SMART Technologies

Mariemont City School District achieves top marks with SMART products

Three-time Blue Ribbon Award winner chooses SMART products to support inquiry-based learning

CALGARY, Alberta --- August 24, 2005 --- SMART Technologies Inc. announces that Mariemont City School District (MCSD) in Cincinnati, Ohio, has standardized on SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards and Sympodium® interactive pen displays for its five schools, which serve more than 1,700 K–12 students. The U.S. Department of Education has named Mariemont a Blue Ribbon Award school district three times, with a fourth nomination this year. Superintendent Gerald Harris credits the recognition in part to the district’s effective use of SMART products, which support inquiry-based learning. Since 1997, the Ohio Department of Education’s State Report Card has awarded MCSD its highest rating, placing Mariemont in the top five percent of all Ohio school districts.

SMART products facilitate an inquiry-based learning model at MCSD, where students interact with lesson materials and explore topics via the Internet and multimedia. With the help of local SMART reseller SmartEd Services*, MCSD has equipped classrooms with various front- and rear-projection interactive whiteboards and interactive pen displays to accommodate different room configurations. The district has also integrated various classroom technology tools with SMART products, including digital projectors, wireless laptops, streaming video, document cameras, microscopes, video-on-demand, Polycom videoconferencing and high-speed Internet connections.

“Through standardized tests, we’ve been evaluating for the past few years how our students perform using higher-order thinking skills. Test scores have shown that our students are doing better in these cognitive areas, and, without a doubt, we believe there is a direct impact on intellectual engagement and gain using this technology,” says James Renner, principal at Mariemont High School. “The quality of classroom discussions has been elevated to higher levels because of what SMART’s interactive products allow us to do.”

“Not only is this technology helping student learning, but it is also invigorating teachers. SMART products are the only technology elements that we’ve introduced to our district that have not resulted in reluctant adoption,” says Gerald Harris, superintendent of MCSD. “The teachers are driving the initiative to implement this interactive technology because they see it changing the way they deliver instruction for the better.”

“School districts are always looking for proven classroom technology solutions to improve student engagement and learning outcomes. Many jurisdictions around the world have standardized on SMART products for these reasons,” says Nancy Knowlton, SMART’s president and co-CEO. “Mariemont City School District demonstrates the strong link between dedicated classroom use of SMART products during instruction and elevated levels of student achievement.”

About SMART Board interactive whiteboards
The SMART Board interactive whiteboard is a large, touch-sensitive display. Connected to a computer and projector, the interactive whiteboard is like a giant computer screen that students and teachers simply touch to operate. Using their finger or a pen as a mouse, teachers and students can access and control any computer application, file or multimedia platform, including the Internet, CD-ROMs and DVDs. They can also write over applications in digital ink, then save their work for future study and review. The SMART Board interactive whiteboard engages students with diverse learning styles by providing both immediate access to a wide range of digital materials and a common focus for the entire class – not something easily achieved with other technologies. It is the number one choice among primary and secondary school educators in more than 75 countries worldwide because the pioneering software interface captures the imagination of students of all backgrounds and abilities in order to help them learn together, understand better and achieve more. For more information, visit www.smarttech.com/smartboard.

About Mariemont City School District
Founded more than 125 years ago, the Mariemont City School District (K–12) consists of five school buildings with more than 1,700 students. Mariemont High School is the first and only high school in Ohio to receive the U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award three times – in 2002, 1989 and 1985 – based on a comprehensive educational program, including both academic and extracurricular offerings. Ninety percent of the high school’s graduating class matriculates to a two- or four-year college. For more information, visit www.mariemontschools.org.

About SmartEd Services*
SmartEd Services, a division of Cleveland Corporate Services, Inc., is a premier provider of educational technologies that inform, entertain and enlighten. With regional representatives in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, SmartEd Services works with educators to create cost-effective, interactive learning environments for all students, where the most advanced curriculum and instructional technologies combine to support learning and increase proficiency levels. For more information, call 800.251.4077 or visit www.teachsmart.org.

Please note that SMART is written in all capital letters.