Edline takes UFRSD into new era of education
Parents offered more student info than ever before
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Top: An Edline training session at Allentown High School's Back to School Night on Feb. 7 helped parents and guardians learn more about Edline, the school district's new Webbased program. Above: Millstone's Ginger Edwards attends an Edline training class at the high school. Left: Manish Chaddha, director of technology at Upper Freehold Regional School District, recently helped the district implement Edline.

ALLENTOWN - Gone are the days when parents wouldn't know what progress or grades their students have made until a report card came in the mail.

Gone are the days when students didn't have to fully relate to their parents what classes they missed or homework assignments they have to attend to.

Gone are the days when teachers' lessons plans were kept in a ledger on their desk.

The Upper Freehold Regional School District has stepped into a new age in education. The district has implemented Edline, aWeb-hosting service that works with other software programs and services to greatly improve the communication amongst schools, students, and teachers.

Via the new Edline Web site, parents and guardians can receive daily updates regarding their children's homework assignments, test and project dates, attendance and progress reports, sports and clubmeeting times, and information such as a student's detention assignments and current grade for a particular course.

"It's a process to invite parents into a child's educational journey," Manish Chaddha, the school district's director of technology, said. "The more parents get involved, the higher the educational bar will be."

Each class, team, and club in the school district has its own Web page. Each user has a secure screen name and password that allows him/her to access information solely pertaining to themselves or their student( s).

The district has trained all of its teachers how to use Edline. Teachers continue to input grades into a separate computer programbut those grades are nowpublished on the Edline Web pages. Teachers are required to update their sites at least once every month.

Although some teachers are apprehensive about the additional work and training Edline involves, Chaddha said most have found the new program helpful in improving the educational process and getting more parents involved.

"We give the teachers the tools and resources to do their jobs better," Chaddha said. "We give parents this information so that the minute they see a dip in a grade they knowtoworkwith their child or to talk to their teacher. We give the students all of these things so they do not have a fear of technology and are better prepared for college."

The school district sent Edline activation codes home to parents at the end of January and the PTA has been holding training sessions for parents since then. The school district officially launched the program Feb. 1.

Upper Freehold's Jane Sharp, who has three children in the school district and attended a training session at the school on Feb. 7, called Edline a great tool for parents.

"For parents it's great to get online and keep up with how students are doing," Sharp said. "Hopefully, the program will create better communication between the schools and the parents."

Sharp said she likes that she can now access homework assignments and progress reports from work.

"We don't have towait until grades come out on the report cards to see how our children are doing or if we need to intervene," she said.

When asked if she has concerns that such a program invades students' privacy, Sharp said, "Kids want to be individuals and handle things on their own.As parents, we should encourage that but we should also be involved. There is a fine line between being involved and hanging over their shoulder."

She continued, "I can say that when I looked online [at Edline] tonight I didn't find any surprises, which was nice. My son told me his quiz grades and homework."

Upper Freehold's Drew Muscente, 17, said that his parents never have a problem keeping track of his homework and they always trust him to do it.

"I don't know if Edline has much of a purpose for them," he said.

However, Muscente said students now have the ability to easily find out assignments when they are absent.

Allentown's Michael Girandola, 16, of Allentown, said Edline has proved effective for him when he has forgotten a homework assignment.

Regarding the student privacy issue,Girandola said parents should know what their children's grades are because students have a responsibility to tell them before they find out online.

"It's not as big of a deal as everyone is making it out to be," he said.

Allentown's Kristy Langione, 17, said she doesn't have a problemwith her parents looking at Edline for grades and said the site would be most beneficial for parents of students who don't like to go to school or keep up with their schoolwork.

Chaddha said the site can also help parents of childrenwho have tomiss school due to a long vacation or illness.He said parents will immediately know what their children are missing.

Chaddha, who is in his ninth year at the school district, said the district has come a long way with its technology since 1999.He said the district has emerged from an age when its Internet use was shaky and e-mail didn't always work into an era where it is considered among the top schools in the state for its technology use.

"We have retired corporate professionals here who teach and who say the technology we have is better than what many Fortune 500 companies have," Chaddha said. Although such companies and even colleges and universities can pay upward of $150,000 per year for similar services, Chaddha said the district pays $2.58 per student per year for Edline.

And, according to Chaddha, the only thing better than finding Edline for $5,934 per year is how priceless it is to send technically savvy Upper Freehold Regional School District students into the global marketplace.