Gregory Rodriguez

How the Nashua School District educates students has evolved tremendously since spring 2020 and since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the expansion of learning remotely.

Now, the value of technology and education presents a challenge to educators and information technology staff on how to improve the ways in which students learn and teachers teach. With a traditional classroom being redefined almost daily, it is the duty of the school district to continuous review and improvement in what we do. In a concerted effort to move the school district forward, Garth McKinney, Superintendent of Schools, Anthony Parker, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools, Keith Richard, Principal of Nashua High School South, Nathan Burns, Principal of Nashua High School North, and I have put together a plan to implement one device for every one high school student who needs one to achieve 1:1 access. The plan will be rolled out in the new calendar year.

It is important to emphasize that each student will not need a school district-issued device. Students will have the option to bring a personal laptop, Chromebook, or iPad into school and use the guest network to access the Internet to meet their computing needs. If a student discloses a need for a Chromebook to be issued for the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year, students will be issued one and complete the sign out process and promptly return it at the conclusion of the school year. The hope is to provide digital equity for students across the socioeconomic spectrum; all high school students will have equal access to technology while on school grounds. The Technology Department has transformed the network infrastructure of the school district to support the 1:1 initiative. These improvements include bleeding edge wireless that can handle roughly 13,000 wireless devices throughout each high school while increasing the internet bandwidth to meet the ever-expanding technology needs.

This 1:1 initiative is new for the Nashua School District. The district is excited about the possibility of being 1:1 because it elevates the ability for students to learn. The hope is to improve and promote collaboration, safe environment, and digital citizenship between students to students, teachers to students, and teachers to teachers. This will also give educators the opportunities to break the mold of content delivery. These devices give the students the ability to explore and expand the principle of knowledge, how to acquire it, and how to apply knowledge in real world situations

We can be better and this is hopefully a step in the right direction to “better.” We will be more than happy to share anecdotes of our successes, challenges, and opportunities with the public. We also intend to share metrics of success that include improved attendance, persistence, retention, and achieving graduation. This is an exciting time for the District and we look forward to taking this journey together.

Gregory Rodriguez is the director of technology for the Nashua School District. He may be reached at rodriguezg@nashua.edu.

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