St. Thomas School in Medina, WA has a long history of incorporating laptop programs for students in the third through eighth grades so they can produce videos, compose music, take online math tests, and author book reviews and essays. This year the school expanded the program to include a program for first through second grade students and chose the Surface Pro as the school’s standard device.
St. Thomas School worked closely with Microsoft through the development and testing of the OneNote Class Notebook Creator, a new app that allows teachers to create a personal workspace for every student.
St. Thomas School participated in beta testing of the product and the teachers and students were able to provide valuable insight and feedback
to the Microsoft team.
“St. Thomas School provided us with invaluable real-world feedback as we developed the OneNote Class Notebook Creator,” said Kristin Rhodes,
general manager for education at Microsoft. “We wanted to create an app that was immediately useful for teachers and helps them quickly and easily set up class notebooks for collaborating and sharing content. Working with teachers and students at St. Thomas School through early product testing and programs like the Surface Advisory Council helps us to create innovative learning environments for students.”
By working with the Microsoft Surface team, St. Thomas School has taken a leadership position in the integration between education and technology. To further the collaboration between St. Thomas School and Microsoft, Kimberly Mecham, the school’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, has accepted an invitation to join the Microsoft Surface Advisory Council.
About St. Thomas School
Founded in 1951, St. Thomas School is an independent, non-sectarian, early childhood, elementary and middle school. STS gives students the
intellectual capacity, rigorous critical thinking skills, and strength of character to lead, innovate and collaborate. We serve 300 students on a
55,000 sq. ft. LEED Gold® certified campus on the east side of Lake Washington in Medina. St. Thomas School is one of five schools in the U.S.
selected to be a part of the Microsoft Innovative Schools World Tour. For more information, please see http://www.stthomasschool.org, find them on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @stsfalcons.