Dear Parents and Guardians:
Welcome to Hoffman Estates High School! As your student begins their freshman year, we're excited to provide them with an iPad to support their education in District 211. This initiative is designed to provide all students with a common platform that supports classroom activities and assignments, improve both curricular and non-curricular (clubs, activities, and athletics) access, enhance academic learning, increase collaboration, and build digital responsibility.
Much like Illinois’ graduated driver’s license program introduces new drivers to the road with clear boundaries, our school employs a similar approach to technology. Each iPad is preloaded with core educational applications and allows students to download additional course-specific apps through the Self-Service portal, ensuring your student has all necessary tools to thrive academically. In addition, standard iPad features like the AppStore, iMessage, FaceTime, and AirDrop have been disabled to help minimize distractions, maintain an optimal learning environment, and to support students in responsible use. Apple's AppStore is not available to students, enabling the iPad to remain focused on learning tasks during the school day.
It's important to note that District 211's device configuration, content and filtering, and restrictions may differ from those previously experienced by students and parents during grade school and junior high as we strive to balance academic focus with the development of digital independence. If there are concerns about your specific student's behaviors with technology and their school-issued iPad, we encourage open communication with your student's Intervention Administrator. Our teams have vast experience and available resources to wrap support around your student to foster their learning growth. Our goal is to guide students toward responsible, academic-focused, use of technology.
In addition to the school-management options for the iPad, parents and guardians seeking more control at home may consider using Apple’s built-in Screen Time parental controls on the school-issued iPad. However, as some of the Screen Time controls could impact classroom activities and assignments, we encourage you to speak with student’s administrator before applying restrictions. Information regarding Screen Time options and how to set up Screen Time can be found here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208982.
Finally, as the iPad is a new device coming into the household, the optional District 211 iPad Protection Plan can help to provide peace of mind and to safeguard against unexpected damage or loss. Detailed information regarding coverage, annual cost, and per-incident deductibles is available on our website, with convenient payment options through your MySchoolBucks account or directly with the school cashier.
We look forward to a successful and engaging freshman year for your student.
Warm regards,
Michael M. Alther
Principal, Hoffman Estates High School
Christina Ordonez
Technology Department Chair, Hoffman Estates High School
