Located between Buffalo and Rochester in upstate New York, Batavia City School District is a small city school district (population 16,256) located in agricultural Genesee County. The district serves 2,400 diverse students in grades PK-12, in three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, all of which are Title 1 schools. Batavia is a city in transition; the district faces the challenge of changing demographics, from serving a homogeneous community, where families lived in the same houses for generations, to an economically diverse and increasingly transitory population. A large percentage of our families live in poverty, with 41% of our students eligible for free or reduced price lunches. Click here to visit the district website.

Our district has committed to ensuring that every student achieves academic excellence and acquires the skills necessary to become a successful and productive citizen. In pursuit of that goal, we have invested over $15 million dollars in technology since 1998 – with minimal impact on taxes. Implementing the vision of the Board of Education, the Superintendent, and the district technology team, Batavia has transformed conventional classrooms into learner-centered environments rich in technology.

For the past nine years, every classroom in the district has been equipped with a teacher workstation attached to a presentation device, with internet access and an MS Office tool set and curricular software. Adding multiple workstations to most classrooms as well as labs in each building, our technology has been continuously evolving. The latest infusion is exemplified by our TELCC classrooms – Technology Enhanced Learner Centered Classrooms. The TELCC initiative, which began two years ago, evolved from the understanding that curriculum and instruction drive technology, and that the integration of technology is essential to engaging the 21st century learner. Educators in the TELCC classrooms are motivated and enthusiastic professionals who guide students in ways that are responsive to learners’ needs. Their classrooms are equipped with a variety of technology – including interactive whiteboards, class response systems, multiple workstations, digital cameras, document cameras, distance learning systems, and more. In their efforts to differentiate instruction and engage contemporary learners, teachers utilize a potpourri of technology tools including online course management (i.e., Moodle), curricular software, media production tools, videoconferencing, adaptive technologies, such as assistive listening devices and software, internet and Web 2.0 tools (such as blogging and podcasting), and virtual library resources (online databases).

Our curriculum is aligned to national and state standards. Data mining is strongly embedded in district culture and leads to collaborative planning for technology use and acquisition. The differentiation of instruction is an essential component in every classroom.

BCSD recognizes that technology increases productivity and enhances creativity, ultimately raising student achievement. Technology is evident in every aspect of school life: data management, staff development, voice over IP telephones, the student information system, curriculum mapping, the library automation system, and business management systems. Our robust and active website, on which every teacher has a presence, serves as a communication tool as well as an instructional portal. Our IT department researches, tests, installs, and maintains technology system on a redundant network, with backbone speeds of 1GB, utilizing Web Help Desk to deal with repairs and problems, and engages in a systematic updating of equipment and infrastructure – ensuring a reliable, supported network that allows enriching educational and productive professional experiences for all users.

Our improving test scores indicate that we are on the right track. Recent achievement results demonstrate that our ELA scores have risen significantly over the past five years. In 2002, 53% of our 4th graders tested at the proficient level or higher; in 2007 that number was 70%. In 2002, 43% of our 8th graders tested at the proficient level or higher; in 2007 that number was 60%. In 2002, 35% of our 12th graders tested at the mastery level; in 2007 that number was 66%.

In addition, all five of our buildings have been identified by the New York State Education Department as high performing/gap-closing schools We’re also ranked in the top 10% of overachieving schools in western New York (based on poverty rate).

During your visit, talk with our teachers and students about the great things that they are doing with technology in every building, grade, and curriculum area. In visiting with our staff, see how instructional and administrative technologies and management systems have helped us to be more successful at providing quality opportunities for our students. Let us share with you our experiences in meeting the challenges of a small, economically diverse community dedicated to preparing students for higher education and work in the 21st century.

Sunday, May 4

5:00 - 7:00 pm
Registration and Reception, Holiday Inn—Batavia

Monday, May 5

7:00 - 7:45 am
Registration and Breakfast at the Holiday Inn

8:00 am
Buses depart for John Kennedy Elementary School

8:30 - 9:30 am
Opening General Session

9:30 -10:30 am
District Session Addressing the themes:

  • Data-driven instructional decision making
  • Creative fiscal conservativeness
  • Responsiveness to dynamic needs

11:00 am
Lunch at the hotel

12:15 pm
Buses depart for Batavia High School

12:30 - 3:00 pm
High School Tour and Focus Groups
While on this school tour, visitors will observe:

  • Interactive whiteboards in secondary classrooms
  • Using the document camera in the Art classroom
  • Differentiated test preparation
  • Videoconferencing
  • Tool Software
  • Wireless workstations
  • Student response systems
  • Technology in the forensics classroom
  • Online course management

3:00 - 3:30 pm
District-Focused Breakout Sessions:

  • Nuts and Bolts of Making it Happen: Network Management and Security
  • Technology in the Blended Classroom
  • Staff Development “just in time” – online and face to face

4:00 pm
Buses return to the Holiday Inn

5:15 pm
Buses depart for Terry Hills Golf Club

5:30 - 8:00 pm
Banquet at the Terry Hills Golf Club

Tuesday, May 6

7:00 - 7:45 am
Breakfast at the Holiday Inn

8:00 am
Buses depart for the Middle School

8:15 -10:30 am
Middle School and Focus Groups While on this school tour, visitors will observe:

  • Interactive whiteboards in middle school classrooms
  • Student response systems
  • Utilization of on-line courseware [Moodle]
  • Center-based simulations in the MS Technology Classroom
  • Interactive Mathematics
  • Graphing Calculators
  • Tool Software
  • Wireless workstations
  • Podcasting

10:45 am
Buses depart for lunch

11:00 am
Lunch at the hotel

12:15 pm
Buses depart for one of the three Elementary Schools

12:30 - 2:45pm
Elementary School Tour and Focus Groups While on this school tour, visitors will observe:

  • Interactive whiteboards in elementary classrooms
  • Inter-school literature circles
  • Differentiated instruction using technology
  • AD/HD Cardio Therapy
  • Best practices using document camera
  • Tool software
  • Wireless workstations
  • Technology in the Library Media Center
  • Technology in the Music Classroom
  • Podcasting

2:45 - 3:15 pm
District-Focused Breakout Sessions:

  • Using Teleforms for Data-Based Decision-Making
  • Creative fiscal conservativeness

3:30 pm
Buses depart for the Holiday Inn

Cable in the Classroom