As week three begins...

As week three begins we are one step closer to getting all the technology up and running. But first I wanted to thank the parents who stopped by the lab during the Open House. It was great to meet so many parents and have the great conversations we did.

Here are a few follow-up points:

• students will begin coming to the lab this week, on a limited basis, to test out the new infrastructure
• beginning 9/29 teachers will begin to bring their classes to the lab. The lab is not a regularly scheduled class like music or art, but I hope to see every class as often as possible. I will work with the teachers to ensure we are scheduling time to be most beneficial to the student needs.
• this blog is an ever-growing resource to students, staff, and parents alike. I hope everyone checks in often to see what is happening as well as use any of the new resources that get posted
• follow @HeathcoteTech on Twitter for regular updates beyond just blog posts
• everything we do with technology at Heathcote will fit within the district's overall technology curriculum framework

As for the technology updates:

• the district has upgraded the wireless capabilities of every school, this roll-out is ahead of schedule but still a work in progress, but we should be fully upgraded in a few weeks
• all students in the district have @scarsdaleschools.org Google Apps accounts. It has taken some time to ensure all previous data has been moved to these new accounts as well as all necessary settings have been configured
• all Mac accounts (how the students access the iMacs in school) have been updated and upgraded to facilitate faster sign-ins and fewer system crashes. This are one of the things we are currently configuring behind the scenes and will be testing this week
• all these updates will greatly benefit the students in ease of access and reliability of connection. We are being methodical in our approach to these updates so that when students do begin regular use they will experience little to no adverse effects of all the changes. We are working diligently to ensure all these changes are seamless and invisible to the students

Feel free to reach out any time with questions.

Thanks!