Recently, there have been a number of requests from people wanting to know how they can archive sent mail using the District’s CommuniGate Pro webmail system. If you want to do this, please remember that you are still limited to only 50 MB of space in all of your mailboxes (and that includes attachments). So, from time-to-time, you will still need to clean out your mailboxes.

Open the PDF instructions!

The new third through fifth grade report cards will be issued for the first time at the end of this trimester, and with the mid-trimester nearly upon us, here is a video explaining the "nearly" final draft of these report cards.

Watch the Intermediate Grades Report Card video here.

Over the last few years, a combination of do-gooders, computer science professors, and major corporations have combined to develop and begin producing an expensive laptop computer that would actually function in the real life conditions of rural life in the world’s “least developed countries.” Dubbed the $100 laptop, this machine would could not rely on constant electricity, and it had to be extremely rugged, all while costing a fraction of what the least expensive portable computers cost at big box retailers. Successful these engineers have been in the development of their machine, but now they continue to struggle in raising funds to pay for the machines and the government-based orders to supply them to schools and children.

Yesterday, a shrewd marketing strategy was announced to sell these computers in the United States, 1 for 2. That’s right! You pay for two computers, but you only take one home. The other goes off to Haiti!

Read about it on the BBC website!

More info on this amazing computer from the BBC!

Since last night, we have been working to move the District 21 website over to a new server at the Net56 Data Center in Palatine. We will now begin the process of migrating our buildings to this server, too. This new web server will have a number of benefits, including:

Improved Back-Up Capabilities, which will increase uptime in the event of a power outage, hardware issues, or other calamity
24/7 FTP Access for Webmasters, which will likely increase the frequency of website updates--particularly for components such as this blog.

Increased Bandwidth to the Internet, which will enhance our ability to share audio and video with staff and community members beyond our school network and outside the school day.

Support for Future Website Improvements, which will allow us to enhance our websites with future components that require infrastructure and support that we are unable to provide on our own as a school district

While we will not be engaging in any type of overhaul of the District 21 website during the 2007-2008 school year, we will begin to update certain pages more frequently as well as begin the process of eliminating outdated pages. Likewise, this blog will be regularly updated with tips for District 21 staff members, who should check back frequently. As a matter of fact, there will likely be a number of posts in the coming week as items are added that have been held in anticipation of this server move!