Blue Valley Unified School District #229 in Kansas
Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders @ Blue Valley • April 11-13, 2001
Situated in the nation's heartland, Blue Valley Unified School District #229 is a K-12 school district located in rapidly growing Overland Park, Kansas, part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. With 11 of our 27 schools (17,000 students) as Blue Ribbon award winners and a tradition of academic excellence, Blue Valley is considered to be among the nation's top school districts.
While Dorothy & Toto, smooth jazz and mouth-watering barbeque are part of our area's traditions, world-class art and science museums, exhilarating riverboat gambling, top-notch shopping, and fine dining are also part of our vibrant community. Known as the "silicon prairie," the area is home to dozens of high-tech companies, the largest of which is Sprint, whose home is in Blue Valley at the new Sprint World Campus.
Technology plays a critical role in every aspect of school district operations, including classroom instruction, school security and safety, human resources, staff development, planning and facilities, and many others. The focus, though, is squarely on students and student learning. Technology is integrated throughout all curricular areas, K-12, and benefits all learners. During the April 2000 ITTE Technology Site Visit, visitors will hear Blue Valley's story from our very best ambassadors, our students. Here's a sampling of the programs our students will guide you through:
- Visit our commercial quality broadcast studio and teleconferencing center. Students in the center will demonstrate their work and you can take your shot at being the "weatherman." You will also see our broadcast technology program in our high schools and how broadcast technology is integrated with the middle school technology education program. In one of our elementary schools, you will see "WHRT-TV" in action.
- Learn how Blue Valley uses technology to inform the community and to engage them in conversation about educational topics. This will include information about the National School Boards Foundation Xchange project, in collaboration with Family Education Network and funded by the America Online Foundation. Visitors will also learn how the district provides every family in Blue Valley, free-of-charge, a private voicemail box that includes unlimited use. In addition, you will see how the community participates in attendance boundary decisions utilizing GIS (Geographic Information System).
- Because Blue Valley is the fastest growing school district in Kansas, our schools are either new or have been recently remodeled. Tour our facilities to learn how Blue Valley integrates technology into every facet of design and construction. Hear from architects and engineers to learn how we address wiring and cabling issues in new schools and remodeling projects, as well as design issues including space, lighting, and heating and cooling. You will also learn how Blue Valley has developed its own fiber-optic Wide Area Network that connects all district sites and some 7,000 computers to the Internet.
- Learn from our teacher technology integration specialists how Blue Valley works to ensure technology integration through the curriculum development process, effective instructional strategies, and a wide variety of staff development offerings. Our online Teacher Technology Integration Self-Assessment will be featured.
- Principals will share how Blue Valley has used School Technology Use Plans to focus technology efforts on learning and to provide individual schools with access to funds from a $25 million technology bond approved in 1998.
- Executive-level administrators will learn how Blue Valley has joined with six other high-performing school districts in the nation to form the Western States Benchmarking Consortium. The WSBC has developed a set of benchmarks for high-performing school districts. Information technology permeates the work of the consortium.
- Tour our schools and talk with principals, as well as safety and security specialists, to learn how Blue Valley uses technology to strengthen the safety and security of our students and staff.
- Meet over lunch with your peers from Blue Valley in "birds of a feather" groups to discuss issues of common interest.
We also hope you will come to Blue Valley to share with us your successes and your struggles. As fellow educators and colleagues, we will strive for an honest dialogue about what works and what doesn't.