Brunswick technology Department

Laptop Program

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The Brunswick School’s Laptop Program - FALL 2007

Dear Parents:

Your son will be participating in our laptop program, which begins its ninth year this fall. Our program has become a model for other schools, and we regularly receive visits from other school faculty and administrators as they launch similar programs. We are very proud of what we have accomplished in the last 8 years, and look forward to what lies ahead.

As participants in Brunswick’s Laptop Program, all students in grades 9-12 are expected to bring a functioning laptop computer to all academic classes. Access to our school network is provided by both wireless and hard-wired Ethernet technology. Through the school network, students have access to campus email, the school’s intranet (www.wicknet.org), the Internet, and to their personal storage space on network servers. Appropriate use of laptops and all campus technology is clearly spelled out in Brunswick’s Acceptable Use Policy, printed in the Student Handbook and published on WickNet.

 

There are two major policy changes to our laptop program, which went into effect in 2004:

1. Leased Laptops: All incoming students to grade 9 for the 2007-2008 school year will be assessed a laptop fee of $750 per year. Each student will be provided with a laptop computer for his exclusive use for the 2-year term of the lease. At the end of the 2nd year, the student will receive a new laptop to use for the next 2 years. We have found that a lease program makes it easier all around - for parents, students, teachers, and tech support. Parents make smaller annual payments, students and teachers are all working with the same model computer, and we in the tech department can more effectively support the school model. We have found that “out-of-program” laptops require an inordinate amount of time and effort to support, and subject the student to undue anxiety. No exceptions will be made to this policy.
      This annual “laptop fee” is charged to your son’s bookstore account, and covers the cost of the computer and carrying case, plus annual software license fees, extended factory warranty, and a comprehensive insurance policy from Safeware that covers loss or damage not covered by the factory warranty. This coverage includes replacing a broken screen, or replacing the computer in the event of theft or accidental destruction, with a $100 deductible for each Safeware occurrence. For details on the fee structure and operation of the lease program, please feel free to contact me.

Laptop power adaptors are not covered by our lease, Apple's warranty or Safeware insurance.
In case of damage, they will need to be replaced at the user's expense.

2. Platform Change: After extensive research and wide-ranging internal debate, both Brunswick School and Greenwich Academy jointly selected Apple Macintosh computers in 2004 as the most appropriate platform for our student’s use, and the model for Fall 2007 is Apple's 13.3” MacBook. The impetus to make such a radical school-wide platform change from PC’s to Mac’s was due to several compelling reasons, some of which are:

Virus Threats: Based on anecdotal experience with viruses, most school laptop program have been crippled, to some extent or the other, using PC laptops. There are over 115,000 documented Windows virus and worm threats growing more and more sophisticated at a rate of over 500 a month.

Operating System Stability: MS Windows requires frequent critical updates, as many as five a day, just to keep the system running properly. These updates are time consuming and frustrating and only a little more than half our campus has been doing this faithfully. Mac OS X has released far fewer “security” updates in the past year, of which none would affect an out of the box configuration or compromise system security.

Multimedia Integration/Creative Work: Macintosh has long been the leader not only in the educational market, but also the creative market. Multimedia integration exists in Mac OS X out-of-the-box for effortless use with digital music, photos, and movies – software which usually costs extra on Windows platform. These applications also communicate with each other seamlessly.

Windows Compatibility: With the introduction of Intel processors in Macs, not only does a Macintosh run natively nearly every application that we use in our academic program, including MS Office suite, but it can also run Windows XP and it's applications themselves in "Dual Boot" mode. File formats are common and can be transferred between the 2 platforms seamlessly.

Ease of use: Critics agree that Mac OS X is the easiest operating system to use. MacBooks are also lighter and smaller than comparable PC laptops, besides having a battery lasting twice as long and a much more rugged and durable magnesium case designed for life in the backpack.

All freshmen and Juniors will receive their new MacBook laptops, as well as hands-on training on their proper use, on September 6th and 7th at 2 PM in the Student Center. New students in the Upper School can pick up their laptops from the technology office on September 7th, after they return from their class trip.

Please check the website for updates, and do feel free to call or email me. In the meantime, there is nothing else you have to do. You son is enrolled in the program and a laptop will be waiting for him.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Sunil Gupta
Director of Technology
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Brunswick School
203-625-5890
sgupta@brunswickschool.org

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