iPad Program

Over the last five years, St. Xavier High School has been researching the possibility of adopting a 1:1 program, whereby each student would have an electronic device for educational purposes. In the first phase of this process, we explored a Bring Your Own Device program, allowing students to utilize different devices to fit their individual learning needs. With the lessons learned from three years of the BYOD program, continual research into the best devices available and consultation with peer high schools, St. Xavier is ready to move into the next phase of our 1:1 initiative. Beginning in August, 2014, all members of the Class of 2018 will use iPads as an educational tool. Over the next three years, we will phase in each new freshman class to the iPad program.

We looked at many different device options before choosing the iPad. After extensive research, we based our decision to go with the iPad on the outstanding capacities and resources provided by the iPad as a learning device, the Apple marketplace, and the benefit of the iPad as a teaching and learning instrument. We understand that the tablet market is ever growing and changing, and will continue to monitor tablet technology as this portion of the market matures and evolves.

St. Xavier is a learning-centered community. iPads are simply tools which enable students and faculty together to explore how to use technology to advance learning. Teachers, with support from the Director of Technology Integration, will experiment with ways to leverage learning through iPads that students bring into the classroom. Through this exploration, students will discover ways that technology enhances their learning and helps with organization, access to class materials, note-taking and time management.

St. Xavier is also a relationship-centered community, where student interaction with teachers and peers is central. We will educate students to use iPads and other devices in ways that promote relationships with their teachers and classmates, allow them to understand their responsibility as digital citizens, and hold them accountable when they use them in ways that disrupt relationships or interfere with learning. The key to St. Xavier’s philosophy of education is that students learn responsibility by being given freedom to demonstrate that they can act responsibly, with corresponding curbs on freedom for individuals who show they are not ready for it.

In addition to research on the best device for St. Xavier High School, we have been making other improvements over the last few years, including a campus-wide infrastructure upgrade and the hiring of Director of Technology Integration to guide us through this process. We have used the last few years to understand better how to integrate new technologies and the resources of the digital world into our curriculum. I am confident that our 1:1 program will further enhance the academic excellence we have all come to expect at St. Xavier High School.

I would like to thank, in particular, Mr. Jim Schurrer, our Director of Technology Integration and Ms. Jennifer Wiegele, our Director of Faculty Services, who have been so effective in leading us into this new initiative. In addition, many thanks to our Instructional Coaches, Fr. Tim Howe, SJ and the administrative team, our trustees who have made resources available, and our benefactors whose generosity has allowed us to establish the infrastructure that will support our 1:1 initiative.

Please see our FAQ document for further information and to answer any questions you may have. We look forward to continuing the legacy of academic excellence at St. Xavier High School. Our iPad program is another way to continue this tradition.

Thank you,

Terry Tyrrell

Principal