In November 2024, during the presidential election, Colorado citizens voted on bonds that would provide government funding for the Cherry Creek School District to implement changes in all schools, such as renovating and rebuilding Cherry Creek High School’s Educational Support Center, and adding new commodities, like a pool, to Overland. All schools around the district will have new safety and security improvements, as well as new 80-inch touchscreen flat panel monitors in every classroom, which are set to replace projectors. 

The new flat panels feature an 80-inch display screen and come with a handful of new features designed to enhance students’ learning. These features include the ability for teachers to draw on the boards with their hands and project their screens onto students’ computers. 

The plans for these new flat panels have been discussed in the district for about four years and were finally set in motion about a year and a half ago. The traditional projectors that the schools usually use are outdated, so the switch to the new flat panels was decided upon for a new, dynamic approach to learning.

“Most of our projectors are eight years old, and very expensive to maintain, and they’re nearing the end of life. After research, surveys, and pilots, we decided flat panels were the way to go,” the District Director of Information Technology, Nick Stevens, said. 

Implementing this new technology can be a lengthy and tedious process. Stevens and his crew visit every classroom in every school and site to survey all steps that need to be taken before installation.

However, many teachers are feeling conflicted about the new flat panels, as they will affect their students’ learning, for better or worse.

“I think there is a learning curve; it takes some time for them to adjust and learn how to use it, or maybe even some time to learn from it,” Science teacher Madison DeVries said. “There’s just gonna be a little period of time where everyone’s gonna have to learn about this new way to display content and information.”

Thunder Ridge Middle School is one of the first schools to receive this change; all classrooms have the panels and have been put to use, gaining respectful feedback from the teachers. 

“The immediate benefit is that they are easier to see. This is better for everyone in the classroom,” said instructional support administrator Kristen Ryereson at Thunder Ridge Middle School. “In addition, teachers benefit because they don’t even need their computers to leverage a lot of the cool features.”

Looking into the future, the Cherry Creek District has a clear plan for rolling out the flat panels. 

One school at a time will get installations, starting with schools that would benefit from them the most, the first on the list being Eaglecrest and Smoky Hill. According to Stevens’ projections, he hopes to finish integrating the screens into a school in a week, and Grandview is planned to see theirs before winter break. 

Teachers will also get training to help them learn how to use the flat planes. This includes tutorials, QR codes with instructions, and professional sessions with trainers. The goal is to replace outdated projectors and also give students more modern and engaging ways to learn.

“Teachers have a lot on their plates with lesson planning, classroom management, data collection and analysis, parent communication,” Ryerson said. ”Trying to add something new that they need to learn about is always an added challenge. [But] for students, I don’t see any challenges, only benefits.”