By: Cali Hall

At the beginning of the year, students across the district were issued brand new Chromebooks. “The feedback on the new Chromebooks is overwhelmingly positive,” Tina Ruble, Bellbrook High School (BHS) tech, said. “Performance is noticeably improved thanks to the upgraded processors, and students especially like the sleeker, less bulky cases.”

While the overall build quality is very durable, these models come at a higher price point, so the tech department’s primary focus is just making sure students handle them carefully so they stay in great shape for as long as possible.

“Our main challenge right now is taking good care of our student devices,” Ruble said. “We’re seeing a lot of damage from everyday wear and mishandling, and fixing this is going to take a team effort. We really need students, staff, and parents working together to build better habits around respecting and looking after our school tech.”

Students and staff alike have been frustrated with intermittent wifi outages. “Our team is actively working with a specialized network vendor to optimize our Wi-Fi infrastructure district wide,” Ruble said. “Significant work was done over the summer, and connectivity this year is already noticeably better and more reliable than last year. We are continuing to make adjustments and tweaks to eliminate any remaining coverage gaps and ensure consistent performance.”