Disclaimer & Acceptable Use Policy

Our goal is to prepare students to be safe, capable and responsible computer users, both at the School and beyond.

Blair has a campus computing environment in which students can use either a Mac or a PC, whether in the classroom, the dorm room or at home. This year, roughly two-thirds of the student body arrived with Macs. Many Blair classes are using Google Apps for Education, which has the advantage of working on any type of computer with Internet access. Students may do their school work with either type of computer.

Our recommendation is that parents make every effort to provide their child with a laptop during their time at Blair.

Blair encourages teachers to design their curriculum in such a way that students may use their laptops for schoolwork in class and when doing homework, rather than be limited to school computers in desktop labs. While school computers continue to be available for those students who need them, having access to a personal laptop is an increasingly important part of being able to do school work at Blair. Students are likely to be asked by some teachers to be able to regularly bring a laptop to class for classwork. Furthermore, students routinely use their laptops with the school wireless in their dorm rooms, in the library and in the campus center. All students are assigned computer accounts upon arrival which will give them an e-mail account and access to the Internet.

A growing number of Blair students bring tablets and smartphones to campus, with iPads and iPhones being among the most popular devices. Although an increasing amount of school material can be accessed through the web browsers of such devices, laptops continue to be a better choice for the full range of computing tasks that students need to perform. If a student is committed to using an iPad instead of a laptop, we recommend including an external keyboard to facilitate classroom writing exercises. A smartphone by itself is not an adequate replacement for a laptop, although smartphones are an excellent way for students to get school e-mail, especially in the event of an emergency.

In addition to laptop-ready classrooms, there are existing computer labs in the language department and Timken Library.

Teachers are increasingly finding ways to engage students with laptops in the classrooms. Faculty use Tablet PCs, ceiling-mounted digital projectors and sound systems as teaching tools throughout the classroom areas.

Students have full wireless Internet access throughout campus.

All student computer accounts (and Internet access) are disabled from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. At the discretion of the Headmaster, seniors are afforded 24-hour Internet access in the spring term, as they prepare to transition to a college environment.

Students are encouraged to have cell phones. However, the school sets limits on when and where students are allowed to talk on a cell phone, limits which are described to them at the beginning of the year.

The School encourages students to focus on interacting with other members of the community at the appropriate times. If parents wish, they may sign up during student registration for a school phone to be installed in their child’s dorm room. School phones include a monthly fee and long-distance billing, so a cell phone is usually preferred.

Blair Academy provides and maintains both a telephone and computer network for students, staff, and faculty. The computer network includes Internet access, an e-mail system, a campus-wide file system, web-based services, network printing and a variety of software packages.

Members of the community are expected to be responsible users of these systems and to use them in an ethical and legal manner consistent with the rules and expectations of the School. Improper use of the School systems may result in the loss of computer privileges, a disciplinary response from the school or legal consequences.

Sam joined Blair as a teacher, coach, and dorm parent in 1995. He teaches advanced computer programming and is responsible managing all aspects of technology at Blair Academy.

Robert Rader
Network Administrator
Bob manages all aspects of Blair’s network infrastructure, including servers, switches, routers, firewalls and network management devices. Bob also provides general technical support to faculty, staff and students.

Keith manages the technology help desk. Keith also provides support for the telephone network, classroom computers and classroom audio visual systems.

Hal Kay
Database Manager
Hal manages projects related to the School's many data systems. He also plays a role in providing onsite training and workshops for both faculty and staff.