Shortly before 8 a.m. on Aug. 25 Kentwood High freshmen-to-be got out of cars in front of the school gym and office then slowly drifted in groups over to the ninth grade building for orientation known as Jump Start.

At both Kentwood and Kentlake freshmen this year were participating in the three day program that included a new element to the high school curriculum — laptops for ninth graders.

“We wanted to have our kids to have the opportunity to jump right into instruction using the laptops,” said Kentwood assistant principal Aida Fraser-Hammer. “Teachers have been preparing for the implementation of using the laptops so we’re going to get right into it at the beginning of school as much as we can.”

Many middle school students in the Kent School District have been part of one-to-one laptop programs and it only made sense to continue that with technology levy funds collected via property taxes after voters approved.

“We realized that we can’t just have them get this technology in middle school and then drop it,” Fraser-Hammer said. “They are very happy that the new laptops they were issued… are smaller, are more compact, they look ‘cooler,’ as they said and the fact the cases are a lot more compact. They’re also happy that the battery life is longer.

The idea, explained Kentlake Principal Joe Potts, is for all district high school students to have laptops by the time this year’s freshman class are seniors.

Potts was on the team at Kentwood that developed Jump Start there in 2009. Now in his second year at the helm of Kentlake the program is being implemented there, as well.

Fraser-Hammer explained the week before the first day of school, Thursday, Sept. 1, ninth graders were given introductory lessons on the rules and etiquette of using a district-issued laptop as well as the software applications that will be used during the school year.

In addition students learned about OneNote, a note taking and organizational tool, as well as Outlook.

“On day one they’ll be equipped with some background and knowledge,” Fraser-Hammer said. “We also asked parents for permission to take the laptops home so, again, on day one they’ll be ready to use those laptops at school.”

For freshmen, computer usage is standard operating procedure, Fraser-Hammer said, so it makes sense to provide them with laptops.

“It’s a life that they know because it’s a tool that they’ve become quite comfortable with,” she said. “That will help them in their note taking because we emphasize to them that as they’re learning they need to take notes. They can communicate with each other and they can communicate with their teacher.”

Todays teen, Fraser-Hammer added, is wired for the digital age.

“This will enhance not only the manner in which they communicate with their teacher but it will also enhance their learning experience,” she said. “This helps kids individualize learning for themselves. It opens up a whole element that we didn’t have when we were just utilizing instruction from textbooks and the teacher.”

While Kentwood administrators are using Jump Start to not just introduce incoming students to the school but also to how to use laptops, Kentlake staff have more than just new computers to contend with, Potts said.

“It’s essentially the same program (at Kentlake) with the same goals,” he said. “The goals are to acclimate students, to provide them with an experience that is welcoming and inviting. We care about them and they’re part of our family.”

Potts explained he started at Kentlake a bit too late in the summer last school year to put Jump Start into place but as he works to change the culture of the school it’s important to him for freshmen to come into the school feeling confident and prepared.

Jump Start is crucial to those efforts.

It began on Aug. 22 with a spaghetti dinner in the Kentlake commons for incoming freshmen and their parents.

“It was really big because ninth grade parents are generally nervous about their children jumping from eighth grade to ninth grade,” Potts said. “We wanted them to feel comfortable. And we’re dead serious about helping them. Also, it was a nice way to show the parents that the community and the service clubs in particular are behind the school.”

He explained that the Kentlake experience goes beyond the high school and the community extends beyond the classroom to service clubs, businesses and families because “they’re all interested in the school being successful.”

When freshmen arrived for Jump Start on Tuesday morning, they were given tours of Kentlake and received their class schedules.

“We are doing ice breakers and we’re doing some mentoring with our Link Crew,” Potts said. “We’re getting our freshmen students here and helping them become familiar with the school site itself.”

And students also got the same introduction to laptops at Kentlake that the freshmen got at Kentwood.

“Laptops have become a significant portion of our Jump Start program because both Kentwood and Kentlake are beginning with the notion that students need their laptops from the start,” Potts said. “We’re not going to spend two weeks training students with their laptops. We want them to hit the ground running.”

Laptops are both an opportunity and a challenge, Potts explained.

“The technology itself will provide enormous opportunities to continue learning after the school day ends, which is really significant for us,” he said. “Our technology challenges, many we know because of our past challenges with surfing and gaming, so it will be a new experience.”

But Jump Start also allowed the administrators, Potts and his assistant principals, the opportunity to get to know the ninth graders and vice versa.

“They’re hearing that they matter and we’re not going to give up on them, over and over and over again,” Potts said. “And honestly, to close the achievement gap we need more time, we need more time with our students. We need to invest more of our time to help kids, all kids, be successful.”

Potts said he believes by the time the new crop of freshmen walk through the doors at Kentlake they will know they matter to their teachers and administrators.

“Relevancy is a tremendously important feeling for children,” he said. “They are relevant, we do care about them and we will work hard to help them be successful. Kids have to see it and they have to experience it.”