Grades 5 - 12
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At Willows Prep, we believe technology should serve a clear purpose. Our approach is rooted in clarity, sustainability, and intentional use, creating a safe digital environment that enhances learning, simplifies operations, and empowers both students and educators every day. To ensure consistency and success across the school, we foster a reliable and secure digital ecosystem in which student devices integrate seamlessly with our Microsoft 365 infrastructure - supporting access to the tools that enrich teaching and learning at our preparatory school in Redmond.
We don’t just use educational technology, we shape how it’s used.
Technology with a clear purpose
Technology is used intentionally to support learning, simplify school life, and help students and teachers work with greater confidence and focus.
Secure digital ecosystem
We create a reliable and secure digital environment by ensuring student devices work seamlessly within our Microsoft 365 infrastructure.
Digital citizenship
Students learn to use technology ethically, safely, and respectfully, with clear expectations around online behavior, privacy, and responsible use of AI.
Pedagogy first
In our IB learning environment, teachers choose when and how technology adds value, keeping inquiry, reflection, and meaningful learning at the center.
As an official Microsoft School, we create a dependable and secure digital environment in which students can collaborate and create. All learners devices must integrate effectively with our Microsoft 365 ecosystem. For the 2026-2027 school year, families of students in Grades 5 - 7 will purchase a school-managed device to ensure consistent setup, software management, and security, while students in Grades 8- 12 will bring a personal device that meets the school’s technical requirements.
Device minimum requirements
At Willows Prep, responsible technology use grows from digital citizenship, personal accountability, and care for others. Students learn to engage online with empathy, protect privacy and property, and communicate with the same respect they bring to face-to-face conversations. Offensive, explicit, illegal, bullying, hateful, or plagiarized content has no place in our community. Students use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity only when guided by a teacher. To help keep students safe and protect the integrity of learning, we use Securly Filter, Securly Home, Securly Classroom, and Securly Aware as part of its digital safeguarding approach.
In Grades 5 and 7, Willows Prep introduces students to clear expectations for technology use through the Digital Citizenship presentation. It frames monitoring as a partnership between students and the technology department, reminding them that their choices affect others in the community and that these safeguards support safety, fairness, consistency, and the smooth running of school systems. The presentation also reinforces the agreements signed at the start of the year, outlines consequences for breaking the Student Agreement, and clarifies that devices connect to school Wi‑Fi during class, while VPNs and mobile hotspots are not permitted.
Personal and school-managed devices are used for academic purposes within a secure digital environment, connecting to the student Wi‑Fi on campus.
In Grades 5 - 7, Securly Filter helps block or allow websites according to their suitability for learning, while Securly Classroom enables teachers to guide device use during lessons. Securly Home gives families oversight off campus, and a network firewall adds further protection for all students, particularly in Grades 8 - 12. AI can support idea generation and creativity when used under a teacher’s direction, but it is never a substitute for student thinking. Clear technology agreements, reinforce the responsibility at the heart of our education, with repeated misuse leading to family involvement and, where needed, loss of technology privileges at school.
During lessons, cell phones remain off or silenced in a backpack or locker, while smart watches stay in Schooltime mode unless a teacher gives permission. Phones may be used during passing periods, lunch, and recess, but any use that disrupts the community or detracts from the school day may require the device to be put away. Field trips, overnight experiences, and extracurricular activities come with their own specific expectations. When issues arise, we handle them directly and fairly. Persistent concerns bring families into the discussion, and students may lose technology privileges at school.
Digital safety continues beyond the school day through a strong partnership with families. Parental controls on iPhone and Android devices help limit inappropriate content, manage screen time, oversee app use, approve downloads, and prevent unauthorized purchases, while also reducing risks linked to messaging, social media, and other online interactions. While the school provides filtering and monitoring on campus, these tools help extend similar protections at home, on cellular data, and on public Wi‑Fi. iPhone Screen Time and Android Family Link support healthier habits and greater safety.
Technology in our classrooms goes beyond the devices themselves. It's a way for students to develop critical thinking, communicate their ideas clearly, and build skills they'll need in the future. Watching our students grow as digital learners is truly rewarding.
Amanda Lawrie-Hall, Director of Technology
Prepare your child for a changing world at Willows Prep, a Microsoft School where technology, computer science, and future-focused learning enrich the classroom experience.
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