RONDOUT VALLEY � As school budgets become tighter, administrations throughout the country are increasingly looking for creative, cost-effective ways to further the quality of their education, and the capabilities of their teachers. Technology is one such growing avenue for success; there is a steady stream of both computer software, and hardware, being developed to aid both staff and students. Teachers from different levels, and locations, can use those advanced technological innovations to share improved curriculum-shaping strategies. Here in our region, Rondout Valley Central School District and nearby SUNY Ulster have created a partnership program, fittingly called Rondout + Ulster Connect, which addresses exactly these kinds of advancement efforts.

This past January, Rondout Superintendent Rosario Agostaro and SUNY Ulster President Donald Katt formalized a burgeoning idea to combine the collective expertise of each institution, and launched the Connect to pursue a new era of cross-curricular progress. With Stone Ridge's SUNY Ulster attracting so many Rondout High School graduates, the primary goal of the initiative is to help develop a cohesive set of curricula and standards that will effectively take students from elementary school through the college level, continually preparing them to excel at the next tier of study; as the official literature succinctly puts it, to "seamlessly educate." As the initiative took shape, and an increasing number of teachers and faculty from both schools began to get involved, the process culminated with the initial Connect symposium, which took place in April at SUNY Ulster.

Rondout's Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Timothy Wade, has and continues to be an instrumental force in the planning and management of the partnership. According to Dr. Wade, the wide spectrum approach of the forum is in lock-step with New York State's new "P through 22" concept of educating; that is, from Pre-School through College, as a whole and consistent approach, rather than simply addressing each educational level as if it existed independently. The technology, says Dr. Wade, enables these improvements on many levels.

By utilizing the cornucopia of online tools available, a host of considerable costs are mitigated. Money for everything from travel and meal expenses for seminars, to extra funds to pay additional substitutes, are reduced when teachers and faculty can gain that crucial knowledge on their laptop computers. Because instructors, and institutions, are teaching each other about their own fields of expertise � both in technology, and methodology � time and money that would go to professional development instructors is also saved.

"This is, absolutely, a very cost-effective way to improve instruction," Dr. Wade asserts.

April's well-attended Connect Seminar was an opportunity to establish the kinds of collaboration possibilities that the two faculties can accomplish. A range of technological tools were explored: from advanced document cameras that allow educators to design lessons with a broader range of visual aids, to "livescribe" technology that allows teachers � and students � to record class discussion while taking notes, and then transfer that information to their computers. Interactive online tools are an integral part of the progress to enable more successful coursework: online syllabi, calendars, resource and Q&A pages are available, not only to students, but to parents who want to be apprised of the work their child is addressing in a given course.

Dr. Wade and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Michelle Donlon, work continually with SUNY Ulster's Instructional Designer, Hope Windle, and Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. John Ganio, to coordinate the next Connect event, to be held October 2 at Rondout Middle School. More than one dozen cross-curricular teams that were formed at the first meeting are each working on a particular presentation for this next seminar, using technological and pedagogical innovations to exemplify what a new, seamless educational system can look like. For example, librarians from the high school and college are working on cross-linking library resources, as well as preparing a tutorial on the college library system for soon-to-be graduates.

Superintendent Agostaro is more than enthusiastic about the initiative, and hopes to continue the work well beyond October's event.

"It is all about creating opportunities to dialogue and share ideas," says Agostaro. "This collaborative process, I am sure, will create extraordinary results for our students."