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Common Sense, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids and families thrive in a world of media and technology, has recognized Austin’s Banfield, Neveln, Southgate, and Sumner elementary schools as Common Sense Schools according to the district on Wednesday.

Austin’s elementary schools have demonstrated a commitment to taking a whole-community approach to preparing their students to think critically and use technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate while preparing them for the perils that exist in the online realm, such as plagiarism, loss of privacy, and cyberbullying.

The recognition acknowledges our school’s commitment to creating a culture of digital citizenship.

 “We applaud the faculty and staff of Austin’s elementary schools for embracing digital citizenship as an important part of their students’ education,” said Liz Kline, vice president of education programs at Common Sense Education. “They deserve high praise for giving their students the foundational skills they need to compete and succeed in the 21st-century workplace and participate ethically in society at large.”

The schools have been using Common Sense Education’s innovative and research-based digital citizenship resources, which were created in collaboration with researchers from Project Zero, led by Howard Gardner at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and are grounded in the real issues students and teachers face. 

The resources teach students, educators, and parents tangible skills related to internet safety, protecting online reputations and personal privacy, media balance, managing online relationships, and media literacy. The free K–12 curriculum is used in classrooms across all 50 states, in more than 80,000 schools by more than 1,00,000 educators.

 “We’re honored for our elementary sites to be recognized as Common Sense Schools,” said Superintendent Dr. Joey Page. “By preparing our students to use technology safely and responsibly, we are providing them an opportunity to build lifelong habits to help them succeed in a tech-driven world. This aligns nicely with our mission to prepare all learners to make a difference in the world.”

 Austin Technology Integrationists Josh McRae and Jer Osgood were instrumental in helping achieve this incredible honor.