| State: Missouri | Number of Students: 1,361 |
| School Type: Public School District | Free and Reduced Lunch: 46.9% |
| Grade Level: PK-12 | English Language Learners: N/A |
School Context
Funding: Maplewood Richmond Heights (MRH) has received $9 million from a local bond in 2010 to renovate the facilities at each of the schools, $100,000 from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in 2006 to provide professional development to teachers at MRH Middle School on how to use educational technology in the classroom (each middle school student also received a laptop) and $100,000 from an ARCH grant (a local St. Louis philanthropic organization) in 2006 to renovate the art room in the Early Childhood Center and provide professional development for ECC teachers on Reggio Emilia pedagogy.
Small Classes: The district is focused on keeping class sizes down so that students have more opportunities for differentiated instruction and personal interactions with teachers. MRH’s goal is to have a maximum of 22 students per class in 2nd-12th grade and a maximum of 20 students per class in PreK-1st grade.
Family Involvement: The district is focused on engaging parents and families from diverse backgrounds in their community. Teachers in the district perform home visits to build relationships with students, parents and guardians in PreK-8th grade.
Secondary Success: MRH is focusing on the level of rigor in their secondary curriculum to support college and career planning. It has nearly doubled the number of AP courses offered and established partnerships with local universities for dual enrollment. In addition, it is developing specific plans for credit recovery and other academic interventions.
Teachers: The district is focused on finding A+ talent (e.g. National Board Certified) and lowering its teacher attrition rate. To do this, it is evaluating its teacher compensation structure and promoting collaborative work time and work-life balance. MRH’s goal is to have less than 10% turnover annually.
State of Technology
Apple: For the past three years, MRH High School has been designated an “Apple Distinguished School” by Apple, Inc. for their use of technology in education and outstanding leadership. The district has used Apple since 2006, and continues to use Apple computers across the district.
1:1 Laptops: Maplewood Richmond Heights has a rich history of using 1:1 laptops. In 2006, all of the students at MRH Middle School received laptops through the eMints grant. In 2007, each student at MRH High School received a laptop through “Project Headware.” As of 2014, all students in fifth to 12th grade have a laptop, and all but seventh and eigth graders use Mac laptops. Seventh and eighth graders use Chromebooks instead. Students in seventh to 12th grade have the ability to take their device home with them and keep their laptops upon graduation. Younger grades have Mac desktop stations in their classrooms.
Google Chromebook Pilot: This year the district piloted Chromebooks across its seventh and eighth grades. The district found that the web-based platform fit best for their middle school students, while the software packages available for Mac laptops were more important for high school students.
Broadcast News: Students at MRH Elementary School run a live news broadcast Monday through Thursday. They research content on their computers, write the show and produce it on their own. It airs in classrooms on Channel 97.
Mac Mentors: High school students at MRH High are the go-to resource when it comes to broken devices. The school has its own student-run help desk, where students trained by IT staff help troubleshoot both hardware and software problems that their peers encounter. These Mac Mentors act as apprentices to the school’s IT department as part of the school’s apprenticeship program: all students, starting in ninth grade, must take on an apprenticeship or internship with someone in the district or the external community, to learn real world skills. The district also has a full time coordinator to help students find and schedule these experiences.
Foreign Language: One of MRH’s goals is to increase foreign language offerings for students. One way it plans to do this is through supplemental software to support second language acquisition.
Tech Needs & Requirements
All Middle School tools must be cloud-based or Android-based. All High School and Elementary tools must operate on a Mac Operating System.
Initiatives
Foreign Language: The district is interested in expanding the number of foreign language courses it offers, as well as increasing the number of students who enroll in them. It plans is to use a combination of offline and online materials and to partner with local universities.
Chromebook Pilot: The district has just recently piloted Chromebooks in its seventh and eighth grades.