In 2021, and especially during a time when connectivity is essential, the Norwalk City School District recognizes that having access to free and open WIFI has an important impact on a person’s quality of life. To help students, families, and individuals in our community, NCSD has installed free and open WIFI in two of our school parking lots. Maplehurst Elementary and Norwalk Middle School both now have outdoor access points, funded through a small portion of our CARES act federal money, and the WIFI is accessible to anyone in the Norwalk community.
It is our mission and goal as a public education institution to remove barriers for people. Education is, of course, a great equalizer and the road to opportunity. Access is much the same. Recently, access to internet capability has been part of the national conversation because of the vaccine rollout. Perhaps you have assisted an older family member or friend with online registration for the vaccine, and perhaps there has been a flicker on the edge of your conscience wondering what people without internet or devices or friends so equipped are doing. How are they participating in the social fabric weaving us together, and how are our friends and neighbors without access securing their places in line for vaccines and other essentials? Our local health and social agencies are effectively serving people over the telephone, but there is no doubt being able to connect via the internet eases some of the burden engendered by a pandemic that has exposed our society’s hills and valleys.
Community members, families, and students may access the free WIFI in the Maplehurst Elementary and Norwalk Middle School parking lots from 4-9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on the weekends. To find the network, a user would hover over the wireless icon and select the network called NCSD-WIFI. There is no password, but the network is filtered for CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) compliance as is the rest of our school network.
The Norwalk City School District believes strongly in its purpose as a community partner for everyone’s wellbeing and advancement, and we hope this free WIFI will be beneficial.
Jen Gerber, Norwalk City School District Direction of Instruction and Technology