for at least the next five years. To that end, we have been upgrading the wireless access points and installing additional units throughout District classrooms. These resources will not only enhance our instructional program, but will also ensure the efficient administration of the Smarter Balanced assessments, which are scheduled to begin in April. Over the coming summer months, the District will also upgrade its wide area network, the backbone of our infrastructure. This improvement will immediately increase our current bandwidth of 100 megabits per second to 500 megabits per second, with the capacity to accommodate up to 10 gigabits per second as teachers stream more and more educational content and make greater use of Google applications such as Google Classroom and Google Drive.
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Reading, Writing, and Robotics?
Expanding our instructional program and
preparing students for the jobs of the future
Teachers in the Cypress School District are branching out and extending the curriculum through the integration of coding and robotics. Whether through after-school enrichment opportunities or lessons taught during the school day, more and more students are learning about computer science and how it can be used to create and innovate. To learn more about coding and to try your hand at it yourself, please visit
Code.org.
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. . . and Speaking of Technology
Let us not forget the Smarter Balanced Assessments
As a reminder, state achievement tests for English language arts and mathematics are now being administered online. Testing in the Cypress School District is set to begin April 18. For additional information on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress System, please click
here. (For Korean, please click
here.)
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What's for lunch today?
There's an app for that!
Did you know that the Cypress School District provides parents and students with an interactive school lunch menu? Parents can visit the District website to review nutritional information for the various lunch items being served at school each day. By clicking on a particular entrée, parents can check things like calorie, fat, carbohydrate, and sugar contents as well as protein, fiber, and sodium. There is also an app that parents can download for use on portable devices.
To access the interactive school menus, click here.
To download the app, visit the App Store or Google Play
and search for "Web Menus."
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Coming Attractions
A new Cypress School District website
In life, making a good first impression is important, and this is true in education, too. We recognize that for many individuals new to our school community, their first impression of the Cypress School District is often formed from visiting the District website. While the District's current website is fully functional, we have the opportunity this spring to redesign it, making the site more engaging and user-friendly. We look forward to unveiling our new site in July!
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Useful Links
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CYPRESS SCHOOL DISTRICT
WEBSITE
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ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD
FOR STUDENT ACTIVITY FLYERS
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