THOUSAND OAKS, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 5, 2013) - Xirrus®, the leading provider of high-performance wireless networks, today announced the results of its installation of Xirrus Wireless Arrays at Monte Vista Christian School, an independent, coeducational, college-preparatory school in Watsonville, California. Monte Vista Christian School chose Xirrus to improve opportunities for digital learning for its 1,000 students and staff across a 100-acre campus and to enable wireless interaction between students and teachers. Following the initial deployment, online learning and real-time collaboration on group assignments are today a reality -- and school officials report improved student test scores.
IT staff at Monte Vista deployed the first wave of Xirrus Arrays in response to slow connections, network blackouts, and unacceptable application delays that faculty, staff and students experienced with their existing wireless access points (AP's). Supporting 900 students and 100 staff members with iPads, together with 700 smartphones and 300 desktops, Monte Vista utilizes 30 Xirrus Wireless Arrays -- just 23 percent of the original 130+ AP's that Monte Vista once required.
"With our iPads on the Xirrus wireless network, we are creating a truly transformative educational experience that is quickly becoming the model for other schools. Monte Vista students can collaborate in real time with their peers, easily share a document with their teachers, and individually access digital resources from anywhere on campus," said Steve Sharp, headmaster of Monte Vista Christian School. "We have even transitioned from physical books to e-books in our library, creating a digital dynamic that is very conducive to learning and extremely cost-effective."
To ensure optimal coverage and capacity for the high density of devices across Monte Vista's campus, a site survey was initially performed to determine exactly where to deploy the Wi-Fi Arrays. Once the Arrays were installed, Xirrus sales engineers performed a proof of concept and helped Monte Vista's IT staff go live with the new network. With the supporting wireless architecture and a fiber backbone in place, IT staff reports that the network can easily scale to support wireless demands as the student population, number of mobile devices on campus, and requirements for high-bandwidth applications continue to grow.
Wireless Architecture Supports Transition to e-Learning The reliable and comprehensive coverage of Xirrus Wireless Arrays allowed Monte Vista Christian School to migrate from physical books to e-Learning materials, a boon for student recruitment and an additional cost-saving measure for Monte Vista. Teachers and students adopted mobile applications to present courses or administer and grade tests, while allowing students to submit assignments or materials online.
To ensure the successful introduction of mobile applications in the classroom, Monte Vista deployed Xirrus Management System (XMS), which provides monitoring and management of a Xirrus wireless network, including application and device-level control. XMS also allows administrators to block rogue APs or devices, and define policies and bandwidth allocation for every application on the network.
Since the deployment, the school has seen improved student performance and higher levels of student engagement. "One of our physics teachers reports improved grades for his students since we instituted mobile applications -- and that is invaluable," said Steven Kiebus, IT director for Monte Vista Christian School. "We realized that networking and mobile application access make the learning process easier and more exciting for students. With Xirrus, we're fully dedicating our network to the learning objectives of our students."
"More educational institutions are unleashing the potential of wireless networking in the classroom," said Steven Wastie, chief marketing officer for Xirrus. "We're delighted that Xirrus has played a role in helping students grow and thrive through digital learning. Monte Vista Christian School demonstrates the amazing things this generation of students can achieve and how creatively students and school leaders can put advanced digital tools to work."
Watch this video to see how the Xirrus Wi-Fi network is transforming the educational experience at Monte Vista Christian School.
About Xirrus, Inc. Xirrus is the leading provider of high-performance wireless networks. Xirrus solutions perform under the most demanding circumstances, offering consistent "wired-like" performance with superior coverage and security. The Xirrus suite of Wi-Fi optimized solutions -- Arrays, access points, cloud services, and wired switches -- provide seamless connectivity and unified management across the network. Xirrus provides a vital strategic business and IT infrastructure advantage to industries that depend on wireless to operate business-critical applications. With tens of thousands of customer solutions deployed globally, Xirrus maintains operations and partnerships across the globe. Xirrus is a privately held company and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA. For more information, please visit: www.xirrus.com and follow us on Twitter: @Xirrus .
Xirrus and XMS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Xirrus. Other trade names used in this document are or may be the property of their respective owners.
