Whitman-Hanson Regional School District Announces Purchase of Chromebooks for Duval Elementary School

Computers Purchased Through North Easton Savings Bank Grant

WHITMAN — Superintendent Jeffrey Szymaniak and Duval Elementary School Principal Dr. Darlene Foley are pleased to announce that Duval Elementary School was awarded a $5,000 North Easton Savings Bank Community Fund grant to purchase Chromebooks for students to use when they attend school in person.

The North Easton Savings Bank Community Fund is provided to local communities through a donation to organizations’ and nonprofits’ projects or initiatives that support community growth. The grant supported Duval Elementary School’s initiative to provide Chromebooks to all students to use during the days that students attend school in person as part of the hybrid learning model.

Cheryl Tappa, a Duval parent and former Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) president, obtained the grant for the school after researching community funds that are typically distributed by local banks. Tappa submitted a letter of intent for the Chromebook Initiative to the North Easton Savings Bank Board of Directors for approval. North Easton Savings Bank approved the initiative and donated $5,000 for Duval Elementary School to purchase Chromebooks.

“As a parent of a student at Duval Elementary I knew how important the use of technology like Chromebooks would be to students’ learning experience on the days they attend school in person as part of the hybrid learning model,” Tappa said. “I researched North Easton Savings Bank to see what their process was to request funding and it was determined that I could submit a letter of intent for the Chromebook Initiative. It was terrific news when we found out we were granted the funding of $5,000 for the purchase of the Chromebooks.” 

The Whitman-Hanson Regional School District is operating under a hybrid learning model where half of the students are in the building at one time. Thanks to the North Easton Savings Bank grant, Duval Elementary School has been able to provide all students with Chromebooks for the days that they attend school in person as part of the hybrid learning model. The Chromebook Initiative allows students to access content, build understanding and skills, and create and publish work based on their skills and individual needs. 

The Chromebooks provide students with a wide range of online learning components that support math and ELA learning. Programs such as Ready Math and I-Ready include online math instruction, assessments and game-based activities while Into Reading provides adaptive online resources for the ELA curriculum. 

“All of us at Duval Elementary School would like to thank North Easton Savings Banks for granting us the resources to purchase these Chromebooks through its Community Fund,” Principal Foley said. “We are fortunate enough to have received this grant to purchase Chromebooks for all students to use when they are in school. Students use Chromebooks for a variety of learning tasks, and from a teaching and learning standpoint we are seeing incredible individual student growth thanks in part to their usage.”

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