Microsoft Office 365 coming to 14,000 Houston students, 1,200 teachers

Texas’ largest school district is transitioning 14,000 students and 1,200 teachers to Microsoft Office 365 and HP Elitebook Folio 9470m Ultrabooks running Windows as part its PowerUp initiative, an effort to create transformative learning using digital tools.

The Houston Independent School District, the seventh largest in the U.S, has a large majority of students from low-income families. The goal is to increase access to technology.

“Educating our kids is important, but having our parents and community understand digital awareness is imperative to their success,” says Lenny Schad, Chief Technology Information Officer for the district.

Also, as part of the initiative, 65,000 high school students will receive HP laptops running Windows over the next three years.

“You can’t help but feel good when you see students’ faces as they open their laptops, or when you hear from parents and grandparents how grateful they are that this technology – something they’d never be able to afford on their own – has been provided, because it’s so important to their students’ futures and education,” Schad said.

Other districts in the Houston area using Microsoft solutions to improve student outcomes include Clear Creek Independent School District, Cyprus Fairbanks Independent School District and Klein Independent School District.

For more on who this initiative and how Microsoft technology is changing learning and teaching in Texas, check out the press release.

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Aimee Riordan
Microsoft News Center Staff