We are now making plans for the summer. We’ve already updated some server hardware this year so that’s taken care of for now, but we still have servers waiting for software upgrades that we never got to last year with the reconfiguration. We’ll move forwards with gradually phasing out the student thin clients for Google devices. Hopefully, we can install some more wall mounted projectors, something all teachers like but I feel is especially important in the elementary grades so their classrooms aren’t cluttered with projectors and cables. We are also arranging for some staff training around Google products early this August, and our tech staff will pursue some training of their own to keep their skills up-to-date and expanding.
We’re also hoping to get ready to start deploying Windows 10 early next year. While Windows 7 has been one of their more agreeable releases of late, it is now aging and Microsoft is not porting certain things back to it (like their new Edge browser for example). It’s also starting to get harder to find hardware drivers for brand new machines for Windows 7. Windows 10 is more desktop friendly than 8 was, and it also has some new features around disk encryption that I think it’s important for us to implement on our laptops to ensure data security. So while it’s never nice making the switch, I do feel we have enough good reasons to at least test the waters!
State testing began at the middle school, and things seem to be going very smoothly over there. The Chromebooks are performing very well, our wireless coverage is good (helped by a few temporary access points we’ve put out to bolster some areas), and the building’s staff seem very confident in what they are doing.
Finally, the Chromebooks for staff have arrived and we’re making our way through provisioning them. We will have them out to teachers before the end of the year.