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Poquoson City SchoolsPoquoson, VA
Background Context
Poquoson City Schools is in Eastern Virginia between Hampton and York County. It is a system of four schools with a population of under 2,500 students. The City of Poquoson, with a population of approximately 12,000 is located adjacent to Langley Air Force Base and NASA and with easy access to all major Tidewater cities. It has become one of the most desirable residential localities in the Tidewater area. Many of the newer residents of the city specifically selected Poquoson as their home because of the reputation for excellence enjoyed by its school system. Poquoson combines the benefits of small town friendliness and pride with the cultural, professional and educational advantages of a major metropolitan area. Poquoson, an Indian word for either flat land or 'great marsh,' is believed to be one of the oldest English-speaking communities in America that still bears its original name. The city, with 60 miles of shorelines, encompasses 14.7 square miles of land of which 4,398 acres are salt marsh wetlands. Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge, together with privately owned salt marsh lands, make up the largest saline marsh in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Student Racial/Ethnic Composition: .003% American Indian or Alaska Native LEP Students: .001%
Poquoson City Schools subscribes to the philosophy that computers and other related technologies should be used as educational tools to enhance the achievement of students. In addition, the Virginia Department of Education has mandated that teachers and students acquire technology skills to make them more competent in our technological society. Poquoson enacted a three-phase program intended to help school personnel acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to satisfy the eight state technology standards for teachers. During the 1998-99 school year, Poquoson began a Teacher Technology Competency Program, which required all professional staff members to attain and demonstrate a certain level of technology skill in the standards specified by the Board of Education's "Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel." Opportunities were provided for all teachers, library media specialists, teaching assistants, and administrators in the school division to receive training in the use and application of these technologies, in order that they may prepare our students to meet the technological demands of the future. Based on a Spring 1999 Needs Assessment Survey of all staff. we found that some of the staff was comfortable with using technology for administrative and instructional purposes and could meet the Board of Education's "Standards." These individuals were ready to expand their expertise to serve as mentors, curriculum developers, and technology integrators. Others still needed to develop some of those basic skills, as well as learn how to incorporate technologies into their lessons and classroom activities. All professional personnel are expected to meet the criteria established by Poquoson's Teacher Technology Competency Program. Poquoson Schools' faculty and staff were provided learning opportunities based on those areas found by the Needs Assessment Survey to be especially deficient and on four focus areas of the Standard of Learning that had less than 70% pass rates. Instruction was provided through the Poquoson Technology Academy, developed in 1997 to sponsor and coordinate workshops, mini-courses, college classes, and conferences to assure that our staff developed a proficient level of technology skills and used those skills to improve instruction and student learning. |
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