Smart Start Grant

  • The following information pertains to the Ken-Ton School District's Smart Start Grant. For more information, contact Anne Martell.

    Click here to access our Smart Start artifacts

    Outline of Smart Start Program

    The Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda UFSD and Tonawanda City School District partnered in developing our NYSED Smart Start professional learning program for K-8 educators. Each year, a new cohort of educators from both school districts participate in the Smart Start professional development program which is focused on digital literacy and digital citizenship as well as future-ready learning for workforce readiness. 

    All participants complete coursework to earn either a Google Certified Educator (Level 1 or Level 2) certification as well as 15 hours of additional NYSCATE online coursework based on their individual student needs and professional learning goals. Participants earn digital badges to show they have completed NYSCATE coursework. 

    Program Summary

    Title: KTUFSD and TCSC Smart Start Grant

    Focus Area: Educational Technology

    Model: A combination of Cohort and Train the Trainer

    Scale: Focused with the potential structure to reach 500 teachers over five years

    Target Populations: K-8 Teachers, Administrators, Students with purposeful focus on ELLs and SWDs

    Our regional economy’s largest employers need workers with technology skills for current and future careers.  Based on recent surveys, observations and discussions conducted by the technology leadership teams of Kenmore Tonawanda Union Free School District (KTUFSD) and Tonawanda Central School District (TCSD), we have determined that the technology skills of teachers and students are inadequate, leaving our students unprepared for careers in our regional economy.  We specifically found that our students are not being taught how to live safely and productively in a digitally dominated world, how to effectively utilize technology to create, research, communicate, and collaborate, and only a very small percentage of students are graduating with computer science skills.  That is why KTUFSD and TCSD, as a consortium, have combined our resources to create a plan to digitally transform the technology skills of our teachers and students to prepare our graduates with the skills needed to succeed in our regional workforce.

    Program Goals

    Our program’s main goal is to give our teachers the skills needed to teach our students how to live safely and productively in a digitally-dominated world, how to effectively utilize technology to create, research, communicate, and collaborate, and to increase the number of students graduating with computer science skills.  More specifically, we will strive for the following goals:

    Primary Goal: By June 2025, increase digital literacy and digital citizenship skills for all students, with special attention to ELLs and SWDs, to better prepare them for the regional workforce (focus on K-8).

    Secondary Goal: By June 2025, encourage and inspire students, including ELLs and SWDs to enroll in and graduate from our CTE pathways that include computer science and IT to better prepare them for the regional workforce (focus on K-8).

    Name & Contact Information for Smart Start Lead

    Kelly White, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Leadership & Instruction
    email Kelly White
    (716) 874-8400

    Anne Martell, Director for K-12 Education
    email Anne Martell
    (716) 874-8400

    Award Amount

    $220,300