College Community plans to buy laptops for students by fall

College Community Schools hosted an information session Tuesday to explain why every high school student needs a laptop computer.

The school district wants to give every ninth through 12th grader a school-issued laptop.

The plan is to order around 1,400 11-inch Macbook Air laptops. College Community has been studying the concept for three years.  They now say that the new technology is essential for student learning.

"We're looking for our kids to be engaged differently," said College Community ITS Director Craig Barnum.  "We're looking to our staff to teach differently, and we realize it's not going to happen overnight, but we're ready to have the conversation and do that."

Parents that attended the informational meeting say they're excited to see the district treat technology as an asset to student learning.

"That's what they're going to be giving the students," said Micki Crispin, a parent with three students in the district.  "There are websites out there we don't even know exist that will benefit them."