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DCDS Technology Program

Student Device Program

For the 2019/2020 school year, Detroit Country Day School provides computing devices for students grades PK3-6.  For students in grades 7 through 12, students can continue to use their school issued device or bring their own device.  Below is a breakdown of the program:

PK3, PK4, & JK:

  • 1:2 iPads
  • iPads will be in the classroom for use individually, in small groups, or for station work.

K, 1st, & 2nd Grade:

  • 1:1 iPads in Carts
  • Each homeroom is equipped with a cart of iPads.  Each student will be assigned an iPad that stays at school, but will travel with them from class to class for specials

3rd-4th Grade:

  • 1:1 Chromebooks in Carts
  • Each class will have a chromebook cart.  Students will use the chromebooks at school but will not take them home.
  • Student accounts will be charged a $50 tech fee

5th Grade:

  • Provided a New Touchscreen Chromebook.  This Chromebook is theirs and will be used in 6th Grade (option to continue to use it in 7 and 8th as well). Charging carts will be provided in the classroom.
  • Student accounts will be charged a $50 tech fee

6th Grade:

  • Current DCDS Students
    • Use the DCDS provided Chromebook from the previous year.
    • Student accounts charged a $50 tech fee
    • At the end of the 6th grade school year the device is the student’s to keep and can be used in 7th grade for our Bring Your Own Device program.
  • New Students Enrolling in DCDS in 6th grade
    • Provided a New Touchscreen Chromebook.  This Chromebook is theirs to take home and will be used the entire 6th Grade year (with the option to continue to use it in 7 and 8th as well)
    • Student accounts will be charged $200 fee to purchase the Chromebook
    • At the end of the 6th grade school year the device is the student’s to keep and can be used in 7th grade for our Bring Your Own Device program.

7th-8th Grade:

  • Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
  • Students who want to continue to use the Chromebook they used in 5th and 6th can continue to use it in 7th and 8th
  • New students entering 7th grade or 8th grade are required to purchase their own device

9th-12th Grade:

  • Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
  • New students entering at this point are required to purchase their own device

Recommended Devices for BYOD

The school requires the device supports 5GHz Wifi, has at least a 7″ screen and includes a keyboard (either touch screen or physical).  Examples of acceptable devices are Microsoft Windows based laptops, Apple laptops and Chromebooks.

If you already have a compatible computing device, setup is very simple.

Most of the applications we use are web based. The list of sites that we use are located on our apps portal page at:

https://apps.dcds.edu/

Students can login to this site with their DCDS username and password.

Some applications require a Client to be installed on Windows, MacOS, Android and Apple iOS.  Here is the link to the download page for the VMware Horizon Client:

Download VMware Horizon Clients

Help Desk

As always, Detroit Country Day School’s IT Support is happy to provide assistance. We have a Help Desk Technician at each campus and we are staffed from 7:30am to 4:00pm on School Days

For Technical Support for all systems, including computers, phones, educational technology, network outages, senior systems and My BackPack, please send us an email to the following address:

support@dcds.edu

Frequently Asked Questions

No, as long as the device is functioning properly and is able to meet the minimum hardware requirements, a student may use a device that he/she already owns.

Any Windows, MacOS, Chromebook or Linux laptop device will work, as long as it supports 5GHz Wifi

No additional software applications are required.

The virtual applications can be accessed from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection.

Yes. The same policies and guidelines apply to personal computing devices as to school provided public computing stations.

Yes, however they may not be used as the student’s primary computing device.

School staff will not have the ability to remotely access the contents of any personal computing device. We highly recommend all students protect their devices by creating a password, as well as installing anti-virus software whenever possible.
Unfortunately, these problems are not new to schools. The medium is changing from print to electronic, but the behavior is the same. These issues would be addressed through the standard disciplinary protocol of the school.
We recommend you purchase an extended warranty for the device at the time of purchase. Malfunctioning computing devices should be brought to the Help Desk, where an initial diagnosis will be performed. If the problem can be easily fixed within 15 minutes, the technician will do so. If not, students will be provided with a loaner, and it is up to the student to have the device repaired as soon as possible. We will attempt to facilitate the repair if possible. Students will need to return loaners within two weeks.
We have high expectations for honorable behavior within our community. Our teachers are among the most engaging and gifted professional educators in the field. The workload for students is significant. Off-task behavior of any kind is often self-correcting. The teacher can also, of course, tell students at any time to “close your device” to be sure the potential distraction is not available.

Directions to download the Advantage (My Backpack) Mobile app.