Buy Dell Chromebook 11 Chromebook for STA 7th & 8th Grade.

Order & Pay online – $215!

St. Thomas Aquinas School and Google Chromebooks 

Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, St. Thomas Aquinas School focused its use of classroom technology in 5th-8th grades on the Google Chromebook as the preferred device.  The goal with this choice was to make our students’ educational experience more efficient & effective, and minimize downtime & delays during classroom time.

STA purchased enough Chromebooks for a 1:1 match in the 5th & 6th grades for use at school.  The first year of the Chromebook adoptions was a success. Teachers liked the ease of use and the quick startup time.  The Chromebooks were also quickly integrated into classroom use.  STA also uses Google Docs, Google Apps for Education, & Gmail.  The Chromebook is a tool that increases student efficiency across the board accessing these applications.

For 7th & 8th grade, this device is something needed for use at school and at home.  Expectations are greater on these students for homework and to collaborate on larger-scale projects that span time in and out of the classroom.  Additionally, this will get our students ready for the high school experience, where they will need to be responsible for their own devices and be prepared for an increasingly tech-heavy slant to education.

STA is offering to handle Chromebook orders again this year.  If you order through STA, the Chromebook (Dell 11 model) costs $266 and is the current top seller of the Chromebook models on the market.  To defer the cost, STA will provide a $50 stipend to bring the total family cost of purchase to $215. 

FAQ

Why the Chromebook?

There are so many devices to choose from.  Here are some of the reasons the Chromebook will be a great fit for STA:

  • Completely intuitive to new users
  • Super-fast startup time. Chromebooks boot up in mere seconds and let kids jump right in to work in the classroom, when time is of the essence.
  • Lightweight & durable
  • Built-in keyboard
  • Superb (6-8) hour battery life
  • Chrome OS operating system is virus-free
  • Auto-update means no software and security features to maintain manually
  • Faster Internet & app experience
  • STA administrators set up and remotely manage apps/users across the entire fleet of equipment
  • Parents can be added to STA’s Google+ circle for teachers to be kept in the loop about goings-on

But wait…there’s more!  The Chromebook is ideal for STA because it does all this and more at an incredibly low price point ($215 for STA families) for the features it offers.  This choice maximizes the functionality of the device and the value of the machine.

My child already has a device.  Can s/he bring it instead?  Yes.  There has been no change to STA’s BYOD policy.  The advantages to jumping on the bandwagon with the Chromebook are important, though. We can’t provide full tech support for other devices like we will be able to with the Chromebook. Also, STA has become a Google school, so students with other types of devices might not be able to take full advantage of the functionality of Google Apps, Hangouts, Google Docs, etc.  Finally, computer consistency across students will make lessons in the classroom smoother for teachers and students alike.

Can’t my child just use his/her phone?  Phones are limited in capabilities. Without a keyboard and larger screen, they simply aren’t conducive to productivity in the classroom.

What about our iPad?  While iPads are fun and awesome, they do not support Flash, do not have a keyboard, are much more expensive, and become outdated much faster than the Chromebook.

What is the timeline?  We will order the Chromebooks very soon.  They will arrive over the summer and be ready to go for the first day of school!  Ordering instructions will come in another email, soon.