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Piedmont City Schools

Providing a strong education through technology and innovative learning models

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Empowering students with technology
Providing 1:1 Macbook use for all students in grade 4-12

mPower Piedmont, which began in 2009, provides all students in grades 4-12 (approximately 800 students per year) with a laptop computer to use at school or home 24/. mPower is offered despite many ongoing challenges typical of many small, rural districts like Piedmont. With a small and ever-changing school budget, the area’s lack of broadband infrastructure, and a small staff, (many of whom have multiple titles) it was a challenging task to work through this initiative. Although it appears to be a technology initiative, it was a community transformation initiative in an effort to try and help revitalize a community that had been losing businesses for years. The laptop simply provides a means for our students, in a rural area, to access a wealth of knowledge they wouldn’t have access to without the device. mPower Piedmont leveled the playing field for all Piedmont students regardless of socioeconomic status.

SUPPORTING RESOURCES
The Hechinger Report Feature, 2014
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