Tyler

By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer

Three Tyler ISD schools will begin piloting a managed student e-mail service after the school approved the measure at a workshop Friday.

Orr Elementary, as well as Hubbard and Moore middle schools, were chosen to pilot the Gaggle.Net program this spring.

The board approved a proposal from Gaggle.Net Inc. for more than $25,000. The final cost to the district after E-rate funding will be about $6,850 a year.

Glenn English, a technology teacher at Hubbard Middle School, told trustees the program will allow students to learn how to responsibly communicate through electronic mail.

According to agenda information, the pilot program will provide the chance for teachers and students to use the technology before, during and after class within a safe Web environment.

TISD Superintendent Dr. Randy Reid said the district had a student e-mail system in the past, but had problems with the control of information.

But officials touted this particular program's filtering capabilities and controls.

The pilot program will begin immediately in those three schools.

The possible fourth through 12th grade district-wide implementation would start next school year.

This month's curricular focus for the workshop was on language arts.

Tammy Johnson, coordinator of English Language Arts (ELA) and Jan Bogard, Language Arts facilitator for TISD, reviewed with trustees what's been happening with the English Language Arts curriculum this school year, including the continued implementation of the district's new CSCOPE curriculum. They also discussed what changes are ahead, such as the increased rigor of future state assessments, and reviewed the 2008-09 reading and writing performance data.

Trustees also heard from consultants about the city's Industry Growth Initiative project.

The Industry Growth Initiative Project was formed by local stakeholders and recommends the development of 10 primary building blocks to carry the region into the next 20 years of economic growth.

The development of an "innovation economy" is a key focus.

Paul Umbach with Tripp Umbach and Associates and Adam Levy with 30 Point Strategies showed trustees the Industry Growth Initiative draft, focusing mainly on the education component and its importance.

Reid said the development of this project comes at an opportune time for the district, as it begins to look at the district's middle schools and high schools in the next phase of a bond program.

TISD is looking at ideas such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Academies and Career and Technology high schools.

"I think it's exciting timing, and the work is right in line with our focus and our discussions," Reid said.

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