Technology

Philosophy

Blessed Trinity has always been forward-thinking when it comes to computers in the classroom.  Students at Blessed Trinity do not have a separate computer class or teacher.  The teachers each use technology as a tool within their curriculum to create projects, papers, presentations and help students to individualize their instruction.  Students are encouraged to work creatively and to the level of their ability when using technology to enhance their work.  Computers are everywhere in today's society and businesses, and we prepare our students with skills they will need in their future.  By the time a student graduates from Blessed Trinity, they can independently work with:

Hardware

Blessed Trinity is equipped with a computer in every classroom that is networked with internet access and file server connection.  Each campus has a full 25-user PC-based computer lab, and the Nicollet campus has additional use of a mobile wireless laptop lab.  We have a full T-1 line for internet access.

The Penn campus lab is complete with 25 student PCs and one teacher PC.  The PCs are Pentium 4 2.8GHz processors with 512MB RAM, 17" monitors and Windows XP Professional operating system.  All PCs are networked at 100Mbps with Internet access and file server connection.  The lab also has an HP Color LaserJet printer and a scanner.  The monitors were acquired using funds from the Best Buy Richfield Kids Technology Initiative grant awarded in the spring of 2003 and were purchased from the Minnesota Computers for Schools program that uses donations from corporations and businesses to rebuild for schools.

The Nicollet campus lab is complete also with 25 student PCs, a teacher PC and a photo station PC.  These PCs are 1.4GHz refurbished Dell GX110 systems with 512MB RAM, 17" monitors and Windows XP Professional operating system.  The lab has an HP LaserJet and HP Color LaserJet printer and a scanner.  The PCs in the Nicollet lab were acquired with a combination of donations and part of the Best Buy Richfield Kids Technology Initiative grant awarded in the spring of 2004 and were purchased from PartStock PC.

The Nicollet and Penn computer labs each have a multimedia projector allowing teachers to connect to a computer and project the image of what they are instructing onto a screen for the students to see.  The Nicollet campus has an additional mobile projector to be used in classrooms.  In addition, each campus has two digital cameras and a digital video camera for use by teachers in the classroom and for student projects.

The Middle School has a wireless mobile laptop lab that consists of 24 laptops that travel in a cart with power, network connection and printer.  The students use the laptops right in their classroom to keep on-task with curriculum integration activities.  The laptops are Pentium III 650 MHz with 256 MB RAM with Windows XP Professional operating system purchased from PartStock PC.

Software

All computers school-wide include Microsoft Office XP, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  Students also use Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox when "surfing the web."

Students at the Penn campus use the following educational software:

Students at the Nicollet campus use the following educational software: