New technology, infrastructure changes to greet Spencer students, educators

A handful of technologies will be among the new big-picture items different in Spencer public classrooms when students commence the 2008-09 year on Aug. 19 and 20.

Eric Johnson, the school district's technology director, has been working to install a JMC student management system this summer. Set to replace Spencer's SASI and Meal Tracker systems, the new JMC student information system includes an attendance report, a report card, standards reporting, progress reports and lesson plans, parent contact and lunch tracking information for each student. Accessible online, the Lake City, Minn.-based system will allow parents access to their students' personal information.

It will combine with a PaySchools online payment processing system approved by board members last week. Students and parents alike will be able to pay for their lunch account balances with a credit card, a debit card or an e-check online via this system.

District maintenance workers are preparing Spencer High School and elementary classrooms for the installation of new Smart Boards next week. Installation of the touch-sensitive displays, which "combine the simplicity of a whiteboard with the power of a computer and digital projector to show computer images," has been ongoing within the district's buildings. Receipt of an Intel grant allowed for the installation of six Smart Boards in the fourth, fifth and sixth grade rooms of Lincoln Elementary before a $100,000 gift from the Spencer Community School Foundation allowed 19 to be installed at the high school last winter.

"Basically every (SHS) instructor will have a Smart Board now," Ebeling said.

"The three elementaries' fifth and sixth grade classrooms will also have them."

The multiple-year phase-in of Smart Boards in Spencer classrooms will continue, with middle school and lower elementary classrooms next on the list.

"Our plan is to have them in most classes by the time we're done," Ebeling said.

A new voice-over IP telephone system was also installed in the high school this summer. Its installation follows the last two summers, when the district's middle school and three elementary buildings were tied into the telephone network.

"Now, you'll be able to dial between the buildings with just an extension because all of those (telephones) are hooked together. The only one not hooked in yet is the central office. We will be doing that, but not this year. It will probably be next summer before we hook in central office. So eventually, I will be able to dial from here, or any teacher will be able to dial from their phone, with just an extension number," Ebeling said.

Bleachers on the visitor side of Dale Norton Field at SHS are expected to roll into Spencer today, with workers anticipated to start erecting them on Friday.

An infrastructure improvement is visible on the south wing of Johnson Elementary, which hosts the building's preschool, library and music areas. Due to water damage, the roof was redone last spring. In addition to several rooms being recarpeted, outdated paneling has also given way to sheet rock on several classrooms' walls.

"Through the ESG (Energy Services Group facility improvement) project, we did some upgrading there. We're also putting air conditioning into the library there," Ebeling said, further noting that air conditioning units are expected to be situated in each of the district's three elementary buildings' libraries, which host student computer labs.

"Those units are supposed to be in this fall. But they probably won't be ready when school starts because they couldn't get the units as quick as they wanted," he added.

With a "one-stop registration" scheduled to occur Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 at Spencer Middle School, new teachers are slated to officially start the 2008-09 school year on Aug. 11. Students will enter their respective classrooms on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20, with professional development sessions slated to be held every day the first week of school, allowing students to dismiss at 12:30 p.m.

Regarding this school year's earlier start, Ebeling noted, "First semester will finish at Christmas time this year. That's kind of the reason we started a couple days earlier, to try to get semester completed by then. So, semester tests and all those things will be done at Christmas time; when students come back at the first of the year, it will be the start of second semester."