As school districts across Long Island aim to keep pace with rapidly advancing information systems, Massapequa School District is doing so through the completion of a bond-funded, districtwide technology project.

Within the next few weeks, the district is expected to finish hook-up of computers in every classroom and Internet access for every student. As part of the approximately $50 million bond approved by local voters in October, 1999, the district placed $11 million worth of computers and wiring in the schools over this summer. This was in addition to an influx of new technology introduced at the Ames 9th Grade Campus of the Massapequa High School during the 1999-2000 school year. Central administration is hopeful that during the 2000-2001 school year, the remaining schools in the district will see the vision for technology that was established by the District Technology Committee in 1992 come to fruition.

During a recent tour showing the new computers, Robert Schilling, spokesperson for Massapequa Schools Central Administration, described the academic edge that Internet access will give Massapequa students.

"The students can do research right in the classroom," he said

Schilling noted that a safety feature, Bascom Internet Content Management, will ensure that students have access only to age-appropriate sites.

Internet access, which will also include a district web site and email accounts for staff, is just a piece of the far-reaching technology package being implemented in the district. The hardware that has been provided by the bond to date has consisted of 2,267 Pentium computers, 560 thirty-two-inch display monitors, 617 color ink jet printers, 51 laser printers and 35 flatbed scanners.

Districtwide computer installation has included upgraded computer labs, wiring of every classroom and office for Internet access, equipping every classroom with a minimum of one and maximum of five computers, and equipping one computer in each classroom with Digital Video Disc (DVD) capability.

At the elementary level, kindergarten classrooms have three computers in each room, grades one through six classrooms have five computers in each room, and art classrooms have five computers with drawing tablets. General music classrooms will house the Yamaha Music in Education program. Musical Instrument Digital Interface keyboards will be used to assist in teaching the General Music Program. Special Education and Support Services have been equipped with multiple computers.

At the secondary level, English, social studies, foreign language and music classrooms have been provided one Pentium-based computer with full Internet and internal network connectivity. Math classrooms have five computers. Art classrooms were given five computers equipped with drawing tablets and scanner access. Science classrooms have multiple wireless laptops. In addition, technology, special education and support services classrooms have multiple computers.

Computer peripherals, districtwide, include color ink jet printers installed in each classroom, laser printers in the faculty room, computer labs and general offices, furniture especially designed for computers, and access to a scanner in all computer labs and general offices.

Thirty-two-inch monitors have been installed in all elementary classrooms and, at the secondary level, in all art, English, foreign language, math, music, science, social studies and technology classrooms. The monitor will assist in teachers' presentations by giving them access to cable channels and enabling them to display notes, graphs, charts, and Internet sites from the computer screen. In addition, Internet Protocol Television will be available in all buildings, and will enable a building to have live video broadcasting for announcements, such as an address from the superintendent. In addition, each building has been equipped with a satellite dish to allow for distance learning programs, large screen projection screens, and a CD ROM Server, a network that can feed educational materials to any computer in the district.

A key tool for teachers has also been introduced. The Visual Casel Management System, installed on each educational network server, will enable teachers to perform administrative functions, such as student assignments.

The district has also designated personnel to support the implementation and use of all the new technology. They include the assistant superintendent, instructional technology, technology consultants, a district web page maintainer, a full-time computer teacher assistant and a part-time computer monitor for the elementary schools, as well as two full-time computer teacher assistants and part-time computer monitors at the secondary level.