Our Technology Advisory Committee completed our plan in June 2001. It was approved by the State of Illinois in October 2001. This is our Technology Plan for 2001-2004 without the appendices. If you would like to see a complete document, please come to the school office to see a hard copy.

We welcome your opinions as stakeholders of our plan. Please send your suggestions and/or comments to Webmaster@qofp.com

Thank you for taking the time to look over our plan.

Table of Contents

Attributes

Our Lady Queen of Peace School is one of seven Catholic elementary schools in the city of Belleville, population 42,000. It is one of 37 In the Diocese of Belleville. It is located about 20 minutes from downtown St. Louis. School enrollment for the 2001-2002 school year is 307 students.

The school enrolls students from kindergarten through eighth grade. It is owned and operated by Queen of Peace Parish and governed by the Pastor and Principal, who are advised by a nine-member Board of Education. It is staffed by a lay faculty that is made up of an effective mix of experienced educators and young newcomers to the teaching profession. The lay principal is the primary school administrator; with support from the pastor. Queen of Peace School is recognized by the State Board of Education.

The school board and administration are committed to keeping the student-teacher ratio as low as possible. There is some departmentalization of curriculum in the middle and upper grades, resulting in higher ratios for some subjects.

Queen of Peace strives to offer a challenging, progressive curriculum, with an appropriate emphasis on religious education and sacramental preparation. A wide variety of extracurricular activities are also offered so that students can experience well-rounded growth both in and out of the classroom.

The curriculum places emphasis on the development of knowledge, skills and understanding. In addition to traditional offerings of religion, English, reading, mathematics, social studies, and science, classroom music and a structured physical education program are also provided. Algebra is offered to qualified eighth graders. The school presently has a science lab; each classroom is equipped with a multi-media computer and printer. Teachers continue to attend seminars to update their skills so as tomore effectively use technology as part of the curriculum they teach.

Kindergarten offers a full-day curriculum, with an option for half-day still available. Children can participate in developmental activities based on their readiness level. The primary grades (K-2) have remained largely self-contained, utilizing a team-teaching approach. In grades three and four, students begin to move from room to room in preparation for the true departmental system in grades five, six, seven and eight.

QP students consistently score well on standardized tests administered in the school. A review of test scores, in comparison with local and national norms, shows that Queen of Peace routinely ranks well above the 90^th percentile in all testing categories. The National School Norms of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Form K) taken in 2000 for all grades is at the 98^th or 99^th percentile. These results usually rank among the leaders of Belleville Catholic schools as well as the Belleville Diocese as a whole.

Queen of Peace has programs that deal with positive self-esteem and drug and alcohol awareness. Grade four takes part in the Skills for Growing program and the D.A.R.E. program, for sixth grade, reinforces positive self-image and respect for the students’ own bodies.

Extracurricular activities include Band (Concert and Beginner), Student Council, Scholar Bow, Chess Club, Chorus, Speech Team, Math Team, and the School Newspaper. Students are also encouraged to participate in a variety of contests such as the National Geographic Bee, Young Authors’ Conference, Spelling Bee, Junior Olympiad, and vocal and instrumental music contests. Band and chorus members perform in two formal concerts a year and at other times during school events and are eligible to participate in regional and state music contests. The speech team takes part in three Diocesan speech meets a year and Grades 4 and 8 put on a play during the school year.

There’s an extracurricular athletic program administered through a paid athletic director. Fall sports include soccer, baseball, and softball. Winter sports include basketball and volleyball. Track and field is offered in the spring. The athletic program participates in the Win the Prize program.

Challenges

1. Queen of Peace school must continue to draw financial support from as many sources as possible. Programs such as the Annual Fund and the Endowment Fund, which draw strong support from a wide variety of sources in the nearby community, must continue to be successful.
2. The reorganization of Catholic parishes in the city of Belleville in years to come could affect Queen of Peace School as it exists today. Any attempt to change the role of the school as a parish school could affect support from the parish and the community as a whole.
3. The closing of any other schools in the city of Belleville could cause an increase in Queen of Peace enrollment, putting pressure on the school’s facilities, faculty and the resources of the parish.

Mission Statement

Our Lady Queen of Peace School exists to provide kindergarten through eighth grade parishioners an opportunity to grow in faith through a total educational experience, which emphasizes academic excellence, personal responsibility and service within a Catholic faith community.

Philosophy

The philosophy of education of Queen of Peace School:

1. Teaches and gives witness to the beliefs and values of Catholicism;
2. Challenges students to achieve academic success according to their potential;
3. Involves parents, as primary educators, along with the pastor and patrons, in the programs of the School.
4. Respects the dignity of all persons, without discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or economic status.

Our Lady Queen of Peace School is one of seven Catholic elementary schools in the city of Belleville, population 42,000. It is one of 36 schools in the Diocese of Belleville. It is located about 20 minutes from downtown St. Louis. School enrollment for the 2001-02 school year is 307 students. Of these, 14 students are eligible for Free/Reduced Lunch.

5. Vision

The community of Our Lady Queen of Peace School views today’s world as one teeming with technology. Therefore, our primary focus is to teach skills enabling students and teachers to interact successfully in a technological environment. The students need to solve problems, access information, and to think critically through contact with worldwide communications.

• Continue educational programs for teachers and facilitators for educating students in the use of technology.
• Integrate an emerging technology plan based on curriculum goals.
• Students must learn to be critical thinkers. They must have access to the technology, which helps in combining and synthesizing different types of information the end result being knowledge creation.
• Students must learn to be effective communicators. Queen of Peace students can become familiar with various methods of presentation through modeling by teachers and through personal use.
• Students must have technological skills in accessing, retrieving and using information within their community.
• Students must be responsible citizens, which is a corollary to our school’s mission. Facilitators will integrate appropriate ethical standards and practices in the use of their technology.

Our Lady Queen of Peace has a reputation for delivering a quality education. Being able to take advantage of the uses of technology is essential if that educational quality is to continue.

After a series of meetings and discussions, this Vision has evolved. It is reviewed, evaluated, and updated annually. Feedback is solicited from teachers, parents, and parishioners periodically throughout the year.

6. Connecting to the School’s Learning Standards and School Initiatives

Curricular Integration of Technology in the Near Term and the Future

A basic premise of our school’s vision is that technology is used to enhance and strengthen the curriculum. Technology is taught primarily through integration into the curriculum. The following are present uses and future plans for technology at Queen of Peace School.

Present Uses

• Presentation of classwork through software.
• Presentation of classwork through PowerPoint demonstrations.
• Technology centers are used as resources in the classroom to reinforce instruction.
• Enrichment activities based on regular curriculum.
• Research activities in science, social studies and language arts through electronic encyclopedias and Internet searches
• Improving keyboarding skills
• Word processing of reports, poems, stories and other written projects
• Contacting individuals or groups for information through e-mail.
• Use of software that correlates to textbooks and projects (such as Illinois History).
• Grading and record keeping.
• Library record keeping
• Spelling activities.
• Large monitors (connected to a computer) are used in several classrooms to enrich graphically and more effectively present subject matter. This enables more effective use of the limited classroom resource, one computer.
• Teachers are developing web pages for their classes.
• Our web site contains links that can be used as a portal to other educational and resource sites.
• School newspaper creation.

Future Uses

• Use of specific software for school wide enrichment such as Accelerated Reader
• Test construction
• Report cards
• Secure remote access to the school server
• Teachers documenting their technology expertise annually
• Increased research using the Internet and other software tools
• Develop an Internet Safety Policy which includes a technology protection measure
• Heighten awareness regarding ethical use of Internet sites

Coordination With Other State and Federal Programs

• E-Rate:We haveapplied and received funds for Telecommunications Service and Internet Access for 1998-1999, 1999-2000, and 2000-2001. We have applied for Telecommunications Service, Internet Access, and Internal Connections funding for 2001-2002.
• Title II: Eisenhower Professional Development Grant Program - Has been used annually. In 2000-01, we used these funds for faculty development in the areas of math, science, and technology, as well as to pay their substitute teachers while they were receiving their training.
• Title IV: Has been used annually. In 2000-01, we purchase instructional material for our Lions
• Quest Drug Education program. We also purchased numerous videos warning of the dangers of using alcohol and drugs, as well as red ribbons for Red Ribbon Week.
• Title VI: Improving America’s School Act: Has been used annually. In 2000-01, we have purchased books for our library. In 2000-01, we purchased a school-wide Accelerated Reader Program.
• Illinois Free Textbook Program: We annually participate in this program as it is offered.
• In 2000-2001, we applied and received a grant from Ameritech for funding of our Star-Online Program. Star-Online is a self-paced, individualized, interactive online staff development tool for teachers to learn how they can integrate technology into their classroom. We plan to reapply, as it becomes available.

7a. Community Involvement - Goal 1: Policy Development

7a. Community Involvement - Goal 2: Adult Education

7a. Community Involvement - Goal 3: Improve the Queen of Peace Web Site

7b. Engaged Learning - Goal 1: Continue to develop learning environments where students utilize technology as a tool.

7c. Professional Development - Goal 1: To increase the technological literacy of our faculty so that technology is more evident in the teaching process.

7d. Technology Deployment and Sustainability - Goal 1: Continue to improve classroom visibility of computer learning materials as needed.

7d. Technology Deployment and Sustainability - Goal 2: Improve Security

7d. Technology Deployment and Sustainability - Goal 3: Upgrade Technology Equipment

7d. Technology Deployment and Sustainability - Goal 4: Upgrade Server Equipment

7d. Technology Deployment and Sustainability - Goal 5: Install Internet Filter

7d. Technology Deployment and Sustainability - Goal 6: Telephones in Classrooms

8. School Policies and Procedures

Our present school policies can be found in our Parent/Student Handbook and our Faculty Handbook. These policies must be congruent with the policies of the Office for Catholic Education, also printed in a Handbook. (Appendix J and K).

'When the need for a new policy surfaces, this need is placed on the Meeting Agenda of the School Board. The members of our School Board write our policies; our Pastor approves or disapproves these policies; our Principal implements Pastor-approved policies.

Our Parent/Student Handbook and our Faculty Handbook contains our school’s philosophy, purpose and objectives. The Pastor must approve our philosophy, purpose, and objectives. He is the school’s governance at the parish level; at the diocesan level, the Bishop represents the school’s governance.

Our school has complied with the applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination by including this information in our Parent/Student Handbook and our Faculty Handbook. All required State and Federal signs are posted in the school’s main office.

Our mission statement, philosophy, and all school policies are also listed in the 2001-2003 Case Statement for Long-Range Planning

Our Diocesan Office of Education has formulated several policies (Appendix F) regarding technology:

• Policy 1341: "Authorization for Internet Access"
• Regulation 1341: "Internet Code of Conduct"
• Policy 6170: "Technology in Curriculum - School/PSR"

9. Communications and Marketing Plan - Internal Media (Samples in Appendix L)

Our Web Page fosters communication with the community at large, with emphasis on our school community. It also is used to attract others to the school as well as to enhance public relations with the community. It includes the schools polices and handbooks, school board minutes, QP Parents & Friends minutes, Annual Fund information, along with the "Good News", a weekly communication with parents. Finally, it includes the broader scope of education in the diocese along with the public school regional office information.

Queen of Peace has numerous opportunities for the community to attend functions at the school affording people an opportunity to become better acquainted with our school:

• Quarterly QP Parents & Friends Meetings
• Monthly school board meetings
• Monthly committee meetings
• Back-to-School Night for parents to introduce faculty and the new year
• Grandparents' Day
• Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Volunteer Appreciation Day

Our Annual Report has a mailing list of approximately 2,500, including our various stakeholders: business leaders, community leaders, parishioners, grandparents, parents, alumni, school board members, faculty/staff, and donors. It informs the recipients of the general state of the school and expresses gratitude to the stakeholders for their part in the past year's accomplishments. In addition to our Annual Report, we have quarterly newsletters that are sent to the same constituents. These newsletters focus on a specific theme keeping the community up to date on Queen of Peace happenings.

A hard copy of our technology plan will be posted on the bulletin board at church and at school. It will also be posted on the web once it is approved.

Examples of how our community can see our technology in action is to view the school's brochures, the "Good News", the students newspaper, calendars, and schedules for the year.

9. Communications and Marketing Plan - External Media (Sample of brochure in Appendix L)

• Newspaper Articles - periodically during the school year the local newspaper will feature some event from our school.
• School Brochures have been developed which generalize our offerings. They are sent to the same stakeholders as the Annual Report.

10. Budget and Financial Plan

Supporting Documents

The following list of documents support this technology plan.

• Appendix A: Poverty Level Certification
• Appendix B: Electrical Certification
• Appendix C: Internal Connections Map.
• Appendix D: Software Inventory.
• Appendix E: Hardware Inventory
• Appendix F: Internet and Electronic Mail Policy
• Appendix G: Stakeholder Survey Questions & Responses
• Appendix H: Technology Protection Measures
• Appendix I: Meeting Attendance Sheets
• Appendix J: Parent/Student Handbook
• Appendix K: Faculty Handbook
• Appendix L: Media Samples
• Appendix M: Glossary of Terms