Rocky Hill School Student Laptop Program

Introduction..and some history

Welcome to the Rocky Hill Upper School and "Year Three" of our student laptop program. Our new home, the Alan F. Flynn, Jr. Academic Center, has been open since September 2004, and The Rocky Hill Model which incorporates technology and the Harkness Table has created a wonderful, new teaching and learning dynamic. Now, as we are immersed in the acdemic year, we are more confident than ever about our laptop program and, specifically, about our adoption of the tablet pc as our primary platform. We are excited to invite you to join us in this initiative.

In 2000, Rocky Hill School provided faculty in all divisions with laptops so they could begin employing technology to enhance our students' education. This was followed by the addition of a laptop lab in the Upper School during the 2001-2002 school year. Here, both teachers and students enthusiastically implemented a pilot version of a "Learning with Laptops Program." In September of 2003, we officially launched our student laptop program, and students in grades 9 through 11 were required to have a laptop in school. This past year, all students in the Upper School had laptops and the experience during both of those years validated the vision articulated by our Headmaster, James Young, in his February 2003 letter to parents:

Laptop learning complements traditional learning processes with an approach that is more relevant to the world in the 21st century. By authentically integrating the laptop into a Rocky Hill student's academic program, we expect to graduate young men and women who are active learners, who love learning, who know how to learn and adapt easily, and who can construct their own knowledge from the information they discover. The mission of the school, "to guide our students…in the pursuit of knowledge and self-awareness," will be realized in a program of excellence.

The Rocky Hill School Student Laptop Program is a major curriculum initiative and represents a commitment to the present and future of education inside and outside of the classroom. Even more importantly, it is embedded in the Harkness method, and this combination embodies the optimal teaching and learning environment.

Faculty continue to redesign and reconfigure their lessons to incorporate the obvious strengths that laptops and Harkness can offer in terms of communication, collaboration, visualization and problem solving. In the state-of-the-art classrooms that the Flynn Center offers, students become active participants in the learning process. Not all classes, however, involve use of the laptop; when the learning activity is not appropriate for laptops, students are asked to close the lid.

A critical complement to Harkness and laptops has been the implementation of the Blackboard Learning System (http://bb.rockyhill.org). Blackboard has allowed teachers to put course assignments and materials online so that students always have access to them. The use of email and the Blackboard Digital Drop Box has rapidly become the preferred method of submitting homework assignments; Discussion Boards have become an integral part of the classroom, supplementing and extending students' learning.

Laptop use is everywhere - in the hallways, outside on the grass or in the circle, waiting for parents after school, at picnic tables - wherever the wireless network can be reached.

The Laptop Program

For the 2003-2004 academic year, the first year of our laptop program, we conducted extensive research and determined that the laptops offered by Toshiba presented the best balance of cost, features, service and reliability. We partnered with Whalley Computer Associates of Southwick and Milford, MA to provide the recommended laptops to our students at a price specifically set for the School. Rocky Hill School will continue its partnership with Whalley Computer Associates (WCA) and Toshiba.

 Laptop Recommendations

For the 2005-2006 academic year, Rocky Hill School has selected two tablet models offered by Toshiba, the Tecra M4 Tablet and the Toshiba Portege M200 Tablet. For those families that believe a more traditional laptop would serve their children better, we are also offering the Toshiba Tecra M3-S331. Each model is offered as a bundle of hardware, software and services designed to support a student's participation in the Rocky Hill School program. A letter from Whalley and the order form have been sent home; parents may also view and/or print a copy of them by clicking these links: order form and Whalley letter. We strongly encourage families to purchase one of the recommended models for their children.

Timeline

Whalley Computer Associates will coordinate the ordering and delivery of your child's laptop. To guarantee the prices below, as well as to ensure delivery in early fall, WCA requires completed order forms to be delivered to them by July 22, 2005. Any parents who have questions or concerns regarding the ordering process should contact Adam Scolnick at WCA by telephone at (508) 478-5174 or by e-mail at ads@wca.com.

After the order has been placed, Toshiba will deliver the laptops to WCA in August for imaging and loading of software. Then, in late August or early September, representatives from WCA will arrive on campus with the students' computers to conduct a two-hour "Laptop Roll Out," an exciting evening designed to introduce you and your child to your laptop. WCA representatives will also review the "best practices" for the handling and maintenance of the machine.

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