I
t started out as an old prison bus. Now, it’s a mobile classroom for pre-K students in rural Montgomery County. The Eagle Express mobile classroom is a place for students to read and practice their vocabulary skills while parents learn strategies to help them succeed in kindergarten. A teacher reads aloud and students can check out books to take home, but their favorite part of the bus is the 55-inch interactive panel and the iPads that are loaded with educational games. “Most of our students don’t have high-speed Internet access at home,” said Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Hugh Kight. “We’ve found a lot of our students in rural areas don’t come to school until kindergarten, so they are behind. This helps them get a little better prepared.” Montgomery County Schools serves around 900 elementary through high school students spread over several small, rural communities. Some 72 percent of students in the county qualify for free and reduced lunch.
Every day, the bus parks in a different location in the community. Since the program started two years ago, the district’s kindergarten readiness scores have improved 12 percent. All across America, technology has transformed learning in the classroom. Printed textbooks have been replaced with digital ones. Smart boards enable teachers and students to better interact and collaborate, and a host of educational apps are being used for everything from teaching world history to taking virtual field trips abroad. Beyond the classroom, students can search the Internet for help with their homework, as well as remotely connect with teachers and download study materials and classroom resources. When school is closed for inclement weather, some districts, such as Gwinnett, DeKalb and Forsyth counties, even offer “virtual learning days” so students can keep up with their assignments. The only things students need to take advantage of these free resources is a computer and a reliable high-speed Internet connection at home, which many rural Georgia students still don’t have.
EVERY DAY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY’S EAGLE EXPRESS BUS PARKS IN A DIFFERENT LOCATION IN THE COMMUNITY. ‘Most of our students don’t have high-speed Internet access at home,’ said Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Hugh Kight. ‘We’ve found a lot of our students in rural areas don’t come to school until kindergarten, so they are behind. This helps them get a little better prepared.’ Since the program started two years ago, the district’s kindergarten readiness scores have improved 12 percent.
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October/November 2019