Welcome to the Brewster Central School District Technology section. This area is designed to be a resource for students, teachers, parents, and members of the community. Please feel free to email your comments and suggestions to us.

The Brewster Central School district has made a substantial commitment to technology, integrating it into every facet of its operation. Technology is used throughout the instructional program, administrative operations are automated with various software programs, and email keeps the Brewster virtual community connected. Teachers have web sites that promote give parents insight to classroom curriculum and activities. Students have electronic portfolios that contain examples of work from multiple disciplines and are archived over time. Blogs and video conferencing give students an opportunity to expand their educational experience outside of the classroom wall.

The district has been recognized in the area of technology during the last few years, including receiving the Pioneer Award in Technology from the Regional Information Center, the Technology Superintendent of the Year award from NYSCATE, Ed Tech Leader Finalist of the Year from Technology and Learning, and more.

Infrastructure

Every building within the district is fully networked and cabled, allowing users to efficiently share data and applications. Most of the district is on a single campus, making conditions ideal for installing a fiber backbone. Presently, five of the six buildings on the main campus are connected with multi-mode fiber optic cable, capable of transmitting large amounts of data great distances. The Garden Street School, located in downtown Brewster is connected to the main campus via a dedicated T1 circuit. Every building has state of the art Cisco switching equipment, connecting back to a main switch located at the district office. The district has a maintains a 6.0 MB dedicated connection to the Internet via fiber through the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center (BOCES.)  All computers in the district are connected to the Internet, through filtered access provided by BOCES.

Hardware and Software in Buildings

Every classroom in grades K-5 has four computers located in the classroom. Fixed and mobile labs are available as well to enhance instruction. This enables teachers to quickly roll notebook computers into the classroom, integrating technology directly into the curriculum. The secondary schools have multiple computer facilities, including permanent labs, clusters of computers located around the building, wireless labs, whiteboards, and classroom computers. Multiple subscription databases allow high-level research at school and home as well.

Technology Plan

One of the most important elements of any technology program is how the technology is aligned with curriculum and instruction. In August 2001, the board of education approved a new five-year technology plan that embeds technology in every aspect of the school district.

The goals are as follows:

1. Develop a systems plan to support the role of technology throughout the district.

2. Design instructional strategies that model and support the integration of technology in instruction.

3. Plan and implement training to support users in the appropriate application of technology.

4. Establish a data warehouse that will allow the district to track student achievement and program effectiveness.

5. Ensure that all students obtain the key information skills and technological competencies that are required for success in an Information Age.

This technology plan will be updated in the fall of 2006.

Administrative Software

The Brewster Central School District has automated many of the administrative functions. Some of them include the following:

• The transportation department uses sophisticated bus routing software to insure that all bus routes as efficient and economical as possible.
• All buildings are running student management software, automating attendance, grade collecting, report cards, and reporting functions. Parents will have remote access to student information.
• The district office is running payroll and accounting software, through a dedicated connection to the LHRIC (BOCES).
• The district provides email for the entire staff, connecting all professional staff, administrators, and secretaries.
• Technical support is completely automated. The district staffs a helpdesk, where all computer repair issues are logged into a database, updated by technicians daily. End users are notified via email with service issues are completed, and administrators are provided with monthly service statements by building.