Quakertown Community School District (QCSD) announced its national recognition as a ‘Common Sense District,’ awarded for creating a culture where the entire school community is invested in ensuring students thrive as digital learners and technology astute citizens.
With a commitment to taking a whole-community approach to preparing students to use digital media, Common Sense is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping youth and families explore, create, connect, and learn while also working to limit the dangers that exist in the online realm, such as plagiarism, loss of privacy, and cyberbullying.
Earlier in the school year, teachers within the district participated in professional development instruction focused on digital citizenship including a day each week dedicated to learning new and innovative technology known as Tech Tuesdays. Also, district librarians have been working with teachers to help revise curriculum to embed technologically relevant lessons for students throughout the school year focused on topics like civics in digital life, and news and media literacy. Finally, to show their dedication to responsible digital citizenship, all schools participated in Digital Citizen Spirt Week in October 2023. This included students wearing pajamas to school to symbolize a commitment to a good night's rest without cellphones and wearing hats to school as reminder of the importance of online safety and adult supervision.
Richland Elementary student wears a "thinking hat" to remind them to always
ask adults about questionable content they see online
Superintendent Dr. Matthew Friedman noted that as a Common Sense District, the teachers and administrators within the district remain committed to the importance of being good digital citizens while working to provide students with the foundational skills needed to compete and succeed in a modern workplace.
“Being recognized as a Common Sense District reflects the hard work of our teachers and librarians to implement these cutting-edge tools. We are honored to have such a dedicated team,” said Dr. Friedman. “By preparing our students to use technology safely, responsibly and ethically, we are providing them with an advantaged opportunity in this ever-changing digital world.”
Schools across the country have been using Common Sense Education's research-based digital citizenship resources since 2009, which were created in collaboration with researchers from Project Zero, led by Howard Gardner at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The resources provide students, educators, and parents with tangible skills related to internet safety, protecting online reputations and personal privacy, media balance, managing online relationships, and media literacy. The free K-12 curriculum is used in classrooms across all 50 states, in more than 50,000 schools, by more than half a million educators.
"We applaud the faculty and staff of Quakertown Community School District for embracing digital citizenship as an important part of their students' education," said Kelly Mendoza, vice president of education programs at Common Sense Education. “The district 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."
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