BEVERLY — The Beverly Education Foundation hopes to raise $250,000 over the next five years to support a new program that will ask families to pay for laptop computers for their high school students starting in September.
The money would be used in part to assist those who can't afford the laptops, which will cost families who elect to participate about $1,300 over four years.
This will be the largest fundraiser ever attempted by the foundation, a nonprofit established in 1997 by parents and community members to support the city's public schools.
"We thought it was such a great idea to support such a new and fresh idea that goes along with a fresh new building," foundation President Doug Walker said, referring to the city's new high school. "It's over five years, so we think it's doable, especially with such a captivating idea. It's a time that's really come for the kids."
The laptop plan, which school officials unveiled last year, would provide every high school student with an Apple MacBook to use year-round in and out of school.
The program is not mandatory, but families will be asked to lease a laptop for the equivalent of $25 to $28 per month for the four years of high school based on current quotes from Apple, according to the School Department.
Families would make a first payment of between $150 and $168 in May and pay the monthly rate from November to April each year. The cost includes software, insurance, maintenance costs, tech support and a carrying case for the laptop.
Students who qualify will be given financial assistance. Students who choose not to participate will be given a "loaner" laptop that they can use in school but cannot take home.
School officials say those students can save their work on a mobile storage device, such as a flash drive, so they can work on it at home. Students who do not have home computers will be accommodated through a loaner program or after- and before-school programs, officials say.
In a presentation to the City Council last Monday night at City Hall, school technology director Judy Miller said Beverly will be one of the first public school systems in New England to adopt the "1-to-1 Laptop Learning Initiative," as it is called.
"There's a lot of districts watching Beverly right now," Miller said. "People are going to want to come and see Beverly High School."
Miller gave city councilors a demonstration of the power of laptop learning by using an example of a class learning about the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.
Miller showed a line in a textbook that told about a telephone conversation between President John F. Kennedy and former President Dwight Eisenhower during the crisis. She then clicked a button and played a 30-second tape of that conversation.
Miller also showed an interview with the superintendent of schools in Mooresville, N.C., who credited their laptop program with improving the district's test scores.
"This is definitely going to take Beverly up a couple of notches," Miller said.
Miller said students can use their own MacBook laptop if they already have one, but they must be willing to buy and install the academic software programs used by the high school.
Miller said the timing is right for Beverly to adopt the laptop program because it has just moved into a new building that is equipped to handle the technology.
Students and teachers will be able to take their laptops to a "tech support center" on the first floor of the high school for repairs and will be given a loaner in the interim. Students are also being trained to perform maintenance.
Teachers have been undergoing training to learn how to use the computers and the academic software. Miller told city councilors that the feedback from teachers has been "very positive."
"People who were resistant are much less resistant now," she said.
In a recent survey of parents who viewed a presentation on the program, 106 of 153 parents said they were "able and willing" to lease a laptop, according to the School Department.
The school district plans to send out information and registration packets by May 1. The first payment is due June 1, and the laptops will be distributed in August.
Donations to the laptop program can be made through the Beverly Education Foundation's website at beverlyedfoundation.org.
Walker said the foundation plans to hold fundraisers but no dates have been set.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salem news.com.
Cost of laptops
First payment each May of between $150 and $168, which is half the yearly cost.
Remaining half can be paid all at once in November, or in monthly installments of about $25 to $28 from November through April each year.
Students can buy the laptop for $1 at the end of the four-year lease.
Cost includes laptop, hardware, software, technical support, warranty, insurance and carrying case.
Students with financial needs will receive a "significant discount" on lease but will return the laptop at the end of the lease.
Program is not mandatory. Students who choose not to participate will be given a loaner laptop to use at school, but they cannot take it home.
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
