A new mobile laptop cart with 12 wireless laptops has been setup for use at the High School. The cart was purchased as part of the Technology grant provided to the Science Department by the PEF. This equipment will create new learning options for science students and improve the availability of current technology tools and resources in the classroom. Many thanks to the PEF for supporting efforts to provide better instruction for our young scientists! 

We have update our district long range technology plan through FY15. Check it out online to review our goals and accomplishments! This plan is required by the Mass Dept of Education and is approved by their organization every year.

Several new iPads have been setup for use on the district wireless network for our creative Special Education Department. These devices are opening up a whole new menu of online activities specifically designed to engage and assist special needs. We are finding the attraction to these activities is immediate and powerful!

Through a much appreciated volunteer program, we now have three additional classrooms in the Donaghue School with new projectors conveniently mounted on the ceiling. This is a big help for the classroom teachers not to have the projectors on rolling carts requiring constant refocusing and cables running across the floor!  Many thanks to our technology volunteers. 

The much anticipated pilot program to incoprorate student-owned wireless devices as instructional tools in the classroom environment has received funding from the Pentucket Educational Foundation!

The results of this pilot program will benefit the entire school district, providing templates for the design of curricula and lesson plans taking advantage of this alternative instructional method as well as first hand feedback regarding its impact on instruction and educational benefit.

This "BYOD" (Bring Your Own Device) program will be conducted in a few selected High School classrooms during the second semester of FY12. According to a written plan, findings from this pilot program will be studied in an evaluative process to derive an initial guide for rolling out the use of BYOD to other classrooms. The goal is for this guide to provide a foundation and direction to extend this valuable teaching method district wide. Included in the guide will be procedures and policies necessary to make this a successful venture with a positive educational impact.

The successful implementation of this initiative has the potential to generate substantial long term cost savings for the district. Using student-owned and maintained equipment will relieve some of the cost burden to purchase and support similar devices for the district. Instead, the district will only need to maintain a small inventory of “check-out” wifi devices available in school to students who do not own one or have forgotten to bring one to school.

The Pentucket Technology Department remains committed to supporting the use of instructional technology equipment in a secure environment and we are determined to be prepared for the technology advances rapidly approaching.

Many many thanks to the PEF for making this happen!!

A new messaging system, Blackboard Connect, has been installed to allow the school district to make phone calls to students and staff in the event of an emergency or for urgent informational purposes. This system was actually used during the recent power outage and the results were very successful, especially concidering it had not been completely tested yet. A formal test of the system will be scheduled for later this month.

The Bagnall computer lab has just received a much needed upgrade. New network switches have been installed, cables have been replaced and organized in a new cable management design, computers have all been upgraded with additional memory and new software versions, defective components have been reparied and/or replaced and new headphones have been added to all stations. This will benefit many students and faculty as the Bagnall computer lab is heavily used by all. We are again very grateful for the above and beyond efforts by Craig Carlson to set this up with a minimal disruption to scheduled classes!

The new district wireless system has now been extended throughout the Donaghue School. This wireless solution will allow the use of many new instructional tools and learning devices. Already many handheld wireless devices as well as e-readers with special applications have been connected to the new school wireless. These new tools provide exciting alternative learning methods! We are again very grateful to our technology volunteers who have made all of this possible (and affordable!).

The new district wireless system has now been extended throughout the Bagnall School. This system will allow the use of many new wireless instructional tools and learning devices. Already a wireless Macintosh video editing station has been connected in the computer lab as well as iPads for school use. These new tools provide exciting alternative learning methods! We are grateful to our tech volunteers for volunteering the time and skills to install this new system.

The new district wireless system has now been extended throughout the Sweetsir School. This system will allow the use of many new wireless instructional tools and learning devices. Already several iPads have been connected to the system with special education applications installed for student use. The use of alternative technology tools are providing exciting new learning methods! We are grateful to our technology volunteer effort for donating the time and skills to install this new system.

A new system has been designed this year so that parents are able to submit the annual student information updates using an online form. This system will provide additional convenience to parents as well as streamline the data entry process. Our updated student information can now be quickly uploaded into the school database. This process will pave the way for next year when parents will be able to view their child's information and make only the necessary changes or corrections. Pentucket is determined to keep pace with our electronic world.

The Pentucket School District is lucky to have a new Information Services Database Manager joining our Technology team. Amy Funk, from West Newbury, has an extensive set of database skills to benefit the school system. She has immediately gone to work learning the student database management system and the state reporting process and has already made significant contributions. Amy will make a huge impact on our work load and her enthusiasm, dedication and expertise is greatly appreciated! Welcome to Pentucket, Amy!

Twelve new lowprofile wireless desktop computers have been installed in the High School physics lab to replace the bulky  and unreliable old computers. These new computers will be put to good use by our intelligent physics students as they expand their knowledge in this challenging and valuable science! Many thanks again to Craig Carlson for his hard work in making this happen!

Thanks to a coordinated effort from our technology volunteers and the facilities department, we have finally been able to extend the district wireless system to the History / English wing of the High School. This will pave the way for school wide use of all types of wireless instructional devices. Many teachers in this section of the building have been patiently (and eagerly) waiting for the wireless capability. Several teachers connected their laptops and other wireless devices within hours of the project completion. We are happy they are now able to take advantage of this technology!

The High School computer lab in room 94 is in constant use year round by all departments for all subject areas. This heavily used computer lab has just been completely upgraded with new computers, flat screen monitors and up to date software. The new equipment will greatly benefit all high school students and will be available at the start of this school year. Our sincere appreciation is extended especially to Craig Carlson for all his efforts in setting this up and in repurposing the old computers that could be salvaged to other needy classrooms in the district!

New online Bus Pass forms have been added to the PRSD district website to provide a convenient alternative method for parents to sign up. This also streamlines the Bus Pass application system to eliminate much of the time consuming data entry and to integrate the information with our existing student information system. Overall, the Bus Pass distribution process has greatly benefited from this new system! Many Thanks to Dianne Ferrara for her help with this implementation!

A new system of firewall devices have been installed in all the district schools. These firewalls have replaced the old model and in addition to saving the district a lot of money in maintenance costs, they also will provide greater throughput and more configuration options. The connection between schools has been tested and the results look good so far. More testing is scheduled for this summer.

For the first time ever, the PRHS senior graduation ceremony was live broadcasted to the internet over Ustream.TV using high school videography equipment connected to our district wireless network. This tremendous accomplishment opens the door to many other broadcasting opportunities such as, sporting events, concerts, theatrical productions, and you name it... Many thanks to Stevin Bartholomew for putting this all together and making it happen!!

To view the graduation video, click on the attached link (feel free to fast forward past the advertisement :)

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15231851

We now have an easier way to connect non-employees to the internet for purposes such as teacher workshops, seminars, presentations, etc. Our new wireless guest network will allow any approved guest to connect securely to the internet. To take advantage of this, the PRSD sponsor will need to contact the Technology Department to register their guest for an internet service one day pass. Please provide as much advance notice as possible.

Hopefully, the district will attain the necessary resources to extend this convienient service to the Bagnall, Donaghue and Sweetsir Schools soon!

The Technology Department continues to mount classroom projectors on the ceiling as time and funding permits. This ongoing effort addresses the frustrating problem of tangled cables and cords across floors connecting movable carts holding projectors. A ceiling mount eliminates the need to constantly recalibrate the interactive whiteboards every time a projector cart is bumped and the space saving in the classroom makes a big difference for the students and teacher!

Please note that in many cases this effort relies on volunteers for the labor portion of the installation. If you are interested in volunteering, you may contact the Technology Department at support@prsd.org or call 978-363-2280 ext 118

A new server has been installed to handle the system requirements for upgraded district accounting services. This will benefit all school administrative offices and enable more efficient methods for accomplishing accounting tasks.

A new high capacity mobile laptop cart has been setup for the High School Art and Music Departments. These 12 laptops are equipped with integrated webcams and the latest Adobe Design Standard Suite CS5 which includes industry standard applications for photo editing and document illustrating.  For a dual purpose, the laptops are also equiped with headphones, microphones and the award winning application, MixCraft5 by Acoustica, and Microsoft Songsmith. We are fortunate to be able to provide this fantastic learning platform for our high school students.

A new system called Naviance has been setup for the High School Guidance Department to provide better college search and application services for students. This system will allow students to access many college informational resources as well as perform meaningful searches in their particular areas of interest. It also provides the guidance department with a huge variety of tools to connect students with the right colleges for them.

A second mobile laptop cart has been setp and installed for use in the Bagnall School. The 12 laptops in this mobile lab have been configured for the school wireless system allowing them to be used in a majority of the classrooms. This provides exciting opportunities for more classrooms to take advantage of the new technology integrated learning activities. "Happy exploring, Bagnall students!"

Two new mobile labs with 13 laptops have been installed and configured for the Middle School wireless system. These laptops are equiped with the latest features providing new tools for the ever evolving classroom curriculum and the exciting new learning methods. Hope our wonderfully creative middle school students will enjoy their new educational tools!