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New Jersey District Adopts Gigabit Data Network To Support 1-to-1 Program

Springfield Public Schools in New Jersey is getting a tenfold increase in bandwidth to support technology in its classrooms.

According to information released by the district, Springfield PS has contracted with Comcast to provide Internet access at gigabit speeds, up significantly from its previous 100 Mbps access. The district, with five schools supporting some 2,400 students, provides laptops for all middle school and high school students. It also provides "a minimum of four laptops and tablets per classroom" for students in preschool through fifth grade.

"Between our 1:1 program and more than 400 tablets being used within our early childhood center and two elementary schools, we knew we needed a reliable communications partner that could provide us with the infrastructure needed to support our 'anytime, anywhere' learning philosophy," said Michael A. Davino, superintendent at Springfield PS, in a prepared statement. "After careful assessment of our bandwidth options, we made the decision to partner with Comcast Business. The experience has been seamless and has allowed us to focus on providing our students with the best education possible instead of worrying about how we will meet our bandwidth demands."

According to Comcast, the new network is also "supporting the district's entire offsite backup system, which holds crucial administrative information that includes personnel records, budgetary information and its student information system, which houses all student data. This connection is responsible for archiving and backing up all school e-mail to its offsite data center."

Comcast also reported that the options for yet another tenfold increase — to 10 Gbps speeds — are currently being evaluated by the district.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


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