Schools in Bryan recently received nearly $500,000 from the Texas Education Agency to issue laptops to all sixth grade students and teachers at Jane Long Middle School. The funds will also pay for staff development, equipment, software and services related to the program.

The school is one of 17 in the state to receive funds through the Vision 2020 grant program. It is the third middle school in the district to receive such funds, and district leaders credit success with the other two laptop programs for extending the program.

In 2004, the district was awarded a grant through a state technology pilot program to provide laptops to all students at Stephen F. Austin Middle School. The program was extended to sixth-graders at Sam Rayburn Middle School two years later.

According to Jennifer Bergland, Bryan's Chief Technology Officer, providing a laptop to each student in the district is the ultimate goal. Although more than $1.4 million of state funding for those projects ended last month, Bergland says the district will continue to support those programs as long as possible. She adds that state research from the pilot program in Bryan showed students with laptops scored significantly higher on state-mandated math tests.

Source: TheEagle.com, Grant to Give Bryan Schools More Laptops