Recongition and Awards

Kennedy has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for 2021-2024 and 2024 - 2027

Tigernation at Work

Kennedy Elementary is the cornerstone of the 75 North Community Revitalization project in Omaha. For the last five years, Kennedy has worked to transform and redefine educational opportunities for our students.

• Building on the 1:1 iPad initiative, the inclusion of LTE capabilities enhanced our blended learning model for students to truly allow them to learn “virtually” anywhere.
• Project Based Learning is one instructional framework utilized at Kennedy to provide authentic challenges and learning opportunities that allow students to inquire, think critically, collaborate, problem solve, and create solutions while mastering academic content.

Vision

Eight key elements drive the mission and vision of Kennedy. We continually work to provide high quality rigorous educational opportunities for students to prepare them for success. Through continuous reflection we respond to the needs of staff and students to build capacity and capabilities with technology to provide a world class educational experience.   

AGENCY: Kennedy’s vision fosters student agency by providing voice and choice in their learning, creativity in demonstrating knowledge and authentic applications of learning. Teacher leaders are also leveraged to facilitate discussion and reflections for deeper learning.

PERSONALIZED LEARNING: Leveraging the 1:1 LTE iPad initiative, teachers provide individualized learning opportunities for all students. Our diverse population demands the need for personalized learning to accelerate growth to compete in a global economy.

INTEGRATION: Preparing students to be problem solvers of tomorrow, students engage in trans-disciplinary, project-based learning units that allow for creativity in thinking, production creation and various learning pathways.

Learning

Academic content and technology integration are interwoven throughout the Kennedy curriculum to enhance and accelerate learning. Apple technology allow students voice and choice in their pathways, research, and demonstration of learning align to state standards.  Redefining the learning environment and educational mindset provides students the opportunity to connect beyond the brick and mortar school building with local community experts and beyond.

Students are empowered with their LTE devices to become free agents of learning. They are able to collaborate in creative ways to express ideas and find solutions to relevant issues.  First graders produced a music video demonstrating sound waves in Voice Memos and iMovie. Intermediate students used Pages, Notes and Camera to document science experiments and build digital portfolios of learning.

Through an inquiry based approach students tackle authentic challenges and questions to discover new understandings and impact the local and global community. Students are able to create public service announcements with Keynote and iMovie and share them to a broader audience thanks to their digital products. Transforming in-person events to virtual venues provided students opportunities to think critically and develop broader communication skills.

Success

Professional Learning Communities thrive at Kennedy leading to student growth. Teachers are continuously researching, implementing and reflecting on best practices for academic growth and technology integration. Teachers use a variety of formative and summative data to inform instructional decisions. Students are provided multiple opportunities for feedback, revision and continuation of their learning beyond the assessment.

Committed to a culture of improvement, Kennedy utilizes on-going processes and data protocols to assess and reflect on innovative ways to reach all learners.

• From substitution to redefinition: students are able to research authentic problems, connect with real-world experts across the country and present their finding at a community event for the Science on a Sphere

• From one teacher in a room to accessing all teachers from anywhere: through Quicktime screencast, Keynote lesson presentations, and digital communication tools students, using their LTE iPad, are able to connect with multiple teachers (classroom, interventionist, specialists, community partners, coaches, etc…) to provide tiered levels of instruction

• From one right answer to a plethora of possibilities: to demonstrate understanding, students are no longer constrained to traditional assessments: videos, pictures, presentations and more can now showcase their learning.

 

Common Sense Media - Digital Citizenship Award Letter

Digital media and technology are evolving at a dizzying pace, both unlocking extraordinary opportunities and posing real risks for young people. Students are using the immense power of the internet and mobile technology to explore, connect, create, and learn in ways never before imagined, both in and out of the classroom. At the same time, tech use can bring up ethical challenges such as cyberbullying and misinformation and health issues related to media balance and social and emotional well-being. 

Kennedy sees these as teachable moments. We believe that digital citizenship skills have become essential for students in the 21st century, especially this school year. That's why we are committed to teaching our students how to be digital learners, leaders, and citizens. 

Kennedy has just been approved as a Common Sense School, an honor that recognizes our efforts in teaching digital citizenship to young people and engaging the entire school community in this important discussion. The recognition acknowledges our school's commitment to helping students build skills that are essential for their well-being today—and for the opportunities they'll have tomorrow. 

This honor is provided by Common Sense Education, part of a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology.

We are one of the more than 80,000 schools across the country that use Common Sense Education's groundbreaking education resources. As a result, our students are better equipped to navigate the digital world and use devices for learning. 

To learn more about Common Sense Education, visit www.commonsense.org/education

Our Journey 

The vision and dream of 1:1 devices at Kennedy started back in 2016. We were so excited to have these devices for workflow, access and creation. We focused on the teacher usage to access and engage in teaching and learning. We did not consider student usage to appropriately engage in teaching and learning. Just as we taught procedures and routines for behaviors, we needed to do the same for technology. Our digital citizenship journey started with our librarian teaching it. However, one adult in an isolated approach wasn’t having the impact we desired.  

In 2018, The tech task force teacher committee and MTSS-B committee combined efforts to create a multi-prong approach. The librarian would teach digital footprint, privacy and security, the guidance counselor would teach media balance, classroom teachers would teach usage, engage and communication, while the specialist would teach the MTSS-B tech matrix. Leadership supported with cyberbullying and parent engagement. 

By 2019, we saw a decrease in digital drama, broken devices and referrals relating to misuse of technology. Students are now experiencing a consistent message around digital citizenship importance, skills and usage. They were also afforded a safe place to practice and develop these skills. 

One of the greatest benefits of our digital citizenship journey has been the transition from focusing on consumption of media to the creation and interaction to enhance and accelerate learning. Our students now had the skills and understanding of being a good digital citizen that they could create, collaborate and engage with each other successfully with technology. This opened a plethora of opportunities for students to learn in more innovative ways.