King’s High School saves more than $50,000 over 3+ years

King’s High School, based in Dunedin, New Zealand, provides a comprehensive education for boys from Year 9 to 13. With a goal to build men for life, the school encourages its students to strive for personal excellence across academic, cultural, sporting and personal pursuits.

As the school experienced growth, it needed additional support.

Following a rapid growth from around 600 students to 1000, King’s High School found that its previously simple network had become more complex. Combined with the transition from traditional ‘chalk-based’ learning to digital learning, the school recognised it needed additional support and could no longer manage its IT and networking needs in-house.

Expertise in education.

With existing knowledge of New Era Technology through another school in the area, King’s High School approached the Company to complete a small project to get a sense of what could be possible. This then led to an evaluation of options with New Era Technology and other local providers. King’s High School now has a full-time onsite network technician provided by New Era Technology. This option gives the school access to the latest technology and IT skills that are able to grow with their needs, without needing to invest in the continual upskilling that an in-house team would require.

King’s High School is at the forefront of technology adoption in the education space.

Ensuring that the school has a robust network infrastructure to introduce changes, without sacrificing teaching and learning outcomes is a key requirement. Opting for an onsite technician, backed up by the support available from the broader New Era organisation, means that King’s High School can have a seamless delivery of digital learning. Teachers are able to work collaboratively with the onsite network technician to discuss the implementation of technology into lesson plans, and have full confidence that no class will be interrupted due to tech fails.

According to Mark Greenfield, Assistant Principal, King’s High School,

“Staff really appreciate that we have onsite tech support. It means there’s always someone to call on and no waiting for a day or longer if we need help. The onsite tech is treated like staff and seen as part of the team, fully integrated into the school culture and environment. Everyone we work with at New Era Technology has been approachable and happy to help, and that makes a big difference to our relationship.”

A comprehensive managed service agreement.

As well as an onsite technician, King’s High School uses New Era’s Ultra Agreement, which includes all consulting and time for major projects like network upgrades and migrations. This means the school only needs to budget for materials, with all project management time inclusive in the existing agreement. Over the past three-plus years, the school has used the Ultra Managed Services Agreement to complete many projects, including:

• Server migration
• Site wide wireless upgrades
• Upgrade of 300+ devices from Windows 7 to Windows 10
• Upgrade of five computer labs
• Rollout of projectors in classrooms
• Implementation of Google for Education and Office 365.

“In my last Board report, I calculated that we saved more than $50,000 through the Ultra Agreement. From day-to-day support, the little incidental projects during the year, through to major infrastructure upgrades, knowing that we have budget certainty is a huge benefit. The Ultra Agreement has probably paid for itself three times over,” says Greenfield.

King’s High School has also used New Era Technology to implement a BYOD program, including wireless network management. Thanks to robust network infrastructure, the school has not had to mandate specific devices, allowing families to select devices that suit their means. Students can connect to Wi-Fi using any tablet or laptop, with mobile phones excluded from the network. In addition, the school manages a fleet of more than 100 Chromebooks that can be loaned to students who do not have their own device.

A continued partnership to ensure quality teaching and learning

With a solid working relationship developed over three years, King’s High School has recently extended its partnership with New Era Technology. As well as day-to-day support, future plans involve a wireless network replacement. The school is also considering its plans for a Windows 11 upgrade and planning for its next server upgrade cycle.

Want to learn more about our managed services? Contact our team to see how we can help.