At Bellmore-Merrick CHSD, laptops for all

The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District is in the process of implementing a 1:1 Chromebook Initiative that will put laptops in the hands of all students in grades seven through 12.

Joseph Innaco, the district’s director of administrative and instructional technology, told the Herald that the initial plan was to give Chromebooks to seventh- to ninth-graders. But with additional state aid and approval by the Board of Education, the initiative was expanded to include grades 10 through 12.

“We didn’t have a 1:1 initiative prior to this,” Innaco said. “But students had the opportunity to use Chromebook, laptop or iPad carts — as well as a bring-your-own-device policy.”

As reported in the Herald in June, Superintendent Mike Harrington explained that the district realized over the course of the 2020-21 school year how crucial technology had become in helping students succeed. “We are truly grateful for the Board of Education and the school community for getting this done,” Harrington said. “It will truly enhance the academic experience of the students.”

Although all students in the district will be given Chromebooks this year, the rollout has started with grades seven through 10. “Right now, seventh through 10th grade has a Chromebook,” Innaco said. “We are in the process of giving them out to grades 11 and 12.

“We had to update the infrastructure over the summer,” he added. “We really condensed three years of network upgrades into one summer.”

With the staggered rollout, the district gave parents a time frame for when their kids would receive the new equipment. According to a letter sent home to parents, the district is assessing the stability of the network upgrades in the younger grades to make sure everything is working smoothly. Once the network is proven stable, the older grades will begin receiving their laptops.

“So far, the rollout has been successful,” Innaco said, “and so have the network upgrades.”

“Joe Innaco and his team have been at this from the beginning,” Harrington said. “The rollout has been very, very smooth.

“I’ve been in a couple classrooms, and teachers are already implementing the Chromebooks into their classrooms,” he added. “This is a really exciting time for Bellmore-Merrick.”

The district is looking forward to seeing what students will gain from the program, Innaco said. “The initiative will support collaboration between students, create innovative learning opportunities and programs, enhance personalized learning methods and foster attainment of digital skills,” he said.

Innaco also said he believed the initiative would help foster safe online habits. “Students had to sign a student device policy — a digital citizenship pledge,” he explained.

The pledge — which can be found on the district’s website under the “Parents/Students” tab — asks students, while using their device, to respect and protect themselves and others as well as their new equipment. “In this blended environment, this is an opportunity to enhance digital citizenship, Innaco said. “I think this is more important now than ever.”

“I think we’re always trying to prepare [students] for the world around them,” Harrington said. “We hope that this gives them enhanced learning opportunities, and that a level of digital citizenship is met so they can handle the next phases of their lives.”

The pledge is included in a larger user guide, which details the Chromebook, how to use it and replacement costs, among other things. Parents and students must read and sign off on the guide and the pledge before the laptop is issued.

The Chromebooks allow students to have access to instructional technology programs such as GoGuardian Teacher, SSO-ClassLink, Google Workspace for Education, Google Classroom, Edpuzzle Pro, Nearpod, Screencastify, SMART Learning Suite (Lumio), Infinite Campus Grade Passback and Remind.

“We’ve had some of these resources — some are not new,” Innaco said. “The district provides [further] opportunity with these resources.”

As to how the district has helped make the transition easy for both students and teachers, Innaco said there is a tech support team as well as ongoing professional development. “There is a team in the building and on a district level that help students on a daily basis,” he said.

For staff, Innaco said, “The key to any success is ongoing professional development.”

Teachers who are also members of the technology team “work with their colleagues on a regular basis,” he said.  “[The professional development] ensures that the teachers are prepared, and know how to use the programs, and integrate it into the classroom.”

The district also provides full-day workshops for teachers, with the next one taking place on Nov. 2, during Superintendent’s Day. “[The workshop] is all 1:1 related instructional work courses,” Innaco explained, which detail the use of some of the new and existing educational programs that are available on the Chromebooks, as well as mental health and wellness training.

As the rollout continues, the district is looking forward to seeing it succeed. “The whole point is to give students enhanced learning [opportunities],” Innaco said. “You see students actively engaged — and it empowers students, too.”