This program is designed to provide a laptop computer in the hands of every student in grades 7-12 in the Gateway Regional School District. Through a combination of multi-year leasing and purchasing options families will be able to provide their child with a computer that can be used in school and at home.

The district will concurrently work with with staff to provide day-long monthly and evening professional development opportunities to assist them in integrating technology into the curriculum. The goal of the district is to assist faculty members in developing their classroom curriculum to the point that it is web enabled, removing the boundaries imposed by classrooms and time limitations due to school schedules, resulting in students achieving their full potential for learning.

To do this we will started with a pilot program during the 2004-2005 school year. The pilot focussed on all 7th and 8th grade teachers and students in the middle school and four 9th grade teachers and their students in the high school. This affected over 200 students in the middle school and over 100 students in the high school.

During the spring and summer of 2006 we will again hold a series of 1 to 1 laptop meetings to inform parents of the program and to provide the resources the parents will need to decide if they would like their children to participate in the program. On or before August 21st parents will have to commit to signing up to the program and laptops will be ordered. During the month of August we will have the laptops delivered, inventoried and configured to operate on the GRSD network. During the last week of August we will have a series of evening workshops where parents and students will pick up their laptops and receive a two-hour basic training in how to use the laptop and the network at GRSD.

This program will also allow parents and students to take advantage of the Gateway Dial-Up Project and the new technologies that GRSD has added through the building program. Students that choose to lease or purchase and take their laptops home will be able to connect to the Gateway Dial-Up service for as little as $12.50 per month. The service provides local dial-up numbers in all of our districts communities, web based email and provides filtered or unfiltered access to the Internet. We encourage you to visit the Dial-Up site and find out for yourself.