Classes at Mount Zion Christian Schools in Bedford, New Hampshire have been upgraded to improve academic performance. Every student has been supplied with a laptop computer for daily use in class and at home.
Opened in August, the new school formed with the idea that technology plays an important role in education. The effect it had on student performance proved the idea right.
“The students’ academic performance started to skyrocket,” said Headmaster Homer Allen.
At Mount Zion, teachers post nearly everything online — from class notes and scores, to assignments and comments on the students’ work. By staying online, students can e-mail their teachers at night for extra help, and parents can stay in the loop by looking at the class site online, he said.
Technology is one of three educational philosophies at the school. The other two deal more directly with Christian faith and study.
In what the school calls the “Our Faith in Action” component, students at the lower grades take part in local service projects and students from grades seven through 12 participate in missionary work at regional outreaches and international missions.
“It’s not enough that you have belief in the Lord, you have to do something with it,” Allen said.
The current tuition rate is $5,900 per student. While the school provided free laptop computers this year, Allen said families will have to either buy their own next year or rent one from the school for $600 per year.
