IT News and Notes - July 2020

Zoom

Planning for next year, the district needed to make a decision on which provider to use to deliver virtual meetings. Google Meet and Zoom were the two programs that the majority of our teaching staff and administrators used over the last four months. The "FREE" version with access to all of the paid features for both of these programs ran out on June 30th. Working with NEOnet, we were able to evaluate and explore group pricing for these programs. Based on our two past surveys, more staff preferred the Zoom platform. Because we paired with NEOnet, we also have received a significant discount on the the Zoom platform. On July 1st we rolled everyone's accounts over to our paid subscriptions. You should have seen no disruption in service.

One-to-One Devices in K-12

Over the last two years, we have had a device for every student in grades K-12 (K-2 iPads, 3-5 Chromebooks, 6-8 iPads and 9-12 MacBooks). These devices were being sent home every night in grades 6-12. With our current situation, the district wanted to be prepared that every device was ready to go home in grades K-5 as well. There have been a number of steps that needed to be taken over the summer to ensure that these devices were ready to go home with students to begin the 2020-2021 school year.

All devices were collected that were handed out in March 2020.
All carts / storage units in the classrooms were disassembled.
Large carts will no longer be in the classrooms. Each K-5 classroom will have a Belkin tabletop charging station with either 2-3 iPad chargers or 2-3 Chromebook chargers.
We have purchased enough chargers so that students will each have their own chargers at home. The expectation will be that the iPad / Chromebook is charged and ready for use at school each day. Student chargers should be left at home.

IT Support and Video

In IT Tips and Tricks this month learn some more helpful hints to help you manage storage and downloads on your MacBook. As Todd says, "It's always a good time to tidy up!"

Featured Staff Members

Katie Skoch and Matt Yoke

The Summer Music Program has been a part of the Mentor Schools for 46 years thanks to Tim Yowell who not only began this program but still today plays an active role with its success! This year it would have been easy to just cancel this program because of the challenges with COVID-19. Matt Yoke and Katie Skoch did not take the easy road, rather they worked closely with Mr. Hamman to find unique ways to make this program a go for over 100 Band and Orchestra students. The camp ran most of June and the students met daily for full group instruction, small group sectionals and/or private lessons. The Orchestra group also had 10 Orchestra student coaches. This allowed Mr. Yoke the opportunity to work with the whole ensemble while the student coaches worked with individual students. Katie and Matt also made time for some friendly competition and had days for Weird Hair, Ugly Tie and Dress up your Instrument. They also hosted a guest composer, Dr. Barry Kopetz, who made a huge impact on many of the students. Some of these students even began to write their own compositions.

Thank you to Matt and Katie for making a memorable experience for more that 100 of our students and finding new, creative ways to take advantage of the technology we have in our district! Check out this amazing performance by the students in this Virtual Summer Cadet Orchestra Program .