News | June 25, 2019

McMinn County School System Deploys Extreme Networks To Power Immersive Digital Education Program

With Student-Run Newscasts, Wi-Fi Connected Greenhouses and Industrial Robotics Programs, Tennessee School District Prepares Students for the Connected Jobs of the Future

San Jose, CA /PRNewswire/ - Classrooms around the world increasingly depend on IT infrastructure – Deloitte reports 80 percent of teachers are using digital education tools at least once a week. With networking and automation solutions from Extreme Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXTR), forward-looking districts like McMinn County School System are taking the initiative to not only bring students online, but immerse them in a digital-first educational experience every day. Leveraging its network as a strategic asset, the district offers everything from student-run newscasts to robotics programs that teach STEM skills in elementary schools, to Wi-Fi-connected greenhouses and barns that help high school students learn about agriculture in a hands-on, interactive way – all to prepare students for jobs of the future.

McMinn County School System is a K-12 school district in Tennessee with 6,000 students and 450 staff across 13 buildings and nine schools. The network is foundational to daily operations of the school system, supporting administration, as well as BYOD and 1:1 initiatives, digital learning, and student safety. But outdated and disparate infrastructure across buildings, unreliable Wi-Fi service and limited IT staff hindered McMinn's ability to provide a consistent digital experience. Further, it lacked the scale required to accommodate a growing student body or offer new programs. Since deploying Extreme Elements™ from Extreme's Smart OmniEdge™ portfolio, McMinn County School System now benefits from a total network solution that provides greater resilience, higher uptime, and automated network management. Now IT spends less time troubleshooting and more time on higher-level projects, like cutting edge education initiatives to help kids succeed in the digital economy.

Key benefits:

  • Scalable, reliable infrastructure: ExtremeMobility™ access points and ExtremeSwitching™ technology provide a scalable network and the continuous connectivity that its schools depend on to power online learning programs, and to support thousands of mobile devices, 400 IP-security cameras, intercoms that facilitate critical communication within each school, and HVAC control.
  • Simplified, automated network management: With limited IT resources and a complex network environment, McMinn County School System needed a streamlined, easy-to-use management solution that gives IT end-to-end visibility and single pane-of-glass management. With Extreme Management Center™, McMinn County School System benefits from pervasive visibility across its expansive network, smooth operations and fast problem resolution.
  • Granular visibility and analytics: ExtremeAnalytics™ are used for everything from tracking application usage, monitoring bandwidth, monitoring user activity, looking for bottlenecks, troubleshooting, and future planning of where additional access points will be needed to fill any coverage gaps.

Executive Perspectives
Bob Nilsson, Director of Vertical Solutions Marketing, Extreme Networks
"McMinn is pushing boundaries in K-12, leveraging the network not just for basic connectivity but using it to drive business decisions, such as the implementation of audio systems and digital touch boards following a medical study they conducted using IoT devices running on the network. With Extreme Elements as building blocks, McMinn County School System has built a network that helps them achieve their unique goals and lays the foundation for even more innovative digital initiatives in the years ahead."

Jill Pierce, Chief Technology Officer, McMinn School County System
"At McMinn, everything we do is for the kids — nothing else matters. For teachers and administrators, it's about preparing students to thrive in the digital workplace of the future. From an IT perspective, we want a network that we don't have to worry about, because even the smallest amount of downtime can have an incredible effect on the entire school day. With Extreme, we get consistent uptime, easy management, and incredible support and services, so we can focus on providing an immersive and engaging educational experience."

Extreme at ISTE 2019
Extreme will be at ISTE 2019 in booth #1116, June 23-26, 2019 in Philadelphia. At the show, the company will a show how Extreme Elements can be combined in unique ways to solve educational challenges, improve learning outcomes, and lay the foundation for personalized and online learning. Extreme will also share best practices for building digital eSports arenas, as more schools and colleges look for ways to build competition-ready eSports programs as part of their athletic and academic offerings. For more details, click here.

Additional Resources

About Extreme Networks
Extreme Networks, Inc. (EXTR) delivers software-driven solutions from the enterprise edge to the cloud that are agile, adaptive, and secure to enable digital transformation. Our 100% in-sourced services and support are number one in the industry. Even with 30,000 customers globally, including half of the Fortune 50 and some of the world's leading names in business, hospitality, retail, transportation and logistics, education, government, healthcare and manufacturing, we remain nimble and responsive to ensure customer and partner success. We call this Customer-Driven Networking™. Founded in 1996, Extreme is headquartered in San Jose, California. For more information, visit Extreme's website or call 1-888-257-3000.

Extreme Networks and the Extreme Networks logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Extreme Networks, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other trademarks shown herein are the property of their respective owners.

Source: Extreme Networks, Inc.

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