As the class of 2027 rolled into Arrowhead, the freshmen received new Chromebooks during WINGS, which is a three-day experience for the incoming freshmen to get accustomed to the school. At WINGS, students got their new devices and walked their schedules. WINGS occurred from August 23rd through the 25th, 2023. 

The freshmen were given ACER Spin touch-screen Chromebooks to use throughout their high school years. 

Freshman Demet Alpay said, “It gets the job done and it’s nice that it can turn into a tablet.”

The new Chromebook comes with a foldable, tablet option. Also, it comes with a pen that students can use to write or draw on the computer. For Arrowhead incoming freshmen, it costs $75 a year.

Alpay said, “They are not bad. I like the foldable tablet but they possibly could have been better with more options.”

After the class of 2027 goes through all of their four years of high school, they will have the opportunity to own the device after graduation. There has been no set cost at this time as to how much it will be to keep the device.

Social Studies teacher Daniel Miller said, “So far my freshmen seem to be doing well with them.  It is still early and we have not used them every day in my classes, but I think with the instruction our freshmen received at WINGS, they seem to have a pretty good handle on how to use their Chromebooks.” 

The new Chromebook has a 15-hour battery life, a voice assistant Google built-in, and a screen size of 11.6 inches. If purchased from Best Buy, the retail price is $249.

“I see the neat features with Chromebooks, the cost savings for families, and the benefit of being on the same page with the same device as significant positives.  At this point, I cannot think of any negatives that stand out as it is still early in the process.  We will likely know more over time as to the positives and negatives, but up until this point I have not come across any negatives,” Miller said.