Promevo
Saint Joseph Regional High School is a private, Roman Catholic, college preparatory school for young men in New Jersey. St. Joe’s embraces a holistic approach to the education of young men. Their academic programs produce young men who are accepted to the most competitive colleges and universities.
The Challenge
When Margaret Sullivan first started as the EdTech Specialist at Saint Joseph Regional High School, the school had a bring your own device program. This program presented a lot of challenges.
The IT department had no control over what devices the students brought in, not everyone had a device, the teachers had no idea what the students were doing on the devices, and the students could do whatever they wanted to do on the devices. Sullivan decided it was time for a change.
Sullivan began looking for a solution that was easy for everyone to use and something that could be used as a tool rather than taking over the classroom. Most importantly, St. Joe’s needed an affordable solution that wouldn’t burden parents.
The Solution
Sullivan first introduced Chromebooks to the students and staff of St. Joe’s by getting 60 Chromebooks for the entire school.
Sullivan says, “It was a great way to introduce Chromebooks to the kids, to the teachers, and to the infrastructure and we just built from there.”
Over the next 4 years, Sullivan gradually rolled out the 1:1 Chromebook program with each incoming freshman class. Now every student and teacher has a Chromebook.
Sullivan says without Chromebooks, St. Joe’s wouldn’t be the school that it is today. “We wouldn’t have gone with another device,” says Sullivan.
Along with Chromebooks, all of the students and teachers at St. Joe’s use Google Workspace for Education. Students and teachers are trained on how to use Google Workspace for Education at the beginning of each school year.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the school’s transition to remote learning was seamless thanks to Google solutions. Students and teachers were able to stay connected, no matter where they were.
The Results
- Reduced total cost of ownership
- Increased collaboration
- Gave students and teachers reliable technology
- Seamless transition to remote learning
