Creating a More Connected Learning Environment with Meraki
Started in 1976 by a small group of parents, Woodlynde School is one of the oldest and most successful independent college prep schools designed to help K-12 students with learning differences. The faculty and staff at Woodlynde are trained to educate while providing a nurturing environment for students who would benefit from specialized teaching methods and strategies.
Woodlynde’s program has helped equip students with the skills they need to be self-confident, happy, and successful in college, their career, and life, with many getting accepted to the college of their choice and then pursuing advanced degrees.
Challenge
The Woodlynde School had relied on a Meraki wireless network, and although the technology had served the school well for some time, it had become outdated in the face of technological advances.
The biggest issues this caused involved dropped wireless connectivity around the school’s campus. The old access points (APs) didn’t support the density or connectivity necessary to provide the consistent connectivity required for the organization to operate up to the necessary standard. The school was equipped with Smart Boards with wireless connectivity capabilities that couldn’t be utilized due to the poor connection between the internet access points.
The lack of internet connectivity was causing a serious impact on the ability of the faculty, staff, and students to cultivate the learning environment that Woodlynde was created to do, so they called Hammer Tech.
Solutions
Hammer Tech conducted an assessment of the school’s needs and came up with the recommendation of replacing Woodlynde’s old Meraki APs with a newer Meraki model, the Meraki MR56s. These new access points would ensure that the Woodlynde School has consistent connectivity throughout its organization and would make managing the network easy because everything would be based in the same Cisco Meraki environment.
Results
With the new network deployed, the Woodlynde team would be able to quickly manage their wireless network, since all the equipment is similar to what’s been seen before, and the entire campus will see fewer dropped signals among faculty, staff, and students. Additionally, Woodlynde will be able to fully realize the benefits of the Smart Boards they invested in because of a more stable network connection that allows them to utilize the tools as more than second monitors.
This consistent connection to the internet will help Woodlynde achieve its mission of creating a supporting environment for their students that will enable them to thrive after graduation.
