By Lara Sokoloff

In a first step toward a one-to-one computer model, wherein students will bring or be provided with a personal computing device to use at school, iPads are being distributed to faculty and staff as soon as practicable, Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts said in an email to the faculty Monday.

“We are at a crossroads, and the path that leads to a one-to-one computer model seems the right one to take,” Huybrechts said.

This announcement follows the release of the iPad 3 last Wednesday.

Education Technology Chair Jeff Snapp first piloted the campaign a year ago when a few dozen iPads were given to departments for teachers to explore the use of iPads in the classroom. Huybrechts said the overwhelmingly positive feedback led the school to make iPads more widely available.

This change follows years of technological development over which computer usage at school has soared, Huybrechts said. The one-to-one computer system for students will be phased in over a few years, but will hopefully begin in September 2013.

Huybrechts said this will be a big change for the school. The earliest steps in the implementation will include widespread iPad distribution, training and curriculum development support, she said.

“I, too, have some anxiety about the pace of change and demands required to adapt, but I am excited about this new adventure,” Huybrechts said.

Huybrechts said the iPad may be better suited for the needs of teachers and students than laptops.

“I believe this direction is a good one for our students,” she said. “[The iPad] may be a better device for the kind of work we do in classrooms.”