as three quarters of America’s 50 million public schoolchildren were now learning some, or all, of their lessons on a screen, at home, by themselves. One school district that was prepared for the transition to remote learning was Regional School District No, 51, however, the district firmly believes in the benefits of in-class learning and the socialization that comes with it. A SUPERINTENDENT TAKES STOCK Jeff Porter is the Superintendent of Regional School District No. 51 in Cumberland and North Yarmouth, Maine. A highly-rated district, No. 51 has 2,250 students in four schools: Mabel I. Wilson School (PK, K-3), Greely Middle School (4-5), Greely Middle School (6-8) and Greely High School (9-12). (The Greely schools are named after Elizabeth and Eliphalet Greely, a sea captain, businessman, bank president, and one-time mayor of Portland. Mabel I. Wilson was a local educator and town leader.) Porter has been a classroom teacher,a school principal, an Assistant Superintendent, and Superintendent since 2014. He has seen how technology has become embedded in the educational realm and is clear-eyed about its promises, possibilities, and problems. “Before the pandemic, there was a lot of discussion about public education moving into more of a technological phase,” he relates. “Could the bricks and mortar part of education be replaced by technology – educating students virtually? Well, as much as I think there are some students that might benefit from that, we certainly learned from the COVID experience that in-person learning is the most important and critical part of public education. And I’m not sure if even educators knew that before. Now, everybody has recognized its importance.” “Content is still important,” Porter continues.“We live in the information age, and that’s something that our district has been focused on for many years. We made a big commitment over the last decade to make sure that every student has access to a learning device. At the K-8 level, we have either iPads or Chrome Books for every student in the district. At the high school, we have students who bring their own device, and about a hundred students that use our devices. Technology is a tool. The computer is an apparatus 255 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 12 REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 51
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