Grant Brings iPads to Cedar Hill Students

The Montville Educational Foundation [MEF] and The Cedar Hill Home and School Association jointly funded twenty-five iPads for use in the school’s fifth grade classrooms.

According to a statement released by MEF president, Michael Weinstein, the combined $12,000 grant is “one of the largest community-funded education grants” he has seen in his three years as MEF president.

“Having iPads in the classroom for an entire class in a public school district is quite uncommon,” added Weinstein, “especially during a time where funding has been cut significantly.”

The Cedar Hill iPad project was the brain child of speech and language specialist, Flo Colaiacovo.

“We lost so much funding last year,” explained Colaiacovo. “I was looking for ways to make up for that tremendous loss.”

Following the defeat last April of the 2010-2011budget, Cedar Hill School had to cut many services including the Spanish teacher, the gifted and talented program, and extracurricular clubs.

Colaiacovo works with classes that consist of both inclusion, as well as gifted and talented, students. She wanted something that would allow her to design educational instruction at all levels.  She saw an opportunity to fill the gaps with technology.

To launch her idea she turned to fifth grade teacher, and “in-house techy,” Lisa Accardi, and inclusion/special education teacher, Joyce Bickham.

Beginning last September, the three of them worked together to write and submit the proposal, and to put in place the necessary technology to make the idea reality.

Cedar Hill principal, Dr. Michael Raj explained that all teachers in the district were encouraged by the MEF to come up with a truly innovative idea. Despite many road blocks, including the school’s own in-house technology, these three never gave up. They kept pushing and problem solving until the project became a reality.

This week Cedar Hill School purchased a full classroom set of twenty-five iPads.

As soon as the technology arrived on site, Accardi began loading free applications to the units and designing in-class opportunities for students to take advantage of the learning opportunities.

“We only have these fifth graders for another two and a half months before they go to Lazar,” she said. “Our primary goal right now is to get this into as many students’ hands as possible… I take this as a big responsibility. We are the first class right now in the district that has them, and my goal is to make it look so good that everybody gets them. I would like to see every student get them.

 “I would like to see this become the norm. One of the things we said when we decided to do this is we can’t compete with the text messaging,” added Accardi. “I’m not that entertaining, I don’t think I ever will be. But, this makes it fun and it gives them something that is kind of what they’re used to.”

All seventy-five of Cedar Hill’s fifth graders will work with the iPads through the end of the school year. In addition, because the fifth graders participate in a buddy system working with kindergarteners on a regular basis, the iPads will be used by the kindergarten classes too.

“Research is showing that they are learning their sounds and their letters and it is staying with them,” said Colaiacovo about iPad use in kindergarten.

All three teachers are excited about the variety and sophistication of the free educational applications available. In addition, they have found that even those that require purchase are very affordable. Many are available for a $1.99.

“I spend more that for the erasers in my room,” noted Accardi.

“I want to say a big thank you to the MEF,” said Home and School president, Terry Becker. “We could not do this without you at all.”

Accardi, Bickham, and Colaiacovo will begin introducing the iPads to students this week.

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