October 5, 2006 - President Bush visits SmartLab in Washington D.C.

Praises “Innovative” Program

October 5th, 2006 – Today, President George W. Bush visited a Creative Learning Systems SmartLab at Woodridge Elementary and Middle campus in Washington, D.C. Accompanied by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, President Bush visited Woodridge where he met with students working in a SmartLab. The President later spoke about his observations describing the SmartLab as, “an innovative program that teaches people practical skills.”

Friendship Public Charter School’s Woodridge Elementary and Middle campus is a PreK-8 program serving students in Washington D.C. Woodridge is one of the few public schools to exceed D.C. academic standards for each of the last three years. Woodridge’s student population is 99% African-American and 81% of its students come from low-income families.

Installed in 2004, the SmartLab is a core element in the Woodridge educational program. With its project-based, student-centered approach, Woodridge students develop critical thinking, project-planning and collaboration skills. Structured to support authentic assessment, students develop portfolios of their work, documenting and presenting their learning. Among the technology-based projects Woodridge students demonstrated for President Bush and Secretary Spellings, were digital media productions, robotics, data acquisition with scientific probeware, pneumatics and physical and computer simulations.

Max Brooks, Facilitator of the Woodridge SmartLab said, “Our students are constantly challenged in the SmartLab. Working together, they apply both simple and complex technologies to learning in a way that is engaging, personally relevant, and directly supports their core academic studies."

Creative Learning Systems has developed SmartLabs for several Friendship Public Charter Schools. In addition to Woodridge, CLS has designed and installed SmartLabs at Blow Pierce Junior Academy and the Collegiate Academy at Carter G. Woodson campus where it also designed and installed a complete video production studio. Most recently, CLS installed the first SmartLab designed specifically for elementary age learners at Friendship’s Chamberlain Elementary campus. Matt Dickstein, CEO at Creative Learning Systems said, “We are very proud of our long-standing educational partnership with Friendship Public Charter Schools. It’s a privilege to work with their dedicated staff and to help provide such an exceptional educational opportunity for a traditionally underserved community.”

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