It is a bus, but this latest addition to the Fulton County Schools’ learning toolbox goes beyond just wheels and seats.
“It’s a mobile learning experience,” said Cherisse Campbell, FCS’s Zone 1 superintendent. “It has Wi-Fi – laptops and iPads. A solar generator can run a laser printer. There’s room for 10 kids inside. It’s a draw because it’s fun and cute, but much more is happening around that bus.”
The concept has been a project of Campbell’s since the first post-COVID days, when the district began looking at ways to combat the pandemic’s learning loss.
“We wanted to do education in a different way, and out of that came things like hiring tutors, extending learning times and offering wrap-around services at higher-need high schools,” said Campbell. “The mobile learning experience was another way to do a full-court press to support students and families differently.”
Using a classroom on wheels to reach those students was an extension of what was already happening with other buses. During COVID, they were deployed to deliver lunches; others were turned into mobile libraries. Adding curriculum was a way to provide educational moments across the district.
“It was important to our team that what we did was deep and meaningful,” she said. “We knew we were responding to an urgent need, but we also saw it as a long-term investment.”
It also became a long-term project focusing on literacy, math and science with the additional goal of meeting families and students where they were.
“Breaking down barriers between school and community was important,” stated Campbell. “We talked to families about the types of programming they wanted and the time of day they could participate. With that data, we started doing it right away; it didn’t require a fancy bus. We started doing in-school field trips to test it out.”
Since March 2022, 120 in-school trips have been completed. The program was bolstered by a partnership with Kennesaw State’s iTeach MakerBus that provided insight into what worked best. When the FCS bus rolled out recently, it incorporated similar features such as interactive learning stations, exterior speakers and monitors, lesson-based activities and games that pit parents against fifth graders.
The mobile learning experience is now serving 15 schools, and that number will increase when a second is added in January. And if kids want to call it a bus, Campbell is fine with that.
“Most people just want to see the bus,” she said. “And if that’s what gets them out there, OK.”
Look for the bus at Heards Ferry Elementary in Sandy Springs on Nov. 15 and at Feldwood Elementary in College Park Nov. 29. Both events will run from 4:30-8 p.m. More information is online at fultonschools.org.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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