Device handouts for high school students will be much the same as last year.
When you arrive at Open House, you will receive your schedule (also available soon on StudentVUE and ParentVUE). Students’ devices will be in their first-hour classrooms. Families will pay a non-refundable $30 tech fee per device that leaves this building. (There is no tech fee waiver.) To avoid writing multiple checks, parents can pay for all devices at their oldest student’s first-hour classroom. You will receive a receipt that you can then show the other teachers. A signature sheet will need to be filled out and returned to the teacher with the payment.
If you cannot make it to Open House, your student’s device will be in their first-hour classroom when they arrive on the first day of school. Unless a signed signature sheet and the $30 tech fee are given to the technology coordinator (plus any additional fees – continue reading), devices will not be able to leave the building. Students can leave their devices with their seventh-hour teacher at the end of each day until the signature sheet and payment are received.
Some students did not turn in their chargers, sleeves, or both at the end of last school year. I posted about this issue on our website and Facebook page on July 18th, stating that if they were not returned before August 1st, I would order more. Some missing items were returned after that post, but most were not. Because I believe the laptops are better protected when the sleeves are used, I ordered what was needed to replace what was missing. If your student was one of those who did not turn in chargers or sleeves, there will be an additional fee. Chargers and sleeves are $15 each.
The full Device Policy & Handbook (twelve pages long) will not be printed for every student. You can read it online here: https://wemschools.org/tech-policies. A device handbook summary will be printed and given to students at Open House. The most important policy that should be emphasized right now is that students should bring their laptops, sleeves, and chargers to school every day. This will keep students from losing them during the school year.
Email me with any questions!
Thank you,
Andrew Hanson
Technology Coordinator
technology@wemschools.org