Sugar Salem to help launch technology pilot

Sugar Salem Schools Superintendent Alan Dunn has accepted a $454,783.20 check under the Idaho Technology Pilot Program during a ceremony in Boise Monday.

The high school will use the funding to develop technology to provide teachers, students, and parents with equal access to academic opportunities. Using a one-to-one laptop initiative with HP 4440s notebook computers and a wireless network, the project will create a “new generation learning environment” both in and out of the classroom.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said Sugar Salem was one of eleven schools across the state receiving a total of $3 million in state funding to initiate the program. If successful they might later be duplicated in every school across the state.

Other schools selected included Beutler Middle School in Dayton, Compass Public Charter School in Meridian, Discovery Elementary School in Meridian, Idaho Distance Education Academy in Deary, Kuna Middle School in Kuna, McCall-Donnelly High School in McCall, Middleton High School in Middleton, Moscow Middle School in Moscow, Park Intermediate School in Weiser, and Parma Middle School in Parma.

The grant funding is for one fiscal year. The schools were given the option to plan to implement the pilot projects over a one or two-year period.