Instead of flipping through pages and lugging books in their backpacks, the sixth-graders at the Trinity Lutheran School will get clicking on a different type of textbook in the coming year.
This fall, each incoming sixth-grader at the Joppa private school will get a new laptop, eliminating the need for textbooks in three core subjects - science, math and social studies.
"One advantage to middle-schoolers is that it's a big reduction in their backpack," said headmaster John Austin. "Now they get a laptop with a textbook online."
Most of the students in the cafeteria on a school day drag their backpacks, which have wheels. Some of the backpacks - bulging with books - look heavier than the students.
"Some of the students are carrying 45 pounds," said William Rehrig, dean of students. "Even with wheels, the kids have to carry them up and down the stairs."
Ten-year-old Megan Gardner, who hauls her saxophone, gym bag and 15 textbooks back and forth from school, said she's excited about getting laptops next year.
"I think it's going to be easier because I won't have to carry books around. It gets heavy," Megan said.
At least once a week, the fifth-grader forgets to bring one of her books home, so she and her father scramble to school before it closes at 5 p.m. or she calls friends and has them fax over pages she needs.
"It's an issue for my daughter because she forgets her books because there are so many to bring home," said her father, Stephen Gardner. "Now she can just bring the laptop home and fire it up."
Each sixth-grader will be assigned a laptop that has been designed for children's use. The silver EarthWalk laptops have a spill- and sand-resistant keyboard, durable casing and can endure up to 26 drops, according to the manufacturer.
"Business laptops and laptops for kids are two totally different things," said Terry Scoggins, network administrator for the Trinity Lutheran School. "These have reinforced hinges."
Trinity Lutheran plans to phase in the laptops for the sixth-grade class every year. Parents will pay a $400 yearly technology fee, which also pays for computer maintenance and repairs.
Each student must have the same type of laptop to ensure uniformity; otherwise, Austin said, "Technologically, it would be a nightmare. All children need the same programs."
When the students finish middle school, parents have the option of buying the laptop.
The middle school is introducing laptops to the students because they are being used in higher education, Austin said.
"One of the motivators was a lot of the students here go to John Carroll, which started its laptop program several years ago. So this is to better equip our students. We felt it was something we should do," he said.
The John Carroll High School, a private college-preparatory school in Bel Air, started issuing tablet personal computers to its freshmen two years ago.
In the fall, Trinity Lutheran expects to have 30 to 34 sixth-graders, who will access their textbooks through the Internet. In the classroom, teachers can project images from their Smart boards, which are touch-sensitive, interactive whiteboards, to each student's laptop. And to ensure that students are on task, school officials are thinking about installing a program in the teacher's computer.
"We're strongly considering putting on the teacher's laptop a program that would show what every kid has on their screen to see which kid is playing Solitaire," Rehrig said.
madison.park@baltsun.com