VTSD Tech News
March Edition
A Note from the Tech Guy
I have officially been here one year now and celebrated my anniversary with the opening week of PARCC - ouch! Besides the snow, PARCC is actually going pretty well. The IT Department has kept things nice and calm for PARCC testing the way Super Heroes do! I wanted to take a moment to thank my staff for their hard work and diligence through this adverse time of trailblazing. Although they are PARCC super heroes, I thought I would share their mild mannered, every day jobs (as many of you may have wondered "what do they do in IT anyways?")
IT Support: Dave Bove, Pete Van Gilst, & Jon Larsen
Someone has to keep the equipment working from day-to-day! Dave, Pete, & Jon maintain our Smart Boards, computers, laptops, and more! On top of their day-to-day work, they each have their own responsibility. Dave is our school district Webmaster, Pete is our resident Apple expert (iPads and Macs), and Jon is our Asset Manager (Inventory).
Infrastructure: Denise Gilchrist & Ron Harris
Did you ever wonder if there was some sort of black magic that made all of our electronics work correctly? It turns out there is no magic - that is the work of Ron & Denise! Ron is our network administrator who oversees our phones, security cameras, the wireless, our switches, and some other behind the scenes things. Denise, our systems administrator, manages all of our servers, content filter, data storage, google apps, Power School, My Big Campus, and just about anything that requires a username and password.
Data Specialist: Sharon Aspinall
If you know the term Big Data you know a lot of info is being collected for some reason! Sharon wears a few hats but she gives the NJDOE all the data they require (which is a lot), imports all of our data for PARCC, helps with other data warehouse programs (like Power School and InfoSnap), and still finds time to do the accounting/bookkeeping for the technology department.
Tech Coaches: Janet DeSenzo & Jackie Van Orden
We can buy all the hardware and software we want but unless teachers and students know how to use it all, it is all expensive junk. Enter the dynamic duo! Janet supports Walnut Ridge, Rolling Hills, and Lounsberry Hollow. Janet also supports the CST department with her assistive technology knowledge. Jackie supports Cedar Mountain, Glen Meadow, and the big one - the High School. Janet & Jackie will push in to classes, do after school workshops, and are now offering online webinars for professional development!
The Wizard of Oz: Matt Shea
And me? I am the person lucky enough to have a stellar team to work with. It is no easy feat to keep a district running which has 3500+ devices, 500+ staff members, and 3300+ students. I will take no credit on my own - the team assembled above works hard to make our technology invisible so the district can achieve its mission: each student will reach their maximum potential! Thanks for your support - I look forward to my second year in Vernon Township School District!