Villa Madonna Academy invests in the latest technologies, providing our students, faculty and staff with quality hardware, software, web tools and daily on-site support. Technology is an integral part of the educational process at our school. Our curricula prepare our students to use a variety of technology tools and applications. Villa Madonna believes that mastery of these skills is essential to meet the demands of today’s college learning environments and the working world of the 21st century.
Quick Facts about our Technologies:
We operate a wireless network on 802.11g standards throughout our Elementary School, High School, and Gymnasium buildings.
All of our staff and teachers have Desktop, Notebook (laptop), or Tablet PCs to use in classrooms and/or offices. Our network supports 208 PCs in constant use during the day.
We have two modern, ergonomically-designed computer labs with 25 computers each, networked printers (black & white and color), and LCD projectors. Our Elementary Computer lab is outfitted with custom-built desktop PC's based on Intel Core 2 Duo technology, all PCs use Windows XP, Microsoft Office 2007 and Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 products. Our High School Computer lab is equipped with Dell Quad Core desktop PCs loaded with the same software as our Elementary Lab PCs. Our labs as well as our Libraries are equipped with Lan School classroom management software.
We have 19 Desktop PCs and 2 Laptop PCs between our Elementary and High School libraries. All of these PCs are custom-built desktop PC's based on Intel Core 2 Duo technology using the same software as the computer labs.
We have 12 Toshiba Tecra Laptop PCs used by our students in our Junior High and High School Science classes. These laptops use the same software as the computer labs and are additionally loaded with Logger Pro 3.8.0 from Vernier Software & Technology. This software enables our students to capture data electronically in real-time when performing science experiments in class. We additionally have 15 Lenovo Mini PCs used by our students in grades 4 - 6. These laptops are loaded with the same software as the computer labs offering fully functional PCs for classroom use.
We have 22 digital cameras and 6 digital video cameras available for student and teacher use and there are 25 networked printers in various buildings on the campus, 6 of which are full color printers. Students use the cameras throughout the school year for various digital photo and video projects. Students in our High School Journalism/Yearbook and Broadcast Journalism classes use the cameras and video cameras as part of their daily classroom instruction.
We have LCD projection systems for computer presentations in every classroom in our Elementary, Junior High and High Schools. As of August 2010, one half (24) of our classrooms have SMART Boards.
In our High School, we added a new SMART Student Response System offering teachers the opportunity to instantly test lesson comprehension using mini quizzes projected on a SMART Board along with student 'clickers'.
We have a 27-station Computerized Language Lab separate and distinct from our PC computers labs, offering our foreign language teachers the opportunity to engage students in recorded listening and speaking skills activities as part of their daily learning process.
Our website is powered by an interactive web page update software system (using dotnetnuke architecture) which allows each teacher to update his/her webpage at any time with no need for complex technology training and skill. We use a web-based Student Records system which enables us to provide parents and students with access to grades, attendance, and online scheduling.
Our On-line Library Catalog Management System (Alexandria) is available to parents and students via our website. Our teachers also have access to Discovery Education's United Streaming videos via the Internet. This service offers teachers over 9000 videos on demand for classroom use.
We have dedicated full-time on-site support personnel to assist our teachers, staff and students with technology-related questions and issues.
For more detail regarding our technology environment, curricula and accomplishments, please contact Lisa Desmarais, Technology Director, at ldesmarais@villamadonna.net