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  • Summer Update - May 2023

    5/15/2023

    Summer 2023 Educational Technology Improvement Update

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    The installation work is underway for the Bond 2020 Educational Technology Improvement Project’s second group of schools, which include Meek High School, Cleveland High School, Ida B. Wells High School, and Roseway Heights Middle School. Jefferson’s Wi-Fi network improvement project has now been completed. Meek and Roseway Heights classroom technology improvements will include a wall phone for the teachers, a laser projector mounted to the wall, and teacher audio amplification so everyone can hear the teacher in the room. A new gym call box will be installed in each school’s gym. Wi-Fi will be installed in each classroom and fiber network improvements will increase Wi-Fi speeds for faster online connectivity throughout the school. Cleveland and Ida B. Wells will receive updated in-classroom Wi-Fi networks for faster connectivity school-wide and new wall-mounted phones.

    This school group has prioritized large high schools since students have more independent assignments that require Wi-Fi connectivity. Three of the schools are either Title 1A, CSI or TSI ranked schools with an average of 56% of students coming from historically underserved communities. Collectively all five schools have a total of 4,571 students. In this school group, the average age of the school building is 92 years old which adds to the complexity of the project installation. 

    The Bond 2020 Teaching Station Computer Installation project has completed Bond 2020 school groups one through six already. This project included a new desktop teaching station computer and monitor in each classroom. The project team is currently working on Bond 2020’s school group seven, which includes Gray and Sellwood. Alameda, Ainsworth, and Clark Elementary have already been completed. After school group seven is completed, the team will start installation on the Bond 2020 school group eight. 

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  • Details of the work

    • A new fiber-optic backbone will be added to each school that will increase connectivity, speed and durability.
    • Wi-Fi networks will be placed in each classroom so teachers and students will no longer feel the effects of slow internet speeds. Currently, Wi-Fi is shared between classrooms and speeds can slow when more devices are added.
    • Wi-Fi networks will also be added to non-classroom spaces. This will allow teachers to be more mobile and creative in choosing their class spaces allowing for more optimized school space utilization.
    • Each classroom will be upgraded to include a wall phone, a computer and monitor station, a wall-mounted laser projector and a drop-down projector screen for improved visibility.
    • An audio amplification and enhancement system will be added to classrooms so that a teacher’s voice can be heard at an equal level at any place in the room. This technology has been demonstrated to improve academic achievement and speech perception and increased on-task behavior.

    Schedule for the work

    Pilot Program Begins in Winter 2021

    In order to effectively administer the work across the entire district, the Classroom Technology Improvement Project is starting the work through a pilot program at four schools. Boise-Eliot/Humboldt E.S., César Chávez K-8, George MS, and Lane MS. The pilot program work is set to begin in November 2021. The pilot program allows the project teams to apply lessons learned in those schools when the program is rolled out across the entire District. This will help ensure that future work will be accomplished in the most effective and efficient manner.

    The subsequent roll out schedule criteria will center around diversity, equity and inclusion.  More details will be made available as the pilot program develops  To track the progress of the pilot program please consult the project timeline.

    How long will the Educational Technology Improvement Projects take for each school?

    Each school will have different levels of work that will need to be done based on the size of the school, age of the building, and other factors. It is estimated that on average the work at each individual school will take from one to four months to complete. Find the progress of your school in the 2020 Bond Educational Technology Project Timeline document.

    Impact of the work on schools

    The construction work will be conducted outside of regular school hours so that it will have a minimum impact on student and teacher’s classroom experience.

     

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  • For questions or comments about the Educational Technology Improvements, please use the "Let's Talk" button below.

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    If you have general bond questions please email schoolmodernization@pps.net

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