Zionsville Middle School

Have you ever wondered how the two Zionsville middle schools pay for their 1:1 netbook programs?  If you answered “yes,” you’re in good company – it’s a question we are often asked, particularly during a time of teacher and program cutbacks in our schools.  The fact of the matter is that netbooks are funded the same way textbooks are: through textbook rental.  In other words, families whose children are in grades 6-8 pay a rental fee ($99.40) that pays for that machine over the course of its “lifetime.”  As a result, the school corporation’s general fund is untouched, and the program has no impact on staffing. Also worthy of note is that this fall  parents of 7^th and 8^th graders had the option of providing a laptop/netbook machine rather than doing the rental.  This opportunity allows families to use equipment that they may have already had, totally avoid the rental fee, and it gives students a jump start on the ownership responsibility linked with daily computer use so common in high schools, college, and the workplace.  As Paul Harvey used to say, “and now you know the rest of the story.”

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