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Portland Technology Plan
Strategic Long Range Technology Plan

Portland Public Schools
1100 Ionia Road
Portland, MI 48875
Ph. 517-647-4161
Fax 517-647-2975
34110


Start Date of Plan:
July 1, 2009
End Data of Plan:
June 30, 2012
Plan Contact Person:
David Palme
Director of Technology
Portland Public Schools
1100 Ionia Road
Portland, MI 48875
dpalme@portlandk12.org
Ph. 517-647-4161
Fax 517-647-2975

Intermediate
School District:
Ionia Intermediate School District

Current Technology Plan URL:

http://www.portlandk12.org/Old%20Web/District_Technology/Techplan/Techplan%202006-2009%20finalF1.htm

Mission Statement
The use and understanding of technology* is essential to the success of Portland Public Schools’ students and staff as citizens of the community, nation, and world. The Board of Education is committed to provide all learners the skills to manage information, integrate technology in learning and work, use technology to enhance creativity and demonstrate personal and social responsibility in the use of technology.
Adopted December 14, 1999

Additionally,

The purpose of technology at Portland Public Schools is to increase the value of the educational experience.”

*Technology is defined as the systematic use of tools to access, process, and create information in the teaching and learning process.

District Profile:

As of count day, Spring 2009, enrollment at Portland Public Schools is 2,047 students. 52.3% of the student body is male and 47.7% is female. 96.2% of the student body is Caucasian with the remaining 3.7% divided between Asians, African-Americans, Filipinos, Hispanics and Native Americans. The district education buildings are listed below. We also have the usual support buildings including administration and transportation/maintenance.

The Portland Public School District is located in the City of Portland. Portland is on I96, geographically “centered” between the larger cities of Grand Rapids and Lansing – being approximately 30 miles from each. Ionia, the county seat, is 20 miles away.Portland Public Schools is further located in eastern Ionia County.

Due to its advantageous location, Portland Public Schools is experiencing a 6-7% annual growth rate.

Portland
Public School District, residing in Ionia County belongs to the Ionia County Intermediate School District. With its current population, Portland Public School is a small-sized (class B) district in the intermediate system. We are able to share services, athletic experience, vocational education, advanced technical education, specialized education, and transportation within the ICISD region.

In September 2002, the voters of the Portland Public School District overwhelmingly passed a $28 million bond issue. The passage of the bond allowed the district to create needed space in all school buildings, created a district wide WAN and building LANs, increase power, and upgrade outdoor athletic facilities. $1.5 million of this bond was used to purchase technologies for new construction and technology updates and enhancements for existing spaces. Examples include: computers, printers, telephones, and TVs in instructional spaces and new phone systems, video systems, and data networks District-wide.

We have a Superintendent, a principal for each elementary, a principal in each the middle school and high school. An assistant principal and an athletic director serve both the middle and high school.There is a district technology director and 1/2 time pc technician support all voice, video, and data systems for the District as well as curriculum integration efforts. A high school student assists with the District video and web systems and each building has a designated building technology specialist supporting basic hardware/software and integration/training needs.

Our teaching personnel, in both elementary and secondary, are assigned classroom populations and programs according to contractual ratios. Numerous support personnel assist the teachers in each building.


School Buildings:
Portland High School:
1100 Ionia Road, Portland, MI 48875 (517-647-2981)
Grades: 9 - 12
Teachers: 32
Students: 634
http://portlandk12.org/portlandhighschool/

Portland Middle School:
745 Storz Avenue, Portland, MI 48875 (517-647-2985)
Grades: 6 - 8
Teachers: 30
Students: 461
http://portlandk12.org/portlandmiddleschool/

Westwood Elementary School:
883 Cross Street, Portland, MI 48875 (517-647-2989)
Grades: 3 - 5
Teachers: 24
Students: 450
http://portlandk12.org/westwoodelementary/

OakwoodElementary School:
500 Oak Street, Portland, MI 48875(517-647-2991)
Grades: Pre-K - 2
Teachers: 26
Students: 558
http://portlandk12.org/oakwoodelementary/

Adult/Alternative Education:
745 Storz Avenue, Portland, MI 48875 (517-647-2998)
Grades: N/A
Teachers: 7
Students: 70
http://portlandk12.org/alternative%20education/adult_education.htm


Vision:
The Vision of Portland Public Schools, in partnership with the community, is to educate citizens who demonstrate the academic, teamwork and personal management skills needed to function effectively in a global society.
To accomplish this goal, we will:

  • Provide learners of all ages access to local and global information through ongoing availability of current technologies.
  • Support employee development to ensure technological competency.
  • Enhance the current curriculum as well as the teacher’s role as lead learner and as facilitator. This will result in learners who are:
    • Self-directed
    • Creative problem solvers
    • Effective in their use of time and resources
    • Understanding of our global interdependence

Adopted December 14, 1999



Guiding Principles:
Key components include:

District Technology Belief Statements:
Portland Public Schools believes that access to information resources is essential in preparing students to succeed in a global society. We believe that investment in technology is an important step towards the accessing information, achieving learning outcomes, and providing equity to the students in our district.

We believe that the systematic use of technology can:
  • Provide students with an alternative means to access curriculum content.
  • Help students work toward the mastery and application of essential concepts, skills and competencies.
  • Give students the opportunity to develop word processing skills.
  • Expand the capabilities of teachers and students to enhance the learning environment.
  • Give students the opportunity to develop computer literacy skills.
  • Enable students to learn at their own rate of speed.
  • Motivate students to learn.
  • Help students develop a positive attitude toward learning.
  • Cultivate positive work habits and on task behaviors.
  • Develop and emphasize the use of higher-order thinking skills.
  • Develop and emphasize the use of problem solving skills.
  • Provide state-of-the-art technology experience for students of all ages.
  • Help students develop the necessary skills for the 21st century.
  • Give the community access to technology.
  • Make learning more interactive and transactive through greater student involvement in that learning.
  • Individualize and customize learning so curriculum meets the needs of all students regardless of developmental stage and/or cultural background.
  • Assist in the retrieval and storage of data for informed curricular decision-making.
  • Strengthen support between the school district and the community.
  • Effectively enhance communication via diverse mediums (phone, e-mail, streaming media, etc.) with the community at large regarding curriculum reform, assessment issues, and common goals.

Goals:
Based on our vision for technology, supported by guiding principles and our district School Improvement Team, and aligned with our mission statement, Portland Public Schools has determined the following district goals:
  • Major goals of the technology plan (current and ongoing):
    • Create an integrated district-wide comprehensive documented curriculum.
    • Improve Student Performance.
    • Improve Information Sharing.
    • Improve Technology Use/Application/Integration.
    • Explore creative funding arrangements in the financing of this plan. Increased emphasis being placed on grants, business/community partnerships, and innovative leasing arrangements.
    • Sharing access to all community library resources, including Portland District Library.
    • Exploring innovative resource acquisition arrangements in the staffing of this support plan. Increased emphasis being placed on grant positions, community partnerships, and student cooperative arrangements.
    • Coordination with the City of Portland to ensure adequate planning for inclusion into the City’s plans to install buried fiber optic cable.
    • Coordination with the City of Portland to evaluate collaborative efforts in the area of technology sharing including voice, video, and data.
    • Improved access to Portland School District student data including the development of data mining tools to provide for better State and Federal reporting as well as more effective curriculum planning, evaluation, and implementation.
    • Continued infrastructure improvement efforts to allow for maximum use of technology.
  • Goals for District Teachers and Students:
    • Improve Information Sharing between Students, Staff, and Community.
    • Improve Technology Skills of Students and Staff.
    • Improve Performance of Students and Staff.
    • Fully integrated curriculum with technology components were appropriate.
These goals are simple and broad, but will be covered to a greater degree throughout this document. Each goal is covered in detail with attainable steps towards successful completion at the end of this planning period.


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