All Hazlet High School Students To Get Chromebooks

All students at Raritan High School in Hazlet will be issued Chromebooks this year.

Under the 1:1 Chromebook initiative students will be able to use the devices as a learning tool in class and at home.

“If we don’t define what school will look like in the future, someone will define it for us,” Bernard Bragen, Superintendent of Schools in Hazlet said in a prepared statement. “Online and blended­learning transcends scheduling and geographical limitations and provides optimal resources for our students to learn 24/7.”

Teachers at the school were issued Chromebooks in June to help them prepare to use applications, including the Google Apps For Education (GAFE), in their classrooms. This month, teachers were also scheduled to attend six-hours worth of workshops.

“Successful blended ­learning uses the best properties of physical and online classrooms,” a news release about the program said. “Effective implementation of blended strategies focuses on learning rather than the technology and directly relates to the Hazlet Township goal of academic excellence.”

School officials believe this new program will “change the landscape of eduction,” in town.

“If we want the children of Hazlet ready for college and careers they must have the latest tools to prepare them for their future,” Board of Education President William Kolibas said in a prepared statement.

Shore Regional, Keansburg, North Hunterdon Regional, and Hillsborough already have similar programs in place, and Hazlet school officials visited those districts to learn more about the programs there.

“I feel like I am getting a Chromebook and going to college,” rising Senior Deryn Albrecht said in a prepared statement. “RHS has added so many AP courses, a new Engineering Lab (STEM) and opportunities for us to achieve academically ­ I can’t wait for September.”

Parents must sign an Acceptable Use Form.

Distribution of the Chromebooks begins Thursday in the high school’s media center.

Here’s the distribution schedule:

• Aug. 27: 9 a.m. to noon; 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Aug. 31: 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Sept. 1: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Sept. 2: 9th Grade Orientation, with pre-signed documents only, and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.