8 Reasons Why K-12 IT Teams Use Cisco Meraki
Cisco Meraki enables K-12 school and school district IT teams to provide students and staff with the tools, resources, and access they need — in a constantly evolving educational environment.
1. Complete Visibility and Control
Schalmont Central School District — 1,800+ Students
Being able to manage their entire network from an easy-to-use, cloud-based dashboard was just what Schalmont CSD needed. The Meraki dashboard provides complete visibility and control, with valuable insight into network usage and simple remote troubleshooting tools.
"I go into the dashboard and look at the colours: is it green, yellow, or red? It's so simple for me to see what the problem is immediately, and I can quickly change something if it is incorrect. This information is at my fingertips all the time, without digging." — Terri McCreadie, Director of IT and Network Admin
2. Digital Learning
Reading School District — 17,800+ Students
Student success today often depends on reliable access to digital resources in and out of the classroom. That's why Reading SD made the investment in a robust network to ensure students are continuously connected.
"Thanks to the vastly superior management capabilities and the minimal amount of time spent managing, troubleshooting, or configuring Meraki hardware, we have more time that we can dedicate to making our classrooms 21st century learning centres." — C.R. Hiestand, Network and Systems Administrator
3. Quick Deployment
Lee's Summit R-7 School District — 18,100+ Students
With 34 sites and only three full-time network employees, the IT team at Lee's Summit R-7 SD was able to pre-configure all of their hardware in the Meraki dashboard, making it easy to deploy 400 switches and 1,700 access points in a single summer.
"In the course of a summer, we totally ripped and rewired everything on our network. Our educational technology upgrade could not have been possible without the total infrastructure upgrade that we did with Meraki." — Amy Gates, Executive Director of Technology
4. E-Rate Eligible
Ascend Public Charter Schools — 4,300+ Students
With the help of E-rate funding, the IT team at Ascend Public Charter Schools was able to replace their disjointed network with Meraki switches, access points, and security appliances across their 10 schools.
"The complexity of managing four sites with four separate networks was a nightmare. By leveraging E-rate funding, we are now streamlined and simplified under one dashboard, without having to make the same configuration changes 5 or 7 times." — Emeka Ibekweh, Managing Director of Technology
5. Built for Lean IT
Navigator Schools — 600+ Students
A lean IT team is responsible for managing the network at Navigator Schools. With an easy-to-use dashboard, Meraki is intuitive for the team to configure, manage, and troubleshoot access points, switches, security appliances, and student devices — with no command line required.
"Meraki is wonderful because I can hand over the network management to site techs that have little to zero networking experience. And yet, we can still troubleshoot 20x faster within the Meraki dashboard than any other network I've interfaced with — with no extra bodies." — Benjamin Moeller, Director of Information Technology and Operations
6. Broadband and Network Scaling
Oakland Unified School District — 48,000+ Students
When leadership at Oakland Unified SD decided to adopt new standardised digital resources for teaching and testing, the IT team knew it was time for a network upgrade. After deploying Meraki, they were delighted to see that the network handled the increase in traffic with no issues on testing day.
"We first implemented Meraki to support the SBAC, and we have since further leveraged our computing resources to support significant growth in educational technology. The always-on access provided by Meraki is instrumental to our success." — Susan Beltz, Chief Technology Officer
7. 1:1 Device Management
Wayne Highlands School District — 2,600+ Students
When Wayne Highlands SD implemented a 1:1 student-to-device programme, they needed a mobility management solution to monitor these devices. Now, over 1,200 iPads are managed with Meraki Systems Manager, making it easy to track and update all district-owned devices.
"I took an iPad home to see if the geofencing worked — within minutes I had a text message and email alert saying the iPad left its territory. I can check a GPS map to see where an iPad is; a student left it on a bus and we were all watching it go up the highway." — Scott Miller, Director of Technology
8. Digital Equity
Socorro Independent School District — 44,500+ Students
Leadership at Socorro ISD was determined to provide all students with equal access to technology, no matter which school they attend or their personal situation. They deployed a robust, flexible, and scalable network that enables 21st century learning for all students.
"Socorro ISD is a compassionate, innovative district. We treat and educate all students as if they are our own. We have prioritised funding for technology so that all students have equal access to the internet, regardless of their campus or personal situation." — Dr. José Espinoza, Superintendent of Schools
Documentation
Download the 8 Reasons Why K-12 IT Teams Use Meraki Data Sheet (.PDF)