IPads are in the Mineola school district for the long run, and so is the principal who brought them into the Jackson Avenue School’s classrooms.
The Mineola school board granted tenure on Thursday to principal Janet Gonzalez, who said she was hired to implement the district’s technology plan at the school for third- and fourth-graders three years ago.
Since then, she has helped Jackson Avenue students and teachers learn to use Apple’s tablet computers to “have more ownership of their learning,” she said, while helping to revamp the school’s curriculum and earning distinctions for its use of educational technology.
“Janet’s vision for how technology can be used to improve student engagement, track students’ progress, connect with the student and the school community has earned her a reputation as an innovative educator, and firmly establish Jackson as an exciting and cutting-edge school community,” said Patricia Burns, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment, at Thursday’s school board meeting.
Gonzalez has taken a “multi-tiered” approach to introducing iPads at Jackson Avenue, she said, working with teachers on how to incorporate them into lessons, with students on how to use them and with parents on how they can aid their children’s learning.
Her efforts have led to Jackson Avenue being named an Apple Distinguished School in the fall, Burns said.
The school is also the first on Long Island to use a SMALLab, a specialized classroom with an interactive floor where students play educational games, Gonzalez said. She also established a hands-on science lab in the school, Burns said.
“As she’s going through the (hiring) process, it dawned on me that we were going to put somebody in place that loved kids, had high standards for kids and wanted to move, never satisfied, and really push the envelope,” district Superintendent Michael Nagler said at Thursday’s meeting.
As Mineola has gained national and international recognition for its technology use, Gonzalez said, she has met several times with school officials from other districts who want to learn from Mineola’s efforts.
The push for technology in the district has not gone without some resistance.
Mark Renner and Joy Swensen challenged it in their 2015 school board campaign against Trustee Brian Widman and President Christine Napolitano, which they lost by a 12-point margin.
Gonzalez, a New Hyde Park resident, said parents have grown more comfortable with technology as the district has done more to show them how students are using it in the classroom.
While she has always believed in technology as a way to enhance learning and has moved Jackson Avenue toward digital textbooks, Gonzalez said the school has maintained an important “balance” between new and old ways of learning.
“We’re still learning how to write in cursive,” she said. “Of course we still have real books and use pen and pencil, so always just keeping that balance.”
In addition to her work with technology, Gonzalez helped align the district’s English and math curriculum with Common Core standards, Burns said.
Gonzalez came to Mineola from the Garden City school district, where she spent five years as an assistant principal. She was an elementary teacher for 12 years before that, she said.
The school board also granted tenure Thursday to Andrew Casale, the math and science instructional leader at Mineola Middle School.
Next year he will replace middle school principal Matthew Gaven, who will become the district’s technology director.
Hampton Street School teachers Roneldy Pingitore and Charyn Restituyo, Mineola Middle School teacher Cynthia Kopp and Mineola High School teacher Karin Weidlein were also granted tenure.
