Ohio School, Arts & College Preparatory Academy, optimizes Chromebook 1:1 program with VIZOR

Arts & College Preparatory Academy, or ACPA, is a public charter high school located on the east side of Columbus, Ohio. ACPA was founded in 2002 and serves 800 students in grades 7-12. ACPA is a model charter school combining academics and interdisciplinary arts instruction. The school prides itself on providing students with a progressive education, pushing boundaries, and finding student-focused solutions.

When the COVID pandemic threatened education delivery in March 2020, ACPA staff were ready to adapt and created new models of learning in order to support students and families. ACPA quickly initiated a Chromebook 1:1 (one student, one device) program to enable remote learning throughout the pandemic. When classroom learning returned ACPA decided to optimize processes and systems to support their 1:1 initiative.

"The system we had previously was just a spreadsheet. It was really hard to keep track of everything and it put a lot of burden on the teachers to keep it updated." remarked Destiny DeWar, Mathematics Teacher at ACPA. "We needed a solution to help us easily track which students have which Chromebooks and inventory our other technology assets like iPads, cameras, and monitors." added Destiny. "Reducing workload, allowing customization, and increasing flexibility were important to us when selecting a solution."

Centralized IT Hub

VIZOR was selected by ACPA as the primary solution to manage Chromebooks, device repairs and helpdesk tickets. VIZOR was seamlessly integrated with existing systems at ACPA including the Google Admin console and PowerSchool SIS. These integrations provided ACPA with a central hub for management of their IT assets and 1:1 program without any duplication of data entry.

ACPA has utilised VIZOR's barcoding functionality to greatly reduce the time required to allocate devices to students. Replacing spreadsheets with a streamlined barcode checkout process has already resulted in efficiency savings of 50%.

"Checking out a Chromebook for a student with a barcode scanner is so much easier. The device gets allocated to the student, so we know who has it, and they get a reminder of when it's due back, it's all logged really quickly, really easily." Destiny DeWar, ACPA.

In addition to managing student Chromebooks and general IT assets, VIZOR also serves as the technology helpdesk system at ACPA. VIZOR's email integration and self-service portal functionality has been utilized to reduce workload by centralizing helpdesk tickets and streamlining IT processes.

"It is wonderful to hear of the IT process efficiency gains that Arts & College Preparatory Academy have been able to achieve with VIZOR." remarked Dean Bates, VIZOR. VIZOR is committed to working with Districts and Schools, such as ACPA, in Ohio. In addition, VIZOR is proud to support non-profit instructional technology organizations throughout the region including ITIP Ohio, CET Cincinnati and SOITA. "Overall, VIZOR has been amazing for our school. It has helped streamline all our processes IMMENSELY." Destiny DeWar, ACPA.