"Everything Works, Everyday"

Director:
Keith Palmer

Departmental responsibilities:
Providing and maintaining a stable electronic instructional environment; collaborating with other staff to use information technology to better serve the System’s constituents (students, faculty, staff, administrators, Instructional Technology Specialist* and the public); identifying emerging technologies to meet the System’s changing needs; maintaining the System website to provide useful and relevant information to the public and to facilitate the use of online student instruction; providing governance for the use of software, systems and networks; protecting the System’s investment in technology;

Members of department:

• Alberto Barbat - Technician for Gainesville Middle School
• Shelia Farquhar - Technician for Wood's Mill Academy / Bookkeeper & procurement
• John Garmley - Network technician
• Hazzel Kingsbury - Technician for Gainesville Exploration Academy
• Gretchen Ruppenthal - Technician for New Holland Elementary
• Cedric Spain - Technician for Enota Elementary
• Melanie Terrell - Student Information Systems Specialist
• Debbie Valdez - Technician for Fair Street World IB School
• Jennifer Vega - Technician for Centennial Arts Academy
• Tony Vega - Technician for Gainesville High School / Backup Network technician

Contact our department when you need information or assistance with:

• All system technology purchases
• Installation, setup & configuration of software and computers
• Repair of computers, LCD projectors, printers and other perpherial devices
• Powerschool
• Technology Plans
• System website (each school maintains their individual websites)
• Erate
• Technology work orders
• Software available for download on the KACE
• Web filtering per CIPA regulations
• Wireless networking
• User accounts/logins
• System email

Contact:

• Telephone 770-536-5275
• Fax 770-287-2019

* Gainesville City Schools makes the distinction between technology systems and instructional technology, and who best serves each role. The technology department is responsible for systems - the procurement, installation, configuration and maintenance of the hardware, software, networking and infrastructure that serve as the tools of education in the 21st century. But the hands-on skills necessary to install and maintain this equipment is not the same as those needed to instruct others on how to use technology.

To aid teachers in developing the skills of using technology in instruction, Gainesville City Schools maintains an Instructional Technology Specialist (ITS) at each school. The person chosen for an ITS position holds a current Georgia teaching certificate and has conspicuous talents in using technology as an instructional tool in a K-12 environment. The ITS acts as a "technology coach" to the other teachers in the school.

The technician and ITS positions are symbiotic, yet distinctively separate in purpose and skill sets.