Greenfield (pop. 18000+ in 2000) is located in the Connecticut River Valley at the eastern foot of the Mohawk Trail in Western Massachusetts, 85 miles west of Boston and 45 miles north of Springfield. Previously governed by a town manager, a five-member board of selectmen, and a 27-member council, it became the Commonwealth's newest City on July 1, 2003, when a mayoral form of government was adopted and Ms. Christine Forgey was elected the city's first mayor. She assumed office on July 1, 2003 along with a new Town Council consisting of nine councilors, one from each of the city's nine precincts and four at-large members.

Greenfield is the county seat of Franklin County and home of Greenfield Community College. Situated in the most rural county in Massachusetts, Greenfield does not fit the description of "rural" in that population numbers roughly 850 people square mile. According to the 2000 US Census report, the composition of the population is characterized as: 92% Caucasian, 2% African American, 1% American Indian, 2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 4% Hispanic, and 3% Other.

Greenfield Public Schools:

There are eight schools in the Greenfield School District:

Four elementary schools (Federal Street, Green River, Four Corners, and Newton) serving Kindergarten through grade 5,
One pre-school (Academy of Early Learning at North Parish), combining public school functions with services of the federally funded Head Start Program for children ages 3 to 5 from eligible families,
One Middle School (GMS) for grades 6 through 8 (about 450 students),
One four-year comprehensive High School (GHS) for grades 9-12 (about 500 students), accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. In 2005-06, approximately 83% of the GHS senior class moved on to facilities of higher education: 46% to four-year colleges or universities, 37% to two-year colleges, and 2% to technical schools. Of the remainder, 11% entered the workforce and 3% enlisted in the military.
Poet Seat is a DOE-approved (Department of Education) substantially separate day school for middle and high school students with emotional disabilities. Poet Seat offers a free and appropriate alternative education program to students within the Greenfield School District. Additionally, students tuition in from other school districts.

Overview of the Planning Process

The Greenfield Public Schools (GPS) District Technology Plan (2007-2010) that follows below is specific to GPS and represents an update of the three-year District Technology Plan in effect during July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2007. It was modified with input from our community of stakeholders, consisting of:

Local school Principals and Technology Committees;
The District Technology Sub-Committee, comprised of the District Technology Coordinator and local technology teachers;
"Tech Corp" teachers from each school who are responsible for maintaining and updating local school Web sites;
School librarians/library media specialists;
The District Network Administrator and technician in consultation with the District Technology Coordinator
District Administrators including the Superintendent, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Director of Student Services, and Director of Business Services;
School Committee Members;
Representatives from Mayor's Office; and
Parents/Guardians

In addition, we consulted both the Educational Technology Advisory Council Massachusetts STAR (School Technology and Readiness) Chart (http://www.doe.mass.edu/boe/sac/edtech/star.xls) and the Draft Revised Massachusetts Recommended K-12 Instructional Technology Standards (http://www.doe.mass.edu/edtech/standards/itstand_draft.doc) in drawing up plan specifics.

District Mission Statement

The mission of the Greenfield Public Schools, in active partnership with students, their families, individual citizens, and established groups within the community, is to educate students to meet the challenges and responsibilities of a rapidly changing and diverse world.

We recognize that every child is deserving of equal opportunities to maximize his or her potential, and we encourage all students in their pursuit of excellence.

District Vision Statement

The vision for the Greenfield Public Schools is to maintain early education programs that provide a basis for student success as students advance through each educational level. We must provide intensive educational programs so that teachers can maintain high expectations for all students.

The curriculum is a continuum of learning that emphasizes literacy and numeracy skills. Skills learned within the content areas will be applied by students in authentic situations. Students will be able to think critically, solve problems and communicate effectively in their environment. We expect students to be socially responsible and develop respect for themselves, peers, and citizens in their world.

Students will be able to use a variety of resources, including the latest in technology to deepen their acquisition of life skills to become life long learners.

District Improvement Plan: Goal 5 (Technology)

The Superintendent of the Greenfield Public Schools and District Administrative Team established five major improvement goals for the District. These goals set a common purpose, guide educational practice, prioritize improvement targets, and document progress.

To increase student learning, the District Improvement Plan (DIP) seeks to:

Focus and align school improvement and individual departmental goals to raise achievement for all students.

Design and adopt a curriculum assessment and accountability system that is consistent across the District and leads to improved student achievement.

Ensure that instruction responds to the learning needs of each student and leads to the achievement of essential outcomes.

Increase parental and community involvement in order to maintain safe and orderly schools.

Promote initiatives that provide school staff, teachers, principals, and administrators with the capacity to integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction that are aligned with challenging academic content and Massachusetts curriculum standards through such means as high quality professional development training.

DIP Goal 5, which focuses exclusively on technology, flows from the District Vision statement. It makes formal and concrete what is real and already happening in the Greenfield Public Schools. Technology integration is so much a part of what students, teachers, staff, principals and administrators do every day to support District initiatives and realize instructional goals and objectives. This goal (which is almost identical in wording to Goal 4, Section 2402 Purposes and Goals, U.S. Department of Education Enhancing Education Through Technology Act of 2001 (http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg34.html), not only documents what we do, it also provides guidelines for increased technology stability and growth.

Technology Vision and Mission Statements

GPS remains committed to using technology to support academic achievement as it strives to realize existing District instructional goals and to strengthen academic programs in place at each school. Technology helps us accomplish these goals by providing teachers with a rich assortment of tools to customize instruction, address individual learning styles and adapt instructional materials to a wide range of ability levels. When effectively integrated into the curriculum, it provides students with increased opportunities for:

Real-world math and science applications
Writing
Publishing
Research
Engagement
Motivation
Modeling
Learning outside the school day
Contact with experts, professionals, and mentors
Immediate targeted feedback on their work

District technology helps inform instructional practice. Teachers use computers, Smart Board interactive whiteboards, LCD projectors, digital still cameras, digital video cameras, scanners, calculators, science probes, text-to-speech readers, Internet Web sites, flash drives, and other technology tools to:

Engage students through rich and varied multimedia content (such as audio, video, images, animation)
Customize instruction
Address individual learning styles
Reinforce content
Remediate struggling learners
Challenge advanced learners who want to move ahead
Gather and disaggregate student performance data to monitor efforts (both individual and class) and inform instruction
Model and illustrate complex processes
Communicate with students and parents

GPS Technology Vision Statement

The Greenfield Public School District prepares its students to be responsible, creative, contributing members of a 21st century global community where information technology is a universal tool in everyday life.

GPS Technology Mission Statement

The Greenfield Public School District's technology mission is to provide appropriate technology for accurate data collection and opportunities in all academic disciplines for staff and students to learn and apply technology skills. By using technology in teaching and learning, teachers, staff and students will demonstrate:

Proficiency in the use of computers and applications as well as the concepts underlying hardware, software and connectivity;
Ability to use technology for research, problem-solving, and communication;
Responsible use of technology; and
Understanding of ethics and safety in using electronic media according to the benchmarks developed by the state of Massachusetts.

Why do we need a Tech plan?

In keeping with the Technology Planning guidelines stipulated by the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, commonly known as "E-RATE" (http://www.usac.org/sl/applicants/step02/technology-planning), i.e., the discount program administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) under the direction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Greenfield Public Schools must base its requests for services purchased with Schools and Libraries support discounts on an "approved technology plan."

Page last updated: April 13, 2007

Home