Today through Saturday, the Henrico County Public School (HCPS) system will host one of two site visits nationwide by the National School Board Association (NSBA) and will showcase its technology, according to a Richmond.com article. Dozens of school leaders from across the nation are expected to attend.
HCPS is the only school system in Virginia ever selected for this honor and one of a handful in the U.S. selected during the 17-year history of these annual site visits, according to school spokesperson Janet Binns. In 1996, the Henrico school division was awarded NSBA’s prestigious Technology Leadership Network District Salute.
HCPS was chosen for a site visit for many reasons, one of which is the school system’s vision to close the digital divide by providing computers and Internet access to all students, Binns said. Henrico schools recently teamed with Apple and launched the Teaching and Learning Technology Initiative. iBooks were deployed to all high school students and teachers at the beginning of the 2001-02 school year. Middle school students and teachers received laptops the following school year.
HCPS has also been named one of the Top 10 Technology Districts in the nation by the staff of District Administration magazine. An article about the Top 10 designation in the December 2002 edition of the publication noted that Henrico was chosen “because it was the first district to give Apple iBook laptop computers to every sixth- through 12th-grader.”