Program Provides Technology for Families Without Computers

The Board of Education is partnering with a New Haven-based organization that will provide free computers to 40 families with school-age children and train them how to use them.

Concepts for Adaptive Learning has provided technology for students and their families in Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Haven and Hartford, its director Curtis Hill recently told the Board of Education, and most recently in Meriden, which approved the program this past summer. In eight years, the program has provided 2,000 families with computers in those communities.

This week, the Board of Education approved trying out the program in Hamden.

"This is a program that gets parents more involved in their children's education and narrows the digital divide," the district's Information Technology director Karen Kaplan told the board, "and we are looking for them to do the same thing in Hamden."

The program provides a refurbished computer and computer training to families who don't have computers and do have children who attend the town's public schools. The organization also is arranging for a low-cost Internet service that the families can afford, Hill said.

"We help public school children improve their education and use technology as the motivator to achieve that goal," he said. "We teach teachers to integrate it into the curriculum and teach parents to get more involved in their children's education."

For many families, owning a computer and having Internet service is beyond their financial means, Hill said.

"For many, it's a choice between food and technology," he said. "That is where our organization comes in."

It doesn't cost the district anything, he said, and all they ask is that school officials support and promote the program to students and families.

"There is no direct cost to the Board of Education," he said. "We are not asking you for money but for your partnership.

"We are the ones who go out to beg, borrow and steal the money we need," Hill said. Much of their funding comes from grants from businesses, he said, such as Liberty and Peoples banks, both of which have contributed to the program.

"They provide the funding for the computers, the training, the installation and the technical support," Hill said.

To qualify, families must have children who are students in the Hamden Public School system and not have a computer at home.

The district is asked to identify a geographical area where the program should be focused, and in Hamden's case, that's likely to be the area around Helen Street and Church Street schools, Kaplan said. Forty families will be chosen initially to receive the computers and support.

Parents will receive training on how to use the computers and the Internet, and how to help their children with their education using the technology. They also will be taught skills to help themselves, such as resume writing.

"I am very excited about this," said Business Manager Michael Belden. "This is something that school district needs.

"We talk about bridging the achievement gap as one of our main missions, and this goes a long way in achieving that," he said.

"This is a great program," said Supt. of Schools Fran Rabinowitz said, "and I'm thrilled that the possibility exists for Hamden."

The program is expected to be implemented in the spring, Hill said.