FUHS will officially be 1-1 with Chromebooks by Feb. 17th. Seniors, juniors and sophomores will receive their Chromebooks from Feb. 6-10, while an entire week, Feb. 13-17, will be dedicated to the freshmen.

Students have no need to worry about receiving their Chromebooks. With no traffic in the line, an entire class should receive their Chromebooks within 20 minutes. Students must bring their ID’s to check out their Chromebooks just as they would with a textbook.

After, they will sit in on a mini presentation and learn how to connect their Chromebooks to the Wifi, log in and finalize other set-up tasks. The process is easy, simple and exciting, as each student leaves with their personal Chromebook and case!

“I was meeting with ASB in order to get the library ready for the rollout. We’re going to deck this campus out,” said Assistant Principal of Instruction Operations Belinda Mountjoy. “It’s going to look amazing; we’re really excited about it. I’m hoping that rollout goes smoothly. It’s going to be a really neat and cool thing.”

Superintendent Dr. Scott Scambray eagerly introduced Chromebooks into the Fullerton District because he wants to make sure that all students are ready for college and career technology needs. Previously working in a district where students had been 1-1 with technology for 3 years, Scambray saw the great benefits of moving forward technologically.

Students like Junior Noelle Sumner fear that going 1-1 with Chromebooks means that they will have to read textbooks through digital screens. Sumner says that it would be very difficult to learn math and physics on a Chromebook, and she doesn’t want technology to hinder her learning.

Mountjoy hopes that students with similar concerns know that Chromebooks will not replace physical textbooks.

“A lot of confusion with some people is that the minute they get a Chromebook, they never have to carry or check out another textbook,” Mountjoy said. “And that’s not the case.”

Mountjoy says that Chromebooks are similar to textbooks because they are needed to access certain content in class or at home. However, they will not replace textbooks themselves.

“You have to change your mindset. Would you refuse the child the Chromebook? Think of it like a textbook,” Mountjoy said, referring to past conversations with skeptical parents. “Once I start telling people that, and they start looking at it in that frame, they’re like, ‘Oh, okay, that make sense!’”

Mountjoy also addresses students who already have a personal laptop or tablet and do not want an additional device.

“Connecting to the wifi could be problematic. There are also district filters, firewalls that are built into the devices so that kids aren’t able to look at things they shouldn’t be looking at,” Mountjoy says. “If you’re using your own device and looking at inappropriate material, we can’t control that.”

Mountjoy and admin ultimately hope that students will grow familiar with technology before they go job hunting or off to college.

“Whether you’re a mechanic, somebody who works in retail, or a college professor. Whether you’re in college or getting a job. There’s technology all over the place. So my philosophy is that it’s our job to get you ready for that,” Mountjoy said.

Having worked in other districts that went 1-1 with technology, Mountjoy understands how this change can be scary at first.

“I understand; people are unfamiliar with it. We are trying to get you ready here for when you go out there in the real world. You have to be technologically adept and know what’s going on. The more we can expose you now, the better off you’re going to be.”

The FUHS library will also be open for additional hours after school so that students will have access to Wifi and have a safe place to do their homework.