PRIVATE SCHOOLS
getting the benefit of technology, and the fine arts, and, a big
part of what we do is teaching the whole child by developing
the mind, body and spirit, ,” he said.
The school, which serves kindergarten through eighth
grade, opened two new computer labs in the new Sowinski
Family Media Center and added a new class period to the
middle school schedule specifically for the arts. Students
now have a chance to study fine art as well as performing
arts and music. “It’s been real beneficial to our students,”
Hoeffner said.
Sun Grove Montessori in White City groups students in
three-year increments, with grades one to three together and
grades four to six together, said Janee Johnson, who works in
the school’s office.
Like their public school counterparts, private schools bring
today’s technology into the classroom to support what they
are teaching, with most students beginning to type and use
computers in kindergarten or even pre-school. Some schools
give computers to older students to take home.
Students at St. Edward’s School in Vero Beach are given
tablet computers to use for homeworkbeginning in sixth
grade, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Thomason. Lower
school students use computers at the school. The tablet computers
enhance what is learned in the classroom, she said.
The Pine School in Stuart, formerly St. Michael’s, uses
computers to support the curriculum, too, said spokeswoman
Pat Austin. Starting in ninth grade, their high school
students are given their own laptops. Younger children in the
Pine School elementary grades are already giving Power-
Point presentations by the time they are in third grade.
Students at St. Helen Catholic School in Vero Beach are
using their new wireless computer lab with upgraded
Best of Education 62
PHOTO BY ED DRONDOSKI
Eleanor Taylor helps a student with her reading skills at Sun Grove Montessori School.
PHOTO BY ED DRONDOSKI
Teacher Maria Morgan holds class at St. Helen's in Vero Beach.
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