Beginning in September 2018, sixth grade students were assigned a school iPad to use, consistent with school policy, throughout the Middle School building and as an educational resource that may be taken home, as well. Students are expected to bring the iPad and the detachable keyboard included with its protective case to each class where the classroom teacher will determine the device's use during a given period.
The implementation plan called for a three-year phase-in of the 1:1 program, with iPads being provided to grade six students each year. With the start of the 2020-2021 school year, all Middle School students were issued a school iPad.
As has been the case from the beginning of the program, students are expected to return iPads to the school at the end of each school year and are given the same iPad in seventh and eighth grade.
Throughout the implementation period, existing shared resources had been reallocated to provide enhanced iPad access to the platform for students who had not yet received a 1:1 device and to departments in The Center. The program provides all students with continued access to the Mac and Chromebook platforms through the use of carts and labs.
This plan also called for teachers to be provided with an iPad for use in the classroom and outside of school. Other than when iPads need to be collected for configuration and maintenance, teachers have use of the iPad over the summer.
The SMS 1:1 computing initiative is designed to be essentially budget neutral. The choice of the iPad allows the district to purchase a set of 1:1 devices for a single grade while continuing to fund other essential technology purchases through a budget that has not grown from previous years.
In fact, an important rationale for SMS 1:1 computing is that the initiative allowed the school to make devices available to students more efficiently -- and therefore, ultimately, more economically -- than had been the case with the prior cart-based approach.