Background:
The Berwyn School District 100 was preparing for the “High Stakes” Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) test. This test requires students to be at the school and cannot be done remotely. Several of their Schools were recognized for continuous innovation in learning, teaching, and the school environment in 2019-20 as Apple Distinguished Schools. Berwyn is proud of this status and did not want to jeopardize the quality of education.
Challenge:
Given health protocols, the District needed to quickly add to the School’s ability to spread students out for social distancing. The school Gyms had enough space to allow for this.
Solution:
Pentegra performed a WIFI audit in one day. The audit report showed the District’s nine Gyms required higher capacity WIFI to handle the potential increased number of active connections. Further, Pentegra recommended replacing older 802.11n Wireless Access Points (WAPs) with 802.11ac for nearly 3x the performance. We carefully planned the placement of the WAPS was so coverage was even throughout the spaces. Pentegra was confident in the installation but, given the importance of the event, had a technician on-site for the testing in case something needed immediate attention.
Outcome:
Pentegra worked with Berwyn IT staff to schedule the installation during spring break. The new WIFI was ready for IAR testing a week later. No students had connection problems so far.
