District committed to creating 21st century learning environment

The Goshen Central School District recognizes that our world is changing, and our schools must respond appropriately to help provide students with the necessary skills to prepare them for success.

The district is working to provide each student with access to a personal computing device, and 1,824 new devices – mainly Chromebooks – were added to its existing inventory this past summer. To date, three of the district’s four schools – Goshen Intermediate School, C. J. Hooker Middle School and Goshen High School – have achieved enough devices to support the universal access device initiative. The Scotchtown Avenue Elementary School currently provides shared carts with Android Tablets, Touch Screen Chromebooks and traditional Chromebooks for its students.

In addition, Goshen teachers are moving away from traditional ways to share information with students. In 2016-17, an initiative was introduced so that all faculty members began to use Google Classroom as an online learning management system in order to share class assignments, announcements and other important items. All students in grades K-12 were assigned a G Suite account (formerly Google Apps for Education) so that they may easily connect to their teachers’ Google Classrooms and have instant access and sharing ability with teachers and classmates.

The district provided training for parents and guardians in Google Classroom and G Suite this fall. Learn more about the Parent Google trainings.

This year, the district has set a goal to educate parents and students about the importance of digital citizenship and cyber ethics so that students use 21st century learning tools safely and responsibly.

Faculty will be provided meaningful professional development to support and empower teachers as new curriculum and initiatives are developed. In addition, the district is committed to interacting with families and the community to share long term teaching and learning goals and provide them with trainings and informational sessions, when appropriate.

These initiatives will support existing – and developing – curriculum. In February, district residents approved a $30.48 million capital improvement project that will help create 21st century learning environments and modernize the performing arts program at Goshen High School, and will upgrade the computer network system district-wide. Construction will likely begin this summer.

The project will create a new STEAM lab and suite devoted to applied arts and technology. It will include space for hands-on learning in areas such as advanced manufacturing, robotics, electronics, computer science, graphic design, applied math, 2-D and 3-D art, and computer-aided design. Curriculum development began this summer for future STEAM courses that will soon be available at Goshen High School.

The project will also overhaul the district computer system. Wireless coverage will be expanded in all buildings with the installation of an entire, new wireless network system, and will improve computer network performance as a whole.

“The Goshen Central School District is committed to helping students gain skills that are relevant beyond high school, and ensure that they are prepared for new, emerging careers in a global economy,” said Dr. Kurtis Kotes, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, personnel and technology. “The progress we’ve made, and our vision moving forward, will allow us to offer the strongest academic program possible as we continue to embrace and implement technology into the classroom.”