CINCINNATI -- A grant will allow two Cincinnati Public Schools to get 24/7 internet access, tablets and technology coaches for the school year.
Roberts Paideia Academy in East Price Hill and Sayler Park School are among 50 schools around the country to receive a $3.6 million grant as a part of Verizon Innovative Learning.
About 250 devices for students in sixth through eighth grade will be ready when they return in the fall. In addition to tablets, the program provides a four-year data plan to each student and teacher. The schools also receive training on how to best use the technology in the classroom.
Alpacino Beauchamp, principal at Roberts Paideia Academy, said the technology provides continuity between technology during school, in after-school programs and at home.
"We have 63 percent of our students are from Hispanic/Latino background, about 90 percent of them are English learners,” Beauchamp said. “It's an integrated piece of our curriculum here at Roberts Academy to develop the language proficiency of our English learners as well as our native speakers.”
The tablets will accompany traditional textbooks and hands-in learning at Roberts Paideia Academy.