Two Dist. 15 schools awarded ISBE laptop grant

Two District 15 schools—Virginia Lake and Jane Addams Schools—have met the grant criteria for the Illinois State Board of Education's (ISBE) Children's Low-cost Laptop Program and have been selected to receive an iPad for each of their students in Grades 3 to 6.

In total, almost 900 iPads—a value of approximately $360,000—will be available to support teaching and learning for the staff and students in those schools.

“Across the state, very few districts were awarded this incredible opportunity, which many educational technology experts predict is the wave of the future,” said Deputy Superintendent Jim Garwood. “The District will watch this initiative carefully, as we believe its success will depend upon the support and professional development the District provides the schools.”

Mr. Garwood added that he believes this initiative will provide the District with an invaluable opportunity to examine and develop best practices for use of mobile technologies on a smaller, more manageable scale, which will help it determine the feasibility of a larger implementation in the future.

The ISBE used $10 million available through Build Illinois Bonds to fund this grant program. Eligible applicants were school districts with one or more schools serving any of Grades 3 through 8 which:

• have 40 percent or more of its students eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program;

• are in Academic Early Warning or Academic Watch status;

• and have a significant percentage of the students in Grades 3 through 8 with limited or no access to laptop computers for use in improving their educational opportunities.

Eligibility was also limited to entities having state-approved technology integration plans.

ISBE was required to selected grant recipients in such a way as to ensure that at least one-third of the participating students were from Chicago; at least one-third were from DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties and the remainder of Cook County; and at least one-third were from the remainder of the state.

-Story Submitted by Community Consolidated School District 15