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Greece Central plans to expand 'Ignite' elementary special to primary schools next year
Summary
The district described Ignite—a project-based special aligned to computer science and digital fluency standards and SEL—currently in seven elementary schools, with plans to expand to the four K–2 primary schools next year after curriculum refinement and additional staffing.
District staff presented Ignite, a new elementary special designed to teach computer science and digital fluency standards alongside social-emotional learning. Todd Smith and other administrators said the special—rebranded from an initial 'Innovation and Wellness' working title—was piloted at Patty Hill and Pine Brook and expanded to seven of 11 elementary schools this year.
Smith described lessons broken into phases (research, design, construction) and gave a classroom example called the "pipeline challenge," in which students design and build an apparatus to move a golf ball across a distance while considering constraints that teach computational thinking and physics. He emphasized that Ignite often begins without devices to focus on design thinking and teamwork, then crosses back to literacy, math and science standards.
The district said it hopes to expand Ignite to primary (K–2) schools next year but acknowledged that additional staff and curriculum refinement are required. A short video of student feedback was shown during the presentation and board members asked about career-awareness links and next steps for secondary pathways.
No formal vote was taken; the board received the update and asked staff to return with implementation details as expansion planning continues.
