For 15 years Brewster Academy has been providing its students with some of the most cutting edge educational technologies available. As such we are always re-evaluating our practices on every level. One such recent change is the way in which we assign and distribute laptops to our students.

Since the program’s implementation in 1992, students have been assigned new Apple laptops upon the student’s arrival at Brewster. Students would continue to use that specific laptop until their graduation or departure from school. While this method ensures that students are given proper access to technologies at Brewster, we have learned that this was an area of the laptop program that should be enhanced to better serve our students. First and foremost, students entering Brewster in their freshmen year would have a four-year-old laptop by the time they graduate. This means that they have the newest computers when they are given the least demanding workload as freshmen and the oldest computers when they are given their most challenging workload as juniors and seniors.

To better serve our students, we have moved to a new laptop distribution model. Essentially, the new distribution model gives the seniors new computers every year and then trickles the computers used by seniors down to the underclassmen. For example, the academic year 2008-2009 will see seniors receiving new laptops. Approximately half of the juniors will receive new computers and the other half will receive computers used by the seniors in the previous year (one-year-old laptops). The sophomores will receive the remainder of the one-year-old laptops used the previous year by seniors. Freshmen will then receive two-year-old laptops. All three-year-old laptops will become loaners for students whose computers have to be sent to outside vendors for repair.

This new method of distribution not only ensures that students are given the best equipment to match their academic needs, but ensures that four-year-old computers are not in daily academic use. We also find that students appreciate the newer computers as their academic career moves toward graduation. It is important to note that only seniors are guaranteed new computers to use during that academic year. While some other students may receive new computers it is only based on availability of the number that we have for that model year. We ensure that all academic work and assignments can be carried out on any computer provided by Brewster Academy regardless of age.

If you have questions about our laptop program, please contact Eileen Taylor, manager of information technology. If you have questions about the student costs of the laptop program, please contact Elaine Hazeltine, assistant business manager.