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INDIANAPOLIS — The Metropolitan School District (MSD) of Decatur Township announces it’s the only school district in Indianapolis awarded a $700,000 two-year grant through T-Mobile's EmpowerED program. As a result of this funding, every student enrolled at MSD of Decatur Township in grades 3-8 for the 2018-19 school year will receive a personal MiFi hotspot at no cost to the students, providing equal access to online learning.
The awarded 3,500 MiFi hotspots serve as mobile WiFi devices that can connect to a provided cellular network and grant student’s internet access outside of the classroom and campus.
“We are grateful to T-Mobile for awarding our school district this tremendous opportunity,” said Dr. Matt Prusiecki, superintendent of MSD of Decatur Township. “The MiFi hotspots are an incredible resource that will allow our students to remain connected at all times, as well as provide our teachers the flexibility to incorporate additional digital learning opportunities into their curriculums.”
The school district’s innovative, technologically advanced pathway-driven curriculum and digital approaches secured the grant. In addition, MSD of Decatur Township is a one-to-one school district, meaning each student is given an iPad to utilize throughout the course of the school year. Now with the help of T-Mobile’s grant, MSD of Decatur Township students can take full advantage of the technology, which helps the school district continue to close the digital divide.
“This grant opens up endless opportunities for our school district,” said Jeff McMahon, chief information officer of MSD of Decatur Township. “The MiFi hotspots will have a huge impact on our students and give them the advantage as we continue to transform our teaching styles and learning approaches to match the 21st Century mindset.”
The EmpowerED grant compliments MSD of Decatur Township’s recently implemented CN ePortfolio, which is CourseNetworking’s online platform that has every student’s credentials and characteristics all housed in one virtual location. The recent integration of the technology benefits MSD of Decatur Township’s existing innovative and digital-focused curriculums and gives its students a competitive edge amongst other local school districts.