When returning students sign on to the computers on campus, they may be surprised with the changes they see on screen.

During the summer, the operating systems of both the upper and middle school’s computers have been upgraded to run under the new versions of Windows Vista.

All of the software students regularly use, including Microsoft Office and Adobe, has been updated also.

In addition, every computer at the middle campus has been replaced with newer computers, on top of the new software that has been programmed.

David Ruben, the director of computer services, explains that this updating of the middle school’s computers is an attempt to accommodate the newly moderized campus.

“Every network switch and router had to be changed out because of the new campus,” Ruben said.

The number of computers at the upper and middle schools hovers around 500 and 300, respectively.

Faculty and staff have also received new laptops this year.Last spring, teachers and staff were given the option of receiving either a laptop or a tablet for this year.

Although they routinely acquire new laptops every three years, this year a third of the teachers and deans opted to receive tablets instead.

Tablets are notebook or slate shaped mobile computers with touch screens. They come with high tech pens which allow for new features and capabilities.

Usually the computer services team limits itself to one large task per summer. They cycle between updating the computers of the upper school, middle school, and faculty and staff. This is the first year that they have completed all three projects within three months.

Handling these changes is a task the computer services teams has been preparing for since January.

“They worked really hard, putting a lot of effort into all that they do,” Ruben said. “They did a great job.”