3680 Old Oakdale Road
McDonald, Pennsylvania 15057
Phone 412/221.4542 Fax 724/693.0490
www.southfayette.org
Dear South Fayette Township Community Members,
outh Fayette
South Fayette Township S C HO OL DIS T RIC T NE WS
A Year in Review – 2013-2014
T
he South Fayette Township School
District was recently honored
Dr. Bille P. Rondinelli with an induction into the Digital
Superintendent of Schools
Promise League of Innovative Schools,
a national coalition of 46 public
school districts and education agencies in 25 states. Through
this partnership with research institutions, top universities, and
entrepreneurs, the League aims to demonstrate and evaluate
promising ideas and replicate successful initiatives, thereby
accelerating innovation in public education.
The district was accepted into the League of Innovative Schools
due to its success in developing and executing a clearly articulated
strategic vision: to build a science, technology, engineering,
art, and mathematics (STEAM) curriculum by systematically
incorporating engineering and design problem solving, or
computational thinking, into K-12 education.
The South Fayette Township School District considers
computational thinking, which includes computer programming,
to be the new literacy. Superintendent Dr. Bille Rondinelli
explains, “We consider the process of working effectively, and the
ability to be innovative with computer-based technology, to be as
important to our children’s future as the basic reading, writing, and
mathematics literacies.”
By following the existing interdisciplinary science, technology,
engineering, art, and mathematics approach, developing and
testing incubator projects or prototypes and then integrating into
the curriculum alongside professional development experiences,
the STEAM Studio Model is providing students with experiential
learning activities that promote computational thinking both
within the curriculum and in afterschool experiences. The STEAM
Studio Model is transforming teaching and learning in the district.
According to experts in the computational thinking arena, South
Fayette Township School District is one of the few school districts
building a K-12 framework. In particular, the STEAM Studio Model
has been recognized and showcased at regional and national
conferences. In March 2014, students Ben Kenawell, Radhir
Kothuri, Sara Hertzler, and Director of Technology and Innovation
Aileen Owens, along with Josh Sheldon from MIT Media Lab,
presented at the Digital Media Learning Conference in Boston. The
panel presented, “ STEAM Studio Model for Innovation: Building
Robust Learning Ecologies and Pathways.” The South Fayette
students had the honor of being the only high school students
presenting at the conference.
The district’s computational thinking initiative has enlisted the
help of national advisors in computational thinking. Mitch Resnick,
Director of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group, MIT Media Lab, and
Karen Brennan, Assistant Professor at Harvard University Graduate
School of Education, are advisors for the Scratch initiative—
teaching computational concepts, practices, and instilling the joy
of creating through computer programming.
52 South Fayette
Kylie Peppler, an Assistant Professor in the Learning Sciences
Program at Indiana University, Bloomington, and her team
are advisors on the eTextiles initiative – teaching students the
concepts of electrical circuitry by designing programmable
t-shirts through the use of Arduino boards and LED lights. Kylie
and her team provided a two-day workshop for teachers during
South Fayette’s first Summer Institute in July 2013. The team also
provided an eTextiles workshop for teachers from South Fayette
and partner schools, Fort Cherry and Manchester Academic Charter
School (MACS), in January 2014 to prepare for the rollout of the
project. Kylie’s team is also assisting in creating assessments for
computational thinking captured through this project and also
advises on building programs that engage girls in STEAM.
Josh Sheldon, Project Manager, MIT Center for Mobile Learning
at MIT Media Lab, is the acting advisor for the App Inventor
initiative at South Fayette. As South Fayette implements App
Inventor in the 7th grade curriculum and in the afterschool
connected learning initiative, Josh provides guidance on assessing
computational thinking as well as technical advice.
Impact: Providing Outreach to the Pittsburgh Region
Through generous support from The Grable Foundation, The
South Fayette Township School District is sharing the STEAM
Studio Model for Innovation by providing a variety of outreach
services to local school districts in the 2013-2014 school term,
which include: (1) curriculum development, teacher training, and
classro