School Committee Accepts 1:1 Laptop Initiative

After years of discussion and planning, the School Committee voted on Thursday night to begin the pilot program for the 1:1 initiative for the class of 2016.

It's a discussion that the School Committee has been having for more than three years: what is the proper way to begin a program that would have every student using a laptop? Last night, they approved a plan that would allow students the options of leasing a computer through the school or bringing their own computer to school with them daily. Community feedback around the initiative has been discussed for the past few months, since the schools came up with a plan that would involve leasing of computers. Most of the feedback from the community yesterday was focused on the cost of the MacBook's that the schools opted to go with. "The cost is extreme, this initiative could be done with 1/3 of the cost so I feel that it is a strain on the …

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Dana Hall

3:39 pm on Friday, June 15, 2012

I will be making a blog in the future. To clarify, Dr Landman is not Superintendent. He resigned last week and the school committee accepted his resignation last Thursday. Dr DeMello was appointed acting Superintendent last Thursday. It is actually an insult to the community that Dr Landman was asked for his recommendation, he had "resigned" and actually has no official title with the school …   more ›

Letter To The Editor

LETTER: 1:1 Laptop Initiative Needs to be Implimented Right

Although the deadline for the student laptop initiative sign-up at the High School has passed, there is still much that needs to be done to ensure a good program.

Written by Muriel Kramer Jonathan Clark knows a bit about technology, and while he is not in favor of the schools 1:1 laptop initiative for next year’s freshman class, if it happens he’d like it done right.  To that end he spent the better part of the last year working with the Superintendent Jonathan Landman, Technology Director Kathy Dooley, High School Principal Alyson Geary as well as other members of the community to assist in the implementation of the idea, that is until his help was no longer wanted. According to a write up in the Boston Business Journal a few years ago, Clark is “A computer programming prodigy, he had created more influential technology as a teenager than most programmers do in their careers.” Later in the same …

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