Wellesley Schools Ready for Fifth Grade One-to-One iPad Rollout

After two years of iPad trials at the Schofield Elementary School, the one-to-one iPad program is being rolled out to all fifth grade students this fall.

According to Technology Director for Wellesley Public Schools Rob Ford, the plan is to eventually have all students from middle elementary through high school on the one-to-one program, but for the next few years the technology will stay in the hands of fifth graders.

Under the initial proposal students would have had the opportunity to bring the tablets home, but that plan was put on the back burner after community feedback.

"When you’re talking about bringing a device home the parents are a big part of that and there were a number of parents that weren't comfortable with having the device in their homes," Ford said. "Our pilot group was very enthusiastic about having them at home, so we'll see if the comfort level goes up."

To accomidate the extra use of the schools' wifi Ford lead the department in a network upgrade across the schools. 

Ford said the projected cost for each iPad is $479, a $20 saving per unit compared to the retail price.

The faculty iPads will be purchased by the Wellesley Education Foundation, the student iPads will be purchased through the school department's budget and the security carts to lock and charge the iPads will be purchased by the parent-teacher organizations at each school.