Independence shines because of that combination of approaches and ideas rather than any one initiative, said Gwen Kodad, Rock Hill's associate superintendent for instruction. Children rarely sit still for long at Independence. They spend much of their time out of their seats, measuring desks with tape measures, manipulating the hands of cardboard clock faces, marching in place, singing, working in small groups or using computers. Kids at Independence say they can't get enough of math class now. Rather than staring at shapes in a book, the kids combined plastic blocks into a variety of larger shapes.
Every classroom has five computers, compared to two or three at other district schools.
Independence has the extra machines because it was designated as the district's model school for technology three years ago. The other schools are catching up now, but Independence still has a major advantage in hardware. Independence teachers also are helping teachers at other schools learn to work computers into the curriculum. Like most other district elementary schools, Independence also has a 30-station computer lab. Bogan said computers help students learn because they combine visual and sound effects with words and numbers.