On April 10, 2013, the Chevy Chase Patch featured an article about the Foundation and its grants to fund sixty laptops for student use.  The article noted that these grants are the Foundation’s largest in recent years, and that the laptops are enhancing students’ learning in a variety of ways.  The article also noted that the Foundation has supported a range of other projects, including after school academic clubs, the school garden, and community outreach to schools with fewer resources.  The full article can be found here.

The Somerset Elementary School Foundation began the 2012-13 school year with a grant to fund the purchase of three mobile laptop carts, each with ten laptops, to foster digital learning by Somerset students.  The grant, for $34, 375.89, follows a similar grant last year which enabled the initial purchase of mobile laptop carts for Somerset.  These carts have been a huge success in the school, allowing for students to conduct research, draft stories and papers, and engage in a range of emerging digital learning activities from their desks.  Indeed, the mobile laptops are so popular that they are in use all day, every day.  Even with the first set of thirty laptops and the media center, there is still significant unmet demand for computer technology to enhance student instruction.  In keeping with its mission to promote academic excellence and provide a state-of-the-art environment, the Foundation anticipates this grant will further enable twenty-first century learning and continue Somerset’s tradition of excellence.