Our prekindergarten learners had an exciting week as they were introduced to Dash and Dot, two child‑friendly robots designed to spark curiosity and build early problem‑solving skills. The classroom was full of smiles as students discovered that robots can move, light up, make sounds, and respond to simple commands.

Hands-On Exploration

Students spent time experimenting with how the robots work. They learned:

• Dash can drive, spin, light up, and react to sound

• Block‑based coding lets them drag and drop simple commands

• Cause‑and‑effect helps them understand “When I do this, the robot does that”

• Sequencing teaches that steps must be in the right order

Their discoveries were filled with excitement—every button press and robot movement became a moment of learning.

Building Early Programming Skills

Even at this young age, children are ready to explore the foundations of programming. Through playful experimentation, they practiced:

• Following steps and instructions

• Trying again when something didn’t work the first time

• Working together to solve small challenges

• Building confidence as creators and problem‑solvers

These early experiences help strengthen logic, persistence, and creativity—skills that support learning across all subjects.

The first week of technology classes set the stage for an exciting year of digital learning, hands‑on creation, and leadership across campus. From our youngest learners in Pre‑K to our seasoned innovators in 8th grade, students jumped into routines, explored new tools, and began developing the confidence and responsibility that define strong digital citizens.

Internet Safety: Our First Priority

Every class began with a strong foundation in internet safety, ensuring students understand how to navigate technology responsibly and respectfully. Across all grade levels, we introduced and practiced:

• Digital citizenship — understanding online behavior, kindness, and responsibility

• Password safety — creating strong, private passwords

• Safe searching — using kid‑friendly search tools and recognizing reliable sources

• Personal information protection — knowing what should never be shared online

• Device care — proper handling, charging routines, and cleaning protocols

Students practiced real scenarios, learned campus expectations, and reviewed our technology procedures to ensure a safe, productive learning environment.

1st–4th Grade: Prototyping with Chompsaw

Students in 1st–4th grade were introduced to Chompsaw, a kid‑friendly prototyping platform that helps young inventors bring ideas to life. They explored:

• Design thinking — imagining, planning, and improving

• Basic prototyping — building simple models to represent inventions

• Creative problem‑solving — turning everyday challenges into design opportunities

Chompsaw empowers students to sketch, build, and test ideas in a safe, guided environment—perfect preparation for invention fairs later in the year.

8th Grade: Becoming Campus Techsperts

Our 8th graders stepped into leadership roles as Techsperts, the campus’s go‑to student tech support team. During Week 1, they began training in:

• Troubleshooting basics — Wi‑Fi issues, login errors, device resets

• Classroom tech setup — projectors, screens, audio, and presentation tools

• Help desk communication — clear, respectful, solution‑focused interactions

• Digital leadership — modeling safe, responsible tech use

These students will support teachers and staff throughout the year, gaining real‑world experience in customer service, problem‑solving, and technical confidence.

Kindergarten students are exploring Bloxels EDU by designing their own characters and bringing them to life through simple animations. They start by creating a basic character, then learn how to animate it through different motions—idle, walking, jumping, and even falling. This process opens up their creativity as they test, adjust, and refine their designs, discovering how small changes affect how their character moves in the game world. As they experiment, they build early problem‑solving skills, learn to think like creators, and experience the excitement of seeing something they imagined come alive on the screen.

Our kindergarten innovators are taking their very first steps into the world of Bloxels EDU, and the excitement is already buzzing. This week, students began learning how video games are built by exploring problem‑solving, troubleshooting, and creative design in a hands‑on, age‑friendly way. As we dive deeper, students will experiment with creating their own characters using simple animations, sketching storyboards to plan the beginning, middle, and end of their game, and designing colorful foreground and background art. They’ll also start mapping out their game worlds, thinking through obstacles, pathways, and goals. We’re just getting started, but our young designers are already showing curiosity, confidence, and big imaginations as they learn what it means to bring a game to life.

A huge THANK YOU to Joe’s Pizza & Pasta on Richmond Road and the Rugova family — Ashley, Kreshnik, Gentian, and Kron — for donating two Bambu Lab A1 3D printers, filament, and AMS units to our students!

A special shout‑out to Ashley for sharing her time and expertise in the classroom. Your guidance is already inspiring our young creators.

With this incredible gift, our students can design real prototypes, explore entrepreneurship through Spartan Shark Tank, and build the hands‑on tech skills that will shape their futures.

We’re especially proud that Gentian and Kron, St. James Day School students, are part of this story of generosity and community support.

Thank you for opening doors, expanding possibilities, and believing in our kids.

Kindergarten through 8th grade students proudly submitted their Doodle for Google creations, each one inspired by the theme “What is your superpower?” From imaginative kindergarten doodles to thoughtful middle school designs, their artwork highlights individuality, creativity, and personal strengths. These entries now head to the national contest, celebrating the voices and talents of our students on a larger stage.

Students are participating in the Doodle for Google competition by designing original artwork in Google Drawings that reflects the theme “What is your superpower?” This project encourages students to explore their individuality, highlight personal strengths, and express creativity through visual storytelling. Completed doodles will be submitted as part of the national contest, celebrating student voice and imagination.

Third grade students began their creative journey in Minecraft EDU, where they designed a vibrant jungle biome filled with digital animals, plants, and weather patterns. After exploring how these virtual elements compared and contrasted with real-world jungles—examining similarities in animals, differences in plant life, and the unique climate—they transitioned their learning into Canva. There, they crafted a video using 5-second visuals to highlight different aspects of the jungle, layering in music and sound effects to bring the environment to life. To polish their project, they added smooth transitions between scenes, creating a dynamic storytelling experience that showcased both their digital design skills and their scientific understanding of ecosystems.

Technology students are collaborating to design dynamic digital trifold boards using Canva, transforming their innovative ideas into visually compelling presentations. Working in teams, they brainstorm solutions, organize content, and apply design principles to showcase their creativity and problem-solving skills. Each board highlights original concepts through engaging layouts, graphics, and persuasive messaging—blending technology, communication, and critical thinking. This project fosters collaboration and empowers students to become confident digital creators, ready to share their visions with peers, educators, and the broader community.

First graders are stepping into the director’s chair as they begin crafting stop motion animation sets using LEGO bricks to bring their original stories to life. These young storytellers are learning to shape narratives that include plot, setting, and theme. As they carefully move each piece and capture frame-by-frame images, students explore sequencing, visual storytelling, and the magic of creative expression. This joyful, hands-on project blends literacy, art, and technology—empowering even the youngest learners to become confident creators with a bold voice and imaginative vision. Finished projects are coming soon!

Mrs. Kimmel’s middle school history students are bringing the past to life through the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution’s American History Video Contest, Lunch with a Signer. In this cross-curricular project, students blend historical research with modern technology to produce engaging three-minute videos imagining a conversation with a signer of the Declaration of Independence. By scripting, filming, and editing their entries, students sharpen digital storytelling skills while deepening their understanding of American history. The contest encourages creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking—transforming traditional lessons into immersive, student-driven experiences that connect the founding ideals to today’s learners.

Today, our second graders dove into a collaborative Minecraft EDU adventure, where each student was tasked with building their own wooden house—complete with a door, steps, glass windows, and a fence—all within a shared server. With the freedom to choose their own building locations, students explored digital landscapes and made creative decisions that reflected their unique styles. This hands-on project encouraged spatial reasoning, planning, and problem-solving, while also fostering teamwork and digital citizenship as they navigated shared space respectfully. Minecraft EDU proved to be a powerful educational tool, transforming virtual blocks into real-world learning experiences and providing students with a joyful outlet for creativity, design, and self-expression.

Today, our Pre-K students had their first magical encounter with Dash and Dot, and it was a hands-on tech adventure full of giggles and discovery! They learned how to connect the robots via Bluetooth, watching in awe as their tablets brought Dash and Dot to life. With tiny fingers tapping and dragging, they explored how to change the robots’ glowing colors, add playful sounds, and send them scooting across the floor. This tactile experience helped build early coding confidence and digital curiosity, all wrapped in joyful exploration. By controlling the robots themselves, our little learners practiced problem-solving, cause and effect, and creative expression—proving once again that the best learning happens when kids get to play, touch, and tinker.

Our students utilize a range of digital tools that foster creativity, communication, and problem-solving. One notable platform is Canva, which enables young learners to design graphics, presentations, and multimedia projects easily through its intuitive drag-and-drop features. These digital creation activities help students develop foundational skills in layout design, visual storytelling, and digital literacy. Whether they are crafting a poster for a classroom event or illustrating a story they have written, these experiences enhance their confidence and prepare them for future technology use in both academic and real-world settings. Students engage with a variety of digital tools that foster creativity, communication, and problem-solving. One standout platform is Canva, which allows young learners to easily design graphics, presentations, and multimedia projects using intuitive drag-and-drop features. Through these digital creation activities, students begin to develop foundational skills in layout design, visual storytelling, and digital literacy. Whether crafting a poster for a classroom event or illustrating a story they've written, these experiences help build confidence and prepare them for future technology use in academic and real-world settings.

When preschoolers share a device during tech-based activities, they’re not just learning how to use technology—they’re building the foundations of collaboration and empathy. Taking turns, helping one another navigate apps, and solving problems together encourages communication and patience. As they teach each other how to tap, swipe, or explore digital content, they begin to understand different perspectives and celebrate each other's successes. This shared experience transforms technology from a solitary tool into a social one, fostering teamwork and emotional intelligence in even the youngest learners. It’s a beautiful way to blend digital literacy with human connection.

Before students are given access to online platforms, it's essential to teach them about internet safety to ensure they navigate the digital world responsibly and securely. Young users may not fully grasp the risks associated with sharing personal information, clicking suspicious links, or engaging with strangers online. By introducing key concepts like password protection, recognizing phishing attempts, and understanding digital footprints, educators empower students to make informed choices. This foundational knowledge not only protects their privacy and well-being but also fosters a culture of accountability and respect in online spaces. Teaching internet safety upfront helps prevent issues before they arise and builds lifelong habits for safe digital citizenship. To accomplish this, we use NetSmartz.

NetSmartz is NCMEC's online safety education program. It provides age-appropriate videos and activities to help teach children be safer online with the goal of helping children to become more aware of potential online risks and empowering them to help prevent victimization by making safer choices on- and offline. 

Creating podcasts as a middle school learning activity merges technology with creativity, allowing students to build essential communication, research, and critical-thinking skills. From designing logos to planning episodes, podcasting encourages students to develop a unique brand identity while mastering digital tools for recording, editing, and publishing. Researching other podcasts helps students analyze different styles, formats, and audience engagement strategies, fostering a deeper understanding of media production. The compare-and-contrast process enhances their ability to evaluate sources, refine content, and experiment with storytelling techniques. This hands-on approach empowers students to integrate multimedia technology with self-expression, transforming their ideas into engaging, real-world projects that build confidence and innovation.

More podcasts coming soon!

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More podcasts coming soon! 〰️

For our eighth-grade students, creating vision boards and integrating advanced technology skills have become central to their educational journey. Vision boards allow students to visualize and articulate their goals and aspirations in a creative and tangible way. This activity helps them set personal, academic, and career goals while fostering a sense of self-awareness and motivation. By using various materials and digital tools, students can create visually appealing boards that reflect their unique dreams and plans.

In our eighth-grade technology curriculum, we focus on equipping students with the skills needed to navigate the digital world effectively. This includes projects that involve coding, digital storytelling, multimedia presentations, and collaboration on cloud-based platforms. By integrating these technology skills with activities like vision board creation, we aim to provide a well-rounded education that prepares students for high school and beyond. The combination of creativity, goal-setting, and tech proficiency ensures that our students are ready to tackle future challenges with confidence and ingenuity.

Our fourth-grade students have been actively engaged in technology class, blending research, creativity, and digital literacy to create games inspired by "Are You Smarter Than a 4th Grader?" focused on all facts about all 50 states using Google Slides. Through teamwork, they designed interactive slides with music transitions that indicate correct or incorrect guesses, making learning enjoyable and memorable. Their efforts culminated in a game-show-style presentation for parents and classmates, showcasing their knowledge. Additionally, participating in the Spartan Shark Tank event allowed them to turn creative ideas into entrepreneurial ventures by building prototypes and presenting innovative solutions. These experiences enhance their technology skills while fostering critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving abilities, preparing them for future challenges.