During the summer of 2019, Lake Taylor Middle was officially changed to Lake Taylor School housing grades 3 through 8.  A technology focus was selected during the fall as the Apple Pathway designation of Lake Taylor became effective May 2020.  All teachers received MacBooks and iPads with explicit professional development.  Summer 2020, teachers completed their Apple Teacher certifications independently.  This increased their capacity to utilize the devices and implement their use into their instructional day.  Fall 2021, Fairlawn Elementary joined Lake Taylor School where we now service students in kindergarten to 8th grade.  All students wear uniforms with their tops designating their grade level and all students wear khaki bottoms.  Through perseverance and teamwork, we are off to a great start and look forward to great achievements from our students and staff.

Becoming an Apple Pathway school transforms the classroom into an innovative environment that enhances teaching and learning to impact student achievement.  Lake Taylor is destined to be an Apple Distinguished School because the teachers have been motivated to learn new skills to enhance learning in their classrooms.  Teachers will continue to receive professional development from Apple Professional Learning Specialists that is aligned with the school's instructional development and improvement plans.  For example, our new Creative Writing course students will use Apple devices and applications to create a newsletter.  Coaching and mentoring from the District Instructional Technology Resource Teachers (ITRT) and our new Technology Integration Program Specialists (TIPS) help teachers to integrate technology into their lessons.  We are already seeing teachers and students enhancing their learning by using free Apple apps and programs on their iPads.  They are discovering more of what technology offers daily.  

A group of teachers were selected to be Apple Ambassadors for the school and participate in targeted professional learning to increase engagement through the use of apps and activities.  Teachers can volunteer to sign up for professional learning with specialists and will create a digital portfolio to catalog their learning tools by the end of the school year.  The goal is to create a train-the-trainer model so teachers can learn professionally from each other about utilizing engagement practices with technology.

Lake Taylor School is a full one-to-one school.  All students have an iPad issued to them for the duration of the school year. Our newly renovated media center has three 3-D printers with one additionally housed in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) classroom.   We also have two iMac labs for our CTE course students.  The basic tenets of Lake Taylor will be that all students will be able to become Computational Thinkers, Innovative Designers, Global Collaborators, and Digital Citizens taken from the VirginiaDepartment of Education Digital Learning Integration Standards of Learning for public schools.  The integrated curriculum will be used by all teachers and students.  Implementation began the 2021-2022 school year and will go cohesively with the emphasis of technology at Lake Taylor.