The Northern Humboldt Union High School District is located on the North Coast of California, just 65 miles from the Oregon border and in the heart of the world-famous Redwoods.

Challenge

To advance students’ studies, the Northern Humboldt Union High School District wanted to provide its 2,000 students with access to the latest computer technology, including desktop productivity software and the Internet. The school district also wanted to encourage students to extend computer usage and computing skills into the home. However, with about 40 percent of its students considered economically disadvantaged, the district needed a technology solution that would deliver easy and cost-effective application access to the greatest number of students, using the limited financial resources the school district had available.

Solution

Working closely with Computers and Communications, a Silver Solutions Provider of the Citrix Solutions Network, the North Humboldt Union High School District implemented Citrix MetaFrame with Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition software. MetaFrame has given the school district the ability to deploy any application over any device, wireless to Web.

Over 1,600 students - about 80 percent of the student population - now enjoy Web-based access to applications via MetaFrame from school and home. These applications include Microsoft Word, Excel, Internet Explorer and Adobe PageMaker. Students use a variety of legacy and Pentium PCs, Apple Macintoshes, and Wyse Winterm Windows-based terminals to access the school’s applications in the computer labs and libraries at the district’s two high schools, and from home. Application access is password-protected to ensure secure, authorized usage.

Benefits

“Our Citrix solution has enabled us to widen the classroom boundaries,” says Todd Curry, the school’s district’s technology/curriculum coordinator. “With MetaFrame, we can give students access to applications over the Internet any time, from anywhere. Students love the flexibility - our school newspaper editors, for example, can use PageMaker to lay out newspaper pages at home in the evening, without having to buy and install the software privately. Our MetaFrame and Windows Terminal Server solution has enabled us to extend application access to a large student population, regardless of their financial means.”

Also, through the use of electronic “Drop Box” folders, communication between teachers, students, and parents has been greatly enhanced. Students can read “electronic handouts” posted by teachers, and then deliver completed assignments to teachers’ “receive” folders. Teachers, meanwhile, can log-on from home and correct the work. Parents can also log-on and observe students’ progress.

Lastly, the school district’s utilization of Wyse Winterm Windows-based terminals with the Citrix solution has allowed funding that was earmarked for computer maintenance and replacement, to be re-allocated to other needy areas. According to Curry, “The Winterms don’t become obsolete like the PC clones we were constantly replacing. And Winterms have no moving parts, so we don’t have to worry about students loading infected floppy disks or games onto the network. It’s given us an added level of security to our network.”

Future Plans

The Citrix system has proven so popular with Northern Humboldt’s high school students that access may be extended to primary school students as well. The school district also plans to add new applications to expand student proficiency in technology. Usage is also growing as more students and teachers discover the benefits of the new solution.

Copyright ©2000 Citrix Systems, Inc. Citrix®, WinFrame® and ICA® are registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. Digital Independence™, MultiWin™ and MetaFrame™ are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. for which there are pending applications for registration in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners. “Delivering applications to our students via MetaFrame has provided a seamless expansion of the classroom’s boundaries to include the home or any other location with Internet access.”