VERIZON INNOVATIVE LEARING SCHOOLS (VILS)

Clifton Middle School have been accepted into the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools, an education initiative of the Verizon Foundation. After a rigorous competitive process, Houston ISD was identified by the Verizon Foundation’s non-profit partner, Digital Promise, as meeting all criteria for participation in Cohort 7 & Cohort 8. Each VILS partner school will receive an in-kind award of Chromebooks for all students, teachers, and administrators, professional development, and digital instructional resources. Each Chromebook will be equipped with a data plan that provides “always-available” access outside of the classroom. Funds will be provided for a full-time Campus Instructional Technologist dedicated to providing teachers with the pedagogical support to effectively leverage technology in the classroom. The VILS program is for two years, with the possibility of a two-year extension in the second year. Hartman received an extension and now is a year 3 extension school with an opportunity to continue another year.

What is required from parents/guardians?

1. All parents/guardians need to complete and turn in the required documentation. 
   1. ENGLISH FORMS  

2. 2.  SPANISH FORMS

2. At least one parent/guardian per household needs to complete the online Clifton MS  Parent Course and submit the form at the end.

Help our students take care of their Chromebooks!

If we are not able to treat these devices with care and respect, consequences may result in a student device being taken up by Ms. Gaytan and not returned. 

Stickers:

Any official stickers need to stay there and not be removed or drawn on. (example: the inventory tags).

General Care:

Chargers:

Students need to charge their Chromebook overnight. We do not have very many replacement chargers as many chargers were not returned last school year. If a student has a charger that no longer works correctly, they should let Ms. Gaytan know as soon as possible so that he can determine if it's damaged or has a manufacturing defect for replacement (fees may apply if it is determined to have been damaged).

If a student chooses to bring their charger to school, they need to keep it in their backpack and make sure they get it back should they choose to loan it to a friend during class time.

Students who do not have working chargers can bring their Chromebook to Ms. Gaytan and he can charge it for them during the day. It is their responsibility to come get it later in the day.

Data Usage:

Please monitor how much data your student is using at home. The Chromebooks are not meant for personal use, such as watching videos (that are not embedded into a class in Canvas) or playing games.

There is a setting that allows students to toggle between using your home WiFi and the Verizon Data. Please only use Verizon Data if you do NOT have WiFi available at home.

Do NOT use Verizon Data as a hotspot for other devices in the home.