Eastchester Middle School certified as a Common Sense School

Eastchester Middle School certified as a Common Sense School

Recognized by Common Sense Media for

Teaching Digital Citizenship

From Eastchester Middle School Principal Scott Wynne:

Common Sense Media, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids and families thrive in a world of digital media and technology, has certified Eastchester Middle School as a Common Sense School for educating its students to be safe, smart, and ethical digital citizens.

Eastchester Middle School has demonstrated its commitment to taking a whole-community approach to preparing its students to use the immense power of digital media to explore, create, connect, and learn, while limiting the perils that exist in the online realm, such as plagiarism, loss of privacy, and cyberbullying.

“We applaud Eastchester Middle School for embracing digital citizenship as an important part of their students’ education,” said Rebecca Randall, vice president of education programs for Common Sense Media. “Eastchester Middle School deserves high praise for giving its students the foundational skills they need to compete and succeed in the 21st-century workplace and participate ethically in society at large.”

Eastchester Middle School has been using Common Sense Media’s innovative and research-based digital literacy and citizenship resources, which were created in collaboration with Dr. Howard Gardner of the GoodPlay Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The resources teach students, educators, and parents tangible skills related to Internet safety, protecting online reputation and personal privacy, what to share and what not to share, managing online relationships, and respecting creative copyright. The free resources are currently used in more than 65,000 classrooms nationwide.

“We're honored to be recognized as a Common Sense School,” said Scott Wynne, Principal of Eastchester Middle School. “By preparing our students to use technology safely and responsibly, we are providing them unlimited opportunities to maximize and personalize their learning. Our Digital Citizenship and Independent Inquiry classes enhance our already strong course offerings in helping to prepare our students for post-secondary education and the 21st-century workplace. Special recognition must be given to EMS teachers John Blaser, Mary Ann Bernarducci, Anthony Rich and Andrew Weiss for their expertise in designing, developing and implementing this program at EMS.”

For more information about Eastchester Middle School, go to http://ems.eastchesterschools.org/m2/. To learn more about the criteria Eastchester Middle School had to meet to become certified as a Common Sense School, visit http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/certification.