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How does the school use technology to communicate with students and parents?
Administrators and faculty use the School Web site as the primary form of formal communication with students and parents; in turn, students and parents are encouraged to do the same. The Web site offers a wealth of information and resources, including the following:

• Daily and yearly calendars
• Current news
• Photo galleries of students at work and play on campus
• A variety of handbooks and guides (Curriculum Guide, Student Handbook, Honor Code Handbook, College Admission Guidebook, and the School’s Crisis Management Plan)
• darSHOP bookstore shopping online
• Library resources available for use by parents as well as students
• Parent access to student Web pages
• Online registration for parent events and online giving to support the School’s Annual Fund
• E-mail directory of all faculty and staff in the “Faculty Directory”

The student Web pages offer a comprehensive picture of each student’s academic performance. All instructors enter assignments and provide links for additional resources and research by students, post student grades using an online gradebook (grades 4-12), make comments about student expectations and performance and respond to parents’ questions, and track attendance via the Intranet. To help parents stay up-to-date, an e-mail notification is sent to parents’ e-mail addresses after 5 p.m. each day that a student’s information is updated. Parents can view a gallery of photos taken of their child.

Darlington’s unique student Web pages allow parents to stay involved on a daily basis in their child’s school life. Click here to view sample student Web pages.

Other uses of technology
Darlington School believes in using technology and the Internet to accentuate learning. As a school with students from many countries and states, Darlington is committed to linking students with the global community and to providing students with more recent information than any textbook could offer. The School also helps students become lifelong learners by teaching computer research skills that will be crucial in the educational and business environment of the future.

During registration, students are provided a network account with Internet access, an e-mail account, and a storage folder on a local server. Administrators, instructors, and staff communicate with students via e-mail addresses. Students are required to use School e-mail as the primary communication.

The campus computer network provides a medium for instructors to communicate with each other and to enhance classroom instruction with students and with other schools and institutions. Instructors use software such as PowerPoint to deliver engaging lectures via the classroom computer. Both the computer network and presentation software allow instructors to individualize their instruction and to adjust for different learning styles.

In addition, instructors have available both local and long distance telephone service to remain in close touch with parents, schools, and support institutions.

What kind of computers and software should students use?

The School maintains an extensive Ethernet and fiber network that connects all of its buildings and includes Windows 2003 servers, which provide e-mail service, Internet access, and storage areas for faculty and students. The School recommends either desktop or laptop computers with a Pentium processor, a 10/100 (minimum) Ethernet card, and Windows 2000 or higher. Standard 802.11 b/g wireless access points are also available around campus in student housing, the cafeteria, library, school store, and most classroom areas. Apple Macintosh machines are not supported on the school’s network, though students are welcome to use them for school work.

The technology staff is responsible only for making the necessary settings to connect a student computer to the campus wired or wireless network, and it is our expectation that the student will not load any additional software or hardware that will tamper or interfere with network access. It should be noted that the technology staff will not support or service hardware or software unrelated to the network connection required for school-related activities. If the student computer needs servicing, the technology staff can recommend a local computer repair company for the necessary repairs. Although the School uses the latest virus detection software for its e-mail, all student computers must be equipped with updated anti-virus protection as well. Microsoft Office is the campus-wide supported software for classroom projects, and it is highly recommended that students have this program available to them rather than Microsoft Works or other related software.

How may students use computers at Darlington?

Darlington School expects its campus network and the Internet to be used exclusively for educational purposes. Inappropriate web sites abound, and the School attempts to block objectionable sites that deliver racist, gambling, pornographic, or tasteless material. Students are provided a network account allowing them Internet access, an e-mail account, and a storage folder on a local server. Teachers, staff and administration will communicate with the students via this e-mail address, and therefore students are expected to use this account as their primary source of e-mail communication.

Instant messaging services are blocked due to their distracting and potentially harmful nature. Students are encouraged not to enable file and printer sharing across the network to lessen the traffic on the network, which results in a slower overall network speed for everyone. Also, if a student computer is shared, then access to certain areas of that computer may become available to everyone. The School is ultimately responsible for everything available on its network, and will investigate and/or delete any material it feels is not appropriate. Student accounts are disabled nightly from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. to encourage rest.