SDMA K-5 Chromebook Pick-Up Information.

SDMA K-5 Chromebook Pick-Up Information.
Posted on 03/28/2020

Dear SDMA Families and Staff,

Thank you for your patience and support as the school district continues to work on providing services to students and families during this statewide school closure.

Now that the SDMA Free Meals for Kids program is up and running, and now that teachers have initiated contact with all SDMA students, the next step in our plan is to coordinate effective systems for providing students with more learning materials. While many students already have access to learning content online, procedures have also been developed to ensure that hardcopy materials can be provided to students as needed.  

The school district is also working to increase the number of students who can use technology to access learning materials from home. The lack of reliable broadband service across our entire community is a challenge that cannot be overcome in a matter of weeks, but we would still like to do what we can to provide more access for SDMA students. 

SDMA students in grades 6-12 already have access to district-issued chromebooks, but the devices used by students in grades K-5 are typically housed in school computer labs and mobile computer lab carts. This past week, our great tech staff worked on stripping down these school labs and preparing chromebooks to be checked out individually by K-5 students next week.

Chromebooks will be made available for parents of elementary students in the SDMA to pick up at the following times:

  • Tuesday, March 31 from 7am - 9:30am at River Heights Elementary's front office entrance.
  • Friday, April 3 from 11am - 1pm at Wakanda Elementary's front office entrance
  • Friday, April 3 from 11am - 1pm at River Heights Elementary's front office entrance

Like the free meals program, when picking up a chromebook please pull up to the school, open your trunk from inside your car (if you can), and let the staff member know the name of the student signed up to receive a device. The staff member will then check out a device for your student and place the device in your trunk. Before coming to pick up, please make a spot in your trunk, so SDMA staff do not have to move anything. If your vehicle does not have a trunk, or if you can’t open the trunk from the inside of your vehicle, the chromebook will be set outside your vehicle for you to take once SDMA staff members are at least six feet away. For the health and safety of our SDMA staff members, please stay in your vehicle until staff members have left the immediate area.

Unlike the free meals program, registration is required in order to pick up a device. Chromebooks rely on internet connectivity for most functions, so please keep that in mind before signing up. Since we currently have more elementary students than devices available, please do not request a device if you already have suitable devices for your children to use, or if your children will not have reliable access to the internet. Also, if you have more than one child and would like to request more than one chromebook, a separate form will need to be completed for each child.

There are a number of free or reduced internet packages currently available for families, but even those programs are limited by whether or not broadband is available at your location. More information can be found here:

If you would like to request a SDMA chromebook for your K-5 child, please click here to access the registration form. If you have any questions or if you need your student's district login information, please call our technology help desk at 715-232-1642 ext 11142.

Thank you, and please remember to wash your hands and do what you can to #FlattenTheCurve.

Joe Zydowsky