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REDLANDS – Valley Preparatory School kicked off a school-wide laptop program Thursday at back-to-school night.

The school is piloting its “one-to-one” program with second- and fifth-graders this year. Next school year each student in the school will have a MacBook laptop.

“This will make us the only laptop school in the area and we’re excited about that,” said head of school Michael Hughes.

The program, a partnership with Apple, is the linchpin in the second year of the school’s push toward technology, he said.

“We’re not doing it for the sake of using computers – it’ll be integrated into every class,” said technology director Carrie Willis.

Parents of second- and fifth-graders were introduced to the program Thursday night. Through a special lease arrangement with Apple, families own the laptop, and students use them in class and at home.

“I think it’s really great the whole class gets laptops the whole year,” said fifth-grader Elizabeth Matich. She and some classmates used MacBooks to access an educational website, BrainPOP, on Thursday.

“I do have a MacBook at home and it’s really easy to use,” said fifth-grader Mira Kubba, who sat next to Elizabeth.

Hughes said the school chose Apple because they had the best educational framework.

Second- and fifth-graders should have their laptops in October, he said.

Last year, Valley Prep opened a publishing center and science lab, and worked on the infrastructure for future projects like the laptop program, Hughes said. School staff and parents also visited Fullerton’s Robert C. Fisler School, another “one-to-one” school.

“We saw firsthand what was possible,” said parent and Valley Prep board member Kurt Collins, an associate professor of art at Cal State San Bernardino.

“It really engages the kids,” Hughes said.

They brought questions, and learned that students who used laptops had better test scores and handwriting, among other things, he said.

“They’re much more well versed in the ability to communicate in what we would consider the modern world,” he said.

Valley Prep is starting with second- and fifth-graders because second-graders are developing their technology skills, and fifth-graders can use the laptop through eighth grade, Hughes said.

Students and parents are excited, he said.

Some families with students in other grades want to get involved, and the school will look into that, he said. All students in second through eighth grades should have laptops next year, he said.

“The kids also don’t have to haul books back and forth,” said Valley Prep business manager Erin Westphal.

Laptops come with educational software, subscriptions and content filters tailored to the school’s curriculum, according to the school.

Collins, who started a laptop program at Cal State, was part of a focus group two years ago led by University of Redlands president James Appleton. One of the topics was instituting “one-to-one,” a “monumental shift in school operations,” Collins said.

By starting students with laptops earlier, teachers can concentrate on other things, he said.

“(It will) become second nature to them,” said fifth-grade teacher Jackie Pendery.

Students can broaden the scope of projects like California missions in fourth grade, Collins said.

“They know how to put together a book, a video – they could interview people, put it in a podcast use research off the Internet,” he said.

Valley Prep children begin using computers at age 3 in the school’s lab, Hughes said. Willis said students can also communicate with teachers through e-mail and have pen pals in other countries.

“These kids have grown up with cell phones, iPods at their disposal,” she said.

Second-grader Haley Farrokhi said she was excited to start using the laptops.

“It’s fun because we get to type and it’s our first time to use our computers,” said classmate Cat-Minh Huynh.

E-mail Staff Writer Joy Juedes at jjuedes@redlandsdailyfacts.com