The McNicholas Milestone

 For the 2024-2025 school year, McNicholas has officially transitioned from LAN School to Securly as a way to monitor students’ tablet use in classes to keep students focused while at school and make sure they are staying engaged during class. 

“We are able to protect you guys from a lot of what is harmful on the internet,” Mr. Adam Martin, Director of Technology, said. Securly Filter was set in place in November for many reasons, one of them being limiting the distractions available to students.  

This goes along with the new mobile device policy, also implemented for the 2024-2025 school year. It has allowed students to stay on task in the classroom and not be tempted to stray to other tabs outside of their classwork. Teachers are now able to see their students working and know they are not on social media, AI, etc. This is very effective during tests and quizzes in class where teachers can monitor their student’s online activity and prevent them from going to blocked websites or getting their answers from places they should not be. 

 “It is going to limit distractions and it’s going to help keep you safe and on task,” Paul Romolo, Latin Teacher and Assistant football coach said. Romolo has assisted Martin with implementing Securly. There are many dangers on the internet and with Securly, the school is able to limit the accessibility to those, including sites that could spread viruses and destroy data. 

“All of this is meant to keep you safe whether in an online space or in the physical world,” Romolo said. In the upcoming months, students will be able to use Securly to sign out of class on their tablets using an online hall pass. This will give teachers a way to keep track of each one of their students without causing distraction in the classroom.  All of this has been put in place to be helpful not harmful for the entire McNick community.