JOHNS ISLAND -- When Angel Oak Elementary lost about $100,000 in federal money for high-poverty schools this year, it had to cut a full-time math intervention teacher, an after-school tutoring program, technology and books. The pain of those reductions is being eased a bit by news that the school will be one of three in Charleston County to receive an iPad for every student and teacher this year. School Principal Rodney Moore said the devices can't replace one-on-one instruction, but they will supplement teachers' lessons. "It's going to help fill the gap," he said. "It's exciting, and it's the hook that gets students connected to the standards and to literacy." District leaders want to see whether giving every student an iPad is a worthwhile investment, and they're going to study the three schools, which also include Drayton Hall Elementary and Haut Gap Middle, to decide whether they should give an iPad to every student in the district. They haven't figured out yet what that would cost. They started the project in January at Drayton Hall Elementary in West Ashley, giving iPads to every student in one kindergarten, one first-grade and one third-grade class. The implementation went so well that the school board agreed in April to expand the iPads to the rest of Drayton Hall Elementary and one additional school this year. Some of the criteria for the second school included: enrolling a majority of low-income students; teachers and students already using existing technology such as SmartBoards; and the existence of required infrastructure for the iPads. A number of schools were a match, but Angel Oak Elementary stuck out as the top-rated school, said John McCarron, the district's executive director of information technology. Eighty-six percent of its students are low-income, and teachers were integrating technology in their lessons. "This is an amazing tool," said third-grade teacher Kevin Rokey, who's been using his iPad to create flash cards of spelling words and to track students' reading scores. "The things we're going to be able to do with this are phenomenal." The district set aside $2.1 million to cover the cost of the three pilot schools' iPads with Apple Care support, supporting equipment such as carts, covers, headphones and apps, wireless network upgrades and support resources. The money comes from a capital fund, which is separate from the district's operating budget and can't be used to pay teachers' salaries or day-to-day classroom expenses. Because Angel Oak Elementary had a relatively small enrollment -- about 400 students -- officials had enough money to choose a third school. Haut Gap Middle on Johns Island was selected. Teachers at Drayton Hall Elementary and Angel Oak Elementary have received iPads, and students should start getting them by Friday and Sept. 19, respectively. Because Haut Gap Middle was chosen later, its students should begin receiving iPads in October. iPad schedule When will students get the iPads? Friday: Drayton Hall Elementary Sept. 19: Angel Oak Elementary October: Haut Gap Middle Spring 2012: Burke High, Stall High and St. John's High (these iPads funded separately by a federal grant) It's taken time to roll out the devices to students and teachers because of the required work to upgrade schools' wireless networks and difficulty in finding suitable protective covers, McCarron said. Angel Oak Elementary second-grade teacher Carissa Carr said she's looking forward to when her students also have iPads. Two district-led training sessions and use of her personal iPhone should be enough to prepare her to use the iPads in lessons, she said. "I plan on using it frequently," she said. "They were really interested and really involved in the lessons (with laptops). They get more into what they're doing." Students and teachers at three more schools -- Burke High, Stall High and St. John's High -- also will receive iPads by spring 2012, but that's not tied to the district's initiative and instead results from a three-year, $18.7 million federal School Improvement Grant. At Angel Oak, students' anticipation is palpable. Many aren't familiar with the technology -- some have been mistakenly referring to them as "iPhones," Moore said -- but they're ready to get their hands on them.

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