Posted on

2018 Recap and New Horizons

On New Years Day, the New Horizons spacecraft completed a historic close encounter with Ultima Thule, a small minor planet a billion miles beyond the orbit of Pluto. The spacecraft left Earth in January 2006, the same year our current high school seniors started kindergarten! Back then, we could rent a movie from Blockbuster, but we couldn’t check Twitter or play our favorite tunes on Spotify. They didn’t exist yet, or Android or iOS, although we had a fancy IBM AS/400 in the district office.

With 2018 compiled and shipped, let’s recap a few Penn Manor technology projects and programs. Highlights from the past year include:

  • Expanded the 1:1 laptop program to all students in grades 5 and 6, and launched a pilot laptop program in fourth grade.
  • Implemented two-factor authentication on all staff GSuite accounts
  • Migrated to a new web content filter from Securly
  • Ahead of building construction, installed a new fiber optic circuit between Penn Manor High School and Millersville University
  • Increased district Internet bandwidth to 5Gbs via KINBER
  • Completed the paperless student records scanning project
  • Reorganized the data services and student help services teams
  • Welcomed new staff: Diana Entrekin, Bria Van Cleve, Stephanie Svolto-Patterson, Brielle Bitts, and Jarrod Claar.

Exemplary student technology projects were all around us in 2018. Penn Manor High School student-generated VR tours took center stage as part of the Google Tour Creator product launch. And at the Central PA Open Source Conference, five high school help desk apprentices shared their innovative work with software-defined radio, a ROS powered self-driving robot, and live video streaming with OBS Studio.

During the past year, more and more elementary students discovered the joy of programming with Scratch. We plan to expand the number of classroom computer science opportunities in the next 12 months. Scratch 3.0, due today, will be a big part of that plan. We can’t wait to see the fantastic code creations our students will unleash!

A few other new projects on our horizon include a full one-to-one student laptop implementation in grade 4, a migration of our student device inventory to Snipe-IT, and a planned upgrade of high school teacher laptops. Speaking of the high school, phase one of the anticipated construction and renovation project begins soon. Welcome, 2019!

Posted on

Summer 2018 Behind the Scenes

Tech staff with laptops for students.

We look forward to another successful start to the new academic year. Here’s a snapshot of the Technology Team’s summer non-vacation!

Group photo of tech team staff.
Out from behind the screens: The Technology Team with the sun in their eyes.

Teachers in the laptop technology workshop.
Grade 5 teachers learning about the Linux laptop program.

Old wooden cart catalog.
Look what we found. We’re still searching for the power cord and network port.

Tech team with OBS software in the studio.
Caitlin and Nate are very excited about using OBS software in building TV studios.

Judy and the Green Screen
Judy and the giant green screen.

Tech team unboxing laptops.
Unboxing 1300 laptops for grades 5, 6, and 9.

Software imaging station
The master software imaging station. From one, many.

Rows of student laptops
Student Linux laptops in the software bakery.

New Firewall
New firewall ready to go. Total district Internet capacity increased to 7 Gbps in July 2018.

Posted on

Seeking a Support Specialist

The Penn Manor Technology Team is seeking a school technology support specialist. Could it be you?

Staff and students will rely on you for friendly help and assistance. You will install, maintain, and troubleshoot hardware and software in a complex, multi-platform academic setting.

Penn Manor’s learning technology mix is 5% Mac, 70% Linux and 25% Windows. Automation is crucial to our work. We use tools like Open Source Puppet, GitLab, and Windows Deployment Services to help our small team manage a huge number of classroom devices.

We are not an ordinary school technology team. Serious applicants should review our guiding principles and technology values and watch a short documentary about our unique open source programs.

Excellent customer service abilities, superior communication skills, and a self-driven work ethic are essential. A degree in a related field or 2-3 years broad technical experience in a mixed platform environment is required. This full-time position will support elementary and middle schools. Minimum salary $48K/year commensurate with related experience. Read the job description.

To apply, email a PDF cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to careers@pennmanor.net. Include the position title, Technology Support Specialist, in the subject line. Deadline for full consideration: May 9, 2018.