St. Mary’s Ryken Launches Responsive Website
To prepare students for the increasingly global and continually changing world, St. Mary’s Ryken has developed two unique learning programs – the 1:1 iPad program and X-PAX – and launched a new website to make it safer and easier for parents and students to find the information they need.
The new website is responsive and multi-device friendly. Whether you access the SMR site from an iPad, computer or mobile phone, the page content will be sized in proportion to the viewing screen. Check it out for yourself at www.smrhs.org.
Learn more at the Open House on Sunday, Nov. 17, from 12-3 pm.
Both the iPads and the Xaverian Programs of Academic Excellence (X-PAX) allow teachers to customize content for the classroom.
X-PAX is a highly selective program where advanced students are placed in accelerated curriculum concentrations for a more rigorous course of study. Program concentrations are in computer science, STEM-X, medicine & health sciences, language arts & social sciences, and international relations & global studies.
With iPads, students have access to a myriad of learning materials and online resources, not just textbooks. While the media is filled with discussions on the pros and cons of using these devices in the classroom, SMR teachers Theresa Wood and Jason Delucco haven’t seen any downside.
“The sheer excitement of having technology in their hands increased their excitement for class,” said Mr. Delucco. “There have been more benefits than problems with the technology,” he continued. “Mainly for me, the iPads save paper. There’s only one day every two weeks that I have to run copies.”
“This generation of high schoolers has grown up with computers and email and gadgets,” said Mrs. Wood. “Engaging students in the classroom had become more challenging. They’re so used to having everything right now.”
Mr. Delucco readily concurs: “Students will search for answers immediately on the iPads if a question comes up.”
The iPad is taking the place of textbooks, notebooks, calculators and paper tests. And, sometimes, it may take the place of raising your hand. Students can answer teacher questions on a survey application and watch as results pour in from their classmates. Don’t get the idea that students keep to themselves and keep their heads down during class; there is still much back-and-forth discussion, according to the two teachers.
Perhaps the best part of using an iPad, said several students, is that there’s not another textbook to lug around – or to forget to bring to class. They also enjoy being able to poke around inside a 3-D image of the human brain in psychology class to see where the frontal lobe and cerebellum are located.
Learning today is image learning, not just lectures and reading,” said Mrs. Wood, “We still have class lectures though, and a student can record it to listen later.”
To learn more about St. Mary’s Ryken and to speak with faculty and administrators, plan to attend the Open House on Sunday, Nov. 17 from 12-3 pm. SMR is located at 22600 Camp Calvert Rd., Leonardtown, Md., 20650. You can contact the Admissions Office at 301-373-4183 or via email at [email protected].
St. Mary’s Ryken is a Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory school dedicated to academic excellence and individualized student growth, and is one of 13 Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools in the United States. The years a student spends at a Xaverian school are marked by college preparatory, challenging academics and by many opportunities: the sharing of talents through community service; the forming of lifelong friendships; the camaraderie of athletics; and the partaking in celebrations of faith.
Students come from many different counties across the region, including Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, King George, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s counties.
