Childress promotes independence again
ApplianSys is pleased to announce that Childress Independent School District (ISD), TX, has purchased a CACHEBOX solution. It started out looking just to facilitate online testing. But when it discovered CACHEBOX, the benefits of a comprehensive schools caching solution became obvious.
The rural district has a 500Mbps bandwidth link that caters for its 1,140 students and 200 teachers.
Technical Director Ignacio Rodriguez wanted to cache online testing to ensure all students could take tests simultaneously, without potentially causing bandwidth congestion.
Initially, he was advised that ProctorCache (the software that works with TestNav to deliver pre-cached test content) would do the job.
But when he evaluated four different solutions – including ProctorCache – for his E-rate bid, he found that ApplianSys’ CACHEBOX made a lot more sense. It met the overall caching demands of the district and would deliver benefit all day every day to all users, rather than just a point solution helping only with a small subset of the traffic for just a few days in the year.
Ignacio also spoke to Technical Director, Louis Webb at Neuces Canyon CISD, who shared his CACHEBOX reports and experience with him. Convinced that it would be far more valuable for Childress ISD too, he decided to buy a CACHEBOX310 through E-rate funding.
“Rather than just caching the online testing part of network traffic, many schools realise they will get so much more benefit from a full schools caching solution, and therefore get faster access to eLearning sites and more,” says CACHEBOX Consultant Sophie Clark.
“Not only does CACHEBOX have ProctorCache embedded within its software, it also caches a wide range of popular eLearning sites and has features specifically designed to optimise a school’s bandwidth connection,” says Sophie.
“For the district, this means that content from platforms like Istation and Odysseyware can be served 10-15 times faster than from the internet.”
About
Childress Independent School District is located in Childress, TX, USA in the Texas pan-handle, bordering Oklahoma. Childress is named after George Campbell Childress, the author of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The district has three campuses: an elementary, junior high and high school – serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Its programs include Special Education, Gifted and Talented, Vocational, and college dual credit. Childress ISD is considered one of the most technologically advanced schools in the district, providing students with Computers on Wheels (COWS) and interactive whiteboards in every classroom.