Le Grand Union HS District to issue iPads to incoming freshmen and returning sophomores

The Le Grand Union High School District said that starting next year, incoming freshmen and returning sophomores will check out iPads.

The iPads will provide access to information and learning in ways that traditional textbooks can’t, according to Danny Silva, technology coordinator. The long-term plan is to provide iPads to every incoming freshman class from now on. “We know the next few years will be transition years,” Silva said in a news release, “but in just three years we’ll be completely 1:1 by having one iPad for every student.

Superintendent Donna Alley said that despite a tough economic climate, the time is right. “Schools will always face economic challenges,” she said in the news release. “The real question is how do we prepare our students for the future. We need to move our students forward into the 21st century, and the iPad is the perfect tool to help us do that.”

This year, the district has received more than $400,000 in grants, according to Alley. “We’ll continue to go after grants so our kids have the tools they need to be successful,” she added.

The grant funds make the iPads for students possible. “We decided to lease, since leasing allows us to spread the cost out over a four-year period,” said Alley.

In anticipation of teaching in a 1:1 classroom, where every student will have a device, teachers are taking iPads home over summer. The teachers recently received the iPads as part of a half-day training.

“I’m so excited to be able to use technology like this with students next year. It’s going to be great,” Alison Lopez, freshmen English teacher, said in the release. Added Silva: “It’s magical.”