LOS LUNAS—School of Dreams Academy was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from Facebook, along with Los Lunas Schools and Belen Consolidated Schools.
SODA Superintendent Mike Ogas said the school plans to make sure all of its students has access to technology in case school work will have to be done at home next semester.
“We’re making sure we have enough Chromebooks for all of our kids, from pre-k all the way up to 12th, so that they have connectivity to our system,” Ogas said.
“We also want to purchase about 60 hotspots to be able to send home to families so they can have connectivity, in anticipation of where we might be down the road.”
Last year, the school purchased enough Chromebooks to provide to each of the secondary students and learning labs in every elementary grade.
“We will see what other kinds of technology we might need to enhance the virtual learning platform,” Ogas said. “We talked about maybe getting some digital boards, and then we have some kids with special needs who may be needing some stuff, too.”
With the exception of seniors and the students who are not coming back, the school has allowed students to keep their Chromebooks over the summer because the school will have additional learning activities in an attempt to keep learning fresh on the students’ minds, Ogas said.
“It was very gracious of Facebook to include us for the grant. They did a great job supporting the schools through this whole pandemic,” Ogas said.
Belen Consolidated Schools received $300,000, and Los Lunas Schools got $150,000 from the social media giant.
BCS will use the grant to buy an additional 10 iPads and about 500 laptops, as well as graphing calculators for students in upper-level math classes.
Los Lunas Schools will purchase a video conferencing application, mobile hotspots to support WiFi connectivity, and additional iPads, as well as licensing and privacy software.
Both districts used full-time remote learning when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered all schools to close in mid-March due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
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April 19, 2024
