Borgia's iPad Initiative | Semester Report Cards | Borgia Fest 2012
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BORGIA'S IPAD INITIATIVE 
The Chicago Public School ITS says it well:
"The iPad is poised to transform learning as we know it. The iPad is an ideal product for education because it can support students in problem solving by facilitating easy access to the world of information, provide easy to use ways to collaborate with people near and far, and it provides easy to use tools for personal expression, Using iBooks, iTunes, and hundreds of thousands of resources available for the iPad, provides innovative and up-to-date resources for all of our students. The potential for success is unlimited.
We will no longer be thinking in terms of textbooks and will instead, be using the iPad's dynamic content, with animation, movies, video, and other multimedia built in. We will go from trying to feed PDF textbooks into portable devices to building interactive, dynamic applications that students carry with them."
St. Francis Borgia Regional High School has determined that beginning with the 2012-2013 school year we will require all of our students to have an iPad.
This is an ambitious undertaking for us as a Borgia family. We recognize, however, that this is our future. The teachers have had iPad2s since mid-September; they have been exploring the digital content available in their respective disciplines and are generating potential uses within their classrooms. Although there are many uses for the iPad, the driving force for this transition is to eventually replace the textbooks that are currently in the student's backpacks, with an iPad.
It would be very costly and ineffective for Borgia to own and distribute iPads to our students; we will, therefore, require that all of our students have their own iPad by the start of school next year. We realize this is an additional cost. We also realize that for some families it would be difficult to come up with the additional money.
The Bank of Washington has contacted us and presented us with a very generous plan to help make the iPad more affordable for our families. Please check out the brochure created by the Bank of Washington. This is an excellent idea for all of our students to generate credit, obtain $100, and get an iPad at the same time.
We are recommending the iPad2, 16GB with Wi-Fi and iOS5. The cost is $499 through the Apple Store. It is also available at numerous local stores. (Any generation of the iPad will be acceptable.)
If after checking out the offer from the Bank of Washington you determine there is still a financial hardship, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Wingbermuehle. There are other arrangements that can be made.
SEMESTER REPORT CARDS
With the start of a new year a new semester gets underway at Borgia. The first semester exams are being corrected and the grades are being recorded; report cards for semester one will be posted on Family Access by Friday, January 6. Paper report cards for those who have notified the office that they still require them will be mailed the same day.
Term 1 Report Cards are already available on Family Access. These are available by clicking on "Report Cards" on the left side of the screen. Select "Term 1 11-12" to open this Report Card as a Word Document which can be viewed and printed. Once the Semester Report Cards are posted to Family Access, this report will also appear under the "Report Cards" link as Semester 1 11-12. If you haven't already done so, please notify Chris Feldmann at 636-239-7871, ext. 111 if you need to receive paper report cards via USPS.
BORGIA FEST 2012
Mark your calendar now for the third annual Borgia Fest which will be held on the Borgia campus on Friday, April 27 from 4 PM to 11 PM and again on Saturday, April 28 from 11 AM to 11 PM.
Once again, there will be carnival rides, food, game booths, music, and fun for everyone!
Music will include bands for both teens and adults. Jeremiah Johnson will play Friday night from 7-11 PM. On Saturday night from 7-11 PM the Ralph Butler Band will play. They will be preceded by Ken Schmitt and Friends. Borgia's Jazz Band will play on Saturday afternoon from 2-3:30 PM.
If you would like to be a part of the planning committee for this event, there is a meeting on Tuesday, January 17 in the cafeteria at 7 PM.