The Revere Local School District’s Board of Education voted to implement a one-to-one technology initiative this summer to enhance the learning opportunities of Revere students.

The Revere Technology Committee brought the new technology plan to the Board of Education on June 28, 2016. Dana Appel, a member of the Technology Committee and the Board of Education, explained when the committee formed and of whom it consisted.

“The Revere Technology Committee was formed at the beginning of the 2015-16 school year. This committee was made up of teachers from all four academic buildings, administrators, one community member [who is also a] parent and one board member,” Appel said.

Appel described how the district will allocate devices, with the students in grade K-6 using the Chromebooks and iPads, and the students in grades 7-12 using the new MacBook Airs. Appel elaborated on the process behind the new technology plan.

“In June, ten members of the committee traveled to Chicago to hear a presentation by Apple on a comprehensive one-to-one MacBook program and subsequently made the recommendation to the Board of Education to adopt this program,” Appel said.

Matthew Montgomery, the superintendent of the Revere Local School District, discussed how Revere came to partner with Apple.

“Apple is paramount in ensuring that their devices maintain privacy and security. Another deciding factor was resale. We are leasing these and at the end of the lease, they hold value. We can sell these to a third party provider and use the revenue from that sale to offset the cost of the next lease agreement,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery went on to explain why the Board prioritized the one-to-one initiative.

“This initiative fits into our technology plan and our strategic plan which was created by hundreds of voices of the stakeholders in our community. [The stakeholders] provided us direction that this was something that was important to them—that we are teaching twenty-first century skills with cutting edge technology,” Montgomery said.

Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Education Technology Kathy Nolan provided insight as to how the MacBook Airs and the one-to-one initiative will benefit students and teachers.

“Because students and teachers have the same device they can do a lot more with the learning and problem-solving that goes on in the classroom,” Nolan said.

Nolan continued, talking about the real-world skills learned through experience with the MacBook Airs.

“[Exposure to technology is] a natural fit for getting our students ready for what lies beyond high school…[Also,] it just expands exponentially the opportunities that students have to create things that could not be done without a powerful device in their hands,” Nolan said.

Revere students in grades seven through twelve will obtain their MacBooks in October, and the one to one initiative formally begins one the first day of the second trimester, November 21, 2016.