ROB CHANDLER, CEO

About one year ago, we started talking to parents and students about the idea of a Classroom of the Future and the benefits a high-tech classroom space could bring to the learning process. This spring semester, we are pleased to announce the launch of Fairmont's first Technology Education Center at our Mable campus. Plans are currently underway for the development of a second "TEC Lab" at our Anaheim Hills campus, and the installation of a third lab at our Edgewood campus will follow.

Fairmont's TEC Lab was designed to introduce students and teachers to new technologies in order to enhance the educational experience in a positive and effective way. The Technology Education Center will function both as a laboratory and as a lecture hall. Classes will be assigned to the lab on a regular basis, and teachers will build the lab's tools into their lesson plans in order to engage their students further into study. Equipment and tools that teachers gravitate to, and find to be exceptionally effective for teaching and learning, will migrate down into other classrooms. As new technologies become available and are assessed for their educational value, they will be added to the lab and tested by our teachers and staff.

Fairmont's first lab is equipped with several promising elements that were selected by faculty and IT administrative staff as items that could be beneficial to the elementary learning experience. For an introduction to the equipment within Mable's TEC Lab, please click on the following link: TEC_LAB_Introduction.pdf

At Fairmont Private Schools we believe that maintaining excellence in education includes staying abreast of new ways we can enhance the learning process for our students.  As a parent, you are familiar with several aspects of the progressive curriculum that Fairmont leadership has put together to achieve this.  Programs such as our Accelerated Reading and Advanced Math programs challenge our students at their individual levels and provide a unique and special learning process for our students.

One area within our research that is beginning to contribute significantly to our understanding of the most effective ways to educate our students is neuroscience.  Neuroscience research has begun to reveal many of the brain's secrets, including its remarkable plasticity - that is, its ability to change and to develop stronger and more numerous neural connections.  As parents and educators, we can be interested in neural connections because they are what give rise to cognitive skills, and are what enable our children to take in, process, understand and remember what we are trying to teach them. 

Recently we discovered a new program called BrainWare Safari that focuses on developing 41 cognitive skills.  Children who have used the program have experienced significant cognitive growth, and in short, we believe this program holds a tremendous promise in helping students get the most out of the curriculum and teaching that Fairmont provides. 

We have arranged for parents of students at all Fairmont Private Schools to have access to this extraordinary new program, which can be purchased on a voluntary basis at a special discount.  Fairmont has also arranged for computers to be available during Extended Day Programs (to students whose families have purchased the program) in order to supplement the student's use of the program at home. We hope you will be able to attend BrainWare Safari's presentation this evening at 7:30pm on the Anaheim Hills Campus.

Thank you!

The first progress reports of the year are being distributed this week, and I'm pleased to announce that Fairmont has adopted a new format and procedure as part of our continual effort to streamline communication between our schools and our families. 

In the past, Fairmont teachers sent progress reports home with their students.  This school year, and beginning this week, Fairmont will mail progress reports directly to home addresses.  The progress reports will appear in a format that is consistent with the look of actual report cards.  (For an example progress report, click the link below.) 

Sample_Progress_Report.pdf

As you know, Fairmont is working diligently to release NetClassroom to parents by October 15th.  NetClassroom is a user-friendly software that allows parents to check their child's grades, class schedule and assignments online.  Additional features allow parents to print report cards and unofficial transcripts from the convenience of their home or office. 

As a school group, we are pleased to introduce NetClassroom to parents of 2^nd - 12^th grade students, and believe our use of the software will help to include parents in the educational process in a very positive way.

A letter with updated information pertaining to NetClassroom was mailed to all Fairmont families today, and a copy of the letter is available at the below link:

NetClassroom_Update.pdf

Hello, and welcome to the Fairmont blogs. People are what make an educational institution great--so whether you are a current parent, prospective parent, a student, graduate, staff member, teacher, visitor or neighbor, your interest and enthusiasm are valued and appreciated.

As a school group, we are pleased to offer faculty and director blogs as a format to foster communication and spirit throughout the Fairmont Community. As our staff becomes more acquainted with the blogging system and our blogroll continues to grow, I hope you will become a frequent visitor and will post comments often.

I look forward to keeping in touch with you this way, and to posting again soon!

Here's to a great school year ahead!