About
Tri-Cities High School is a Comprehensive and Visual & Performing Arts Magnet School that serves one of the most diverse student population in the Fulton County School District. We pride ourselves on embodying the following principles: Commitment, Service, Optimism, and Innovation.
In our ever-changing world, education has continued to be the cornerstone of upward mobility, changing and evolving as needed. At Tri-Cities, we believe the educational landscape is shifting to include the increased usage of technology in the classroom. In an effort to prepare students for the expanded use of technology in everyday jobs, beginning last August, we committed to increasing student’s knowledge and comfortability with technology. These efforts include professional development for our teachers on programs such as Office 365, Microsoft Teams, One Note, Go Formative, and Flip Grid. These training sessions were prepared and presented by our Tri-Cities Vanguard team. Vanguard is a county led tech training program for teachers to facilitate the use of technology in the classroom. Our students also had opportunities to learn about coding, Microsoft Sway and utilize Microsoft Teams amongst other programs.
Considering the developments in the winter, one would think our choice to enhance our professional development offerings came at the perfect timing. Throughout our remote learning, the instructional coaches continued to lead virtual professional development furthering our teachers’ abilities to use Microsoft Teams, Forms for assessments, SWAY for student presentations and integrating FlipGrid into our virtual classrooms. Unfortunately, with the rise of COVID-19, our school was reminded that our digital learning practices were far from where we needed them to be. With our student engagement and completion rates measuring less than 70%, we realized that we must acclimate our instructional practices optimizing our digital learning tools to engage students and produce improved academic results.
After deep consideration and reflection, we realized we lack a robust source of training to enhance our faculty’s use with all Microsoft has to offer educators. Most of our teachers are currently at the substitution stage of the SAMR model and are simply using technology to survive remote learning. We have teachers who are afraid of implementing technology and have not yet embraced it’s value in transforming the classroom.
As we go forward with our technology initiative, we will continually keep in mind the varying levels of comfortability teachers and students have with technology. Being sure to provide differentiated scaffolding and increased support, we will create a collaborative community of educators, requiring all instructional and support staff to become MIE certified.
With Microsoft’s help, we hope to access the tools and research that will optimize our school instructional design beyond the school walls. Not only will we attain much-needed skills, but we will also complete the checklist for success, covering some of the things commonly missed when making transformational change within a school. We hope to enhance our teaching by modifying and transforming our lessons with technology.
Through the trainings and knowledge Microsoft provides, we intend to embed in our students a diverse set of skills that are applicable in any industry and use those skills to become globally engaged while focusing on social concerns directly affecting their community. We at Tri-Cities believe the future is technology driven and are determined to ensure that our students, teachers and community are prepared to excel.
In our ever-changing world, education has continued to be the cornerstone of upward mobility, changing and evolving as needed. At Tri-Cities, we believe the educational landscape is shifting to include the increased usage of technology in the classroom. In an effort to prepare students for the expanded use of technology in everyday jobs, beginning last August, we committed to increasing student’s knowledge and comfortability with technology. These efforts include professional development for our teachers on programs such as Office 365, Microsoft Teams, One Note, Go Formative, and Flip Grid. These training sessions were prepared and presented by our Tri-Cities Vanguard team. Vanguard is a county led tech training program for teachers to facilitate the use of technology in the classroom. Our students also had opportunities to learn about coding, Microsoft Sway and utilize Microsoft Teams amongst other programs.
Considering the developments in the winter, one would think our choice to enhance our professional development offerings came at the perfect timing. Throughout our remote learning, the instructional coaches continued to lead virtual professional development furthering our teachers’ abilities to use Microsoft Teams, Forms for assessments, SWAY for student presentations and integrating FlipGrid into our virtual classrooms. Unfortunately, with the rise of COVID-19, our school was reminded that our digital learning practices were far from where we needed them to be. With our student engagement and completion rates measuring less than 70%, we realized that we must acclimate our instructional practices optimizing our digital learning tools to engage students and produce improved academic results.
After deep consideration and reflection, we realized we lack a robust source of training to enhance our faculty’s use with all Microsoft has to offer educators. Most of our teachers are currently at the substitution stage of the SAMR model and are simply using technology to survive remote learning. We have teachers who are afraid of implementing technology and have not yet embraced it’s value in transforming the classroom.
As we go forward with our technology initiative, we will continually keep in mind the varying levels of comfortability teachers and students have with technology. Being sure to provide differentiated scaffolding and increased support, we will create a collaborative community of educators, requiring all instructional and support staff to become MIE certified.
With Microsoft’s help, we hope to access the tools and research that will optimize our school instructional design beyond the school walls. Not only will we attain much-needed skills, but we will also complete the checklist for success, covering some of the things commonly missed when making transformational change within a school. We hope to enhance our teaching by modifying and transforming our lessons with technology.
Through the trainings and knowledge Microsoft provides, we intend to embed in our students a diverse set of skills that are applicable in any industry and use those skills to become globally engaged while focusing on social concerns directly affecting their community. We at Tri-Cities believe the future is technology driven and are determined to ensure that our students, teachers and community are prepared to excel.
Technology Mission
Tri-Cities High School will use Microsoft Education Tools and Education Transformation Framework to provide a challenging and engaging curriculum that meets the individual needs of students in a 21st century society.
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Technology Vision
Tri-Cities High School is committed to being a 21st-century education leader in technology that empowers students to become life-long learners and stimulates the development of post-secondary skills.
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SMART GOalS
Goals for Teachers & Educators
Goals for Students
Goals for Community
- By May 2021, have 100% of school personnel complete 12 Microsoft educator training courses and earn MIE credential.
- By May 2021, have 100% of educators with a Microsoft Educator Profile.
- By August 2021, groom four school personnel to become a Microsoft Expert.
- By December 2021, have 10 educators complete a Microsoft Certified Educator exam.
Goals for Students
- By May 2021, have at least 75% of students feel proficient at usage of Microsoft Technology tools.
- By August 2021, form a student-based technology club that assists with mentoring and coaching peers on ways to use technology.
Goals for Community
- By August 2021, have school-based technology expert that is able to coach parents and other community stakeholders of Microsoft applications.
- By December 2021, cultivate a community of technology users, by hosting 2 technology seminars for parents to learn how to use at least 2 Microsoft tools.
Roadmap for Transformation
As we continue to incorporate Microsoft into our school's culture, the roadmap for transformation outlines our action items for the next three years.
| roadmap_for_transformation.pdf |
