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Date: 10/18/2023
ENFIELD — Enfield Public Schools announced that the Stowe Early Learning Center’s Head Start, Pre-K STEAM Academy, and Integrated Pre-K programs have been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for the 2023–2026 program term.
“It feels absolutely humbling,” Jaclyn Valley, director of early childhood initiatives happily said. “I’m so proud of the entire staff for the hard work they put in, but I’m also incredibly proud and honored to work with three and four year-olds who can utilize iPad in meaningful ways; to be innovative and creative which sets the stage for their future learning.”
Apple Distinguished Schools are known as some of the most innovative in the world. They are centers of leadership and educational excellence, with a clear vision for how technology-rich environments support learning goals. Schools all over the world are using iPad and Mac to transform learning. In Apple Distinguished Schools, forward-thinking leaders and their communities work to inspire, imagine, and impact teaching and learning, and they have documented results of academic accomplishments. The Stowe Early Learning Center was selected for this distinction based on its commitment to continuous innovation in education and using Apple products to create exemplary learning practices.
Valley told Reminder Publishing that the Stowe Early Learning Center serves 2.9 to 5-year-olds and our approach is extremely intentional. They want to elevate our teaching and learning; utilizing the tool and give students the autonomy to explore multiple ways to demonstrate or show their thinking.
“We approach it from a collaborative and independent lens if you will,” Valley pointed out. “We want students to utilize the tool independently, to document their learning, to capture what they’re doing and to provide access to students who might be learning English or don’t have the language yet to interact socially in ways that they may not be prepared to do yet such as collaboration.”
For example, they take paper crayon activities and give children an option. Children can utilize the Keynote app instead and do their paper, pencil or marker tasks on iPad using a stylus. Children can also use their fingers or a short stylus. They have a choice so their tiny hands can choose the tool that works best for them. Valley said it’s interesting when you watch little ones who are in the process of developing fine motor skills you watch the different grips and grasps that they have as well as giving them time to learn pressure when they’re using writing implements. “When they’re doing it on an iPad, it’s just another medium that they have to get used to as that is a part of their world moving forward,” she added. “We certainly never want to replace all of the things that we’re doing with the iPad, but we want to supplement and incorporate it in.”
All of the Stowe Early Learning Center’s programs are based in play and exploration, higher order thinking and higher-level questioning facilitated by adults to get them to engage. The Integrated Pre-K program is a part day program that happens at Stowe. They enroll students with different levels of developmental need as well as peer partners. The Pre-K STEAM Academy is a full-day program for four-year-olds. They’re there for about six hours a day with breakfast, lunch and snack. Then the Head Start program has five school day classrooms and one part-day classroom for students ranging from 2.9 years of age until they head off to kindergarten. Stowe Early Learning Center’s current goals are to continue to give children the skills that iPad has to offer, but also continue to learn from the children because Valley said they come up with things sometimes adults wouldn’t even think to do. The center is also looking to further their work with Apple coaches to see if they can take their own implementation to the next level and keep it going.
“We have one-to-one iPads in preschool,” Valley said. “We are very fortunate to have it as part of the school district and we want to make sure we’re maximizing our use of the tool.”
She continued, “We’re growing future innovative thinkers and empathetic leaders. We want to capitalize on children’s natural inclination they have towards technology and iPad becomes a catalyst in shaping their minds for future work that they may do and engagement they may have by the time they get to middle school and high school. It allows us to maintain our integrity to our strong foundation in merging play and learning.”