High school students get laptops

TOWN OF MENASHA - Starting this year, students at St. Mary Central High School will have a technological addition to their curriculum.

The private Catholic high school is launching its One-to-One Laptop Program on Monday. Students will be able to bring the computers home and keep them for the majority of the year.

"I thought that was really cool because one thing that is really important for me is having my own work environment that’s not classroom based so I can do my own thing," said incoming freshman Andrew Griffin.

The goal is to implement technology into the existing curriculum, as well as eventually move to more e-texts when the current textbooks become outdated.

"Being literate in today's society not only applies to reading and writing but also to technology use," said Patrick Batey, SMC principal. "It is extremely important that our students know how to properly use the technology that is available."

The school is blocking certain websites, such as Facebook and YouTube for students during school hours. However, teachers will be able to pull videos and other teaching tools from the sites for use in the classroom.

The 76 incoming freshman are receiving their computers for the beginning of the school year. Sophomores and juniors will get theirs for second semester. All students will have laptops by the beginning of next school year. School administrators say studies have shown programs like this are most successful when implemented in phases.

The students and their families will lease the laptops for $800 for four years (roughly the price of each computer). They will have the option to purchase the computer for one dollar or turn it back into to the school at the end. There are also annual and monthly payment options. Program organizers say they decided to do the leasing program in order to provide the education discount on software to the families. The leasing price also includes tech support at the school and software upgrades during part of the summer.

The school says most of the infrastructure (wireless internet, etc.) and training for staff was paid for by donations.

Students at Manitowoc's Roncalli High School are also getting individual laptops this year.