Case Study

Calvert County Public Schools

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How Calvert County Improved 1:1 Adoption & Decreased Distractions

Meet Calvert County Public Schools

Calvert County Public Schools — the 13th largest district in Maryland by student population — consistently ranks among the top districts based on state assessments. This success is driven by the district’s commitment to preparing students for their post-graduation paths, through its numerous career and technology programs and strong student support services.

As part of the district’s mission to foster quality online, blended, and digital learning experiences, Calvert County has invested in a robust 1:1 program for students in grades 3-12.

Summary

District Name: 
Calvert County Public Schools

Enrollment: 
16,000+

Teachers: 
900+

Schools:
12 Elementary
6 Middle
4 High
1 Career & Technology Academy
1 Special Education Center

1:1 Program:
Grades 3-12: Windows Laptops

Linewize Solutions:
 Filter
 Classwize

Video Testimonials  

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The challenge: Low adoption of 1:1 laptop program

Despite investing significant resources in their 1:1 laptop program for 3rd-12th graders, Calvert County struggled with teacher adoption of the program and many school-issued laptops sat neglected.

“We want students to use their laptops to boost productivity, efficiency, creativity… But if teachers aren’t able to facilitate online activity, we risk turning these devices into machines of distraction.”

Matt Poteet
Director of Information Technology


Digital distraction concerns

“There was a concern that 3rd through 12th graders weren’t using laptops for school work,” explains Matt Poteet, Director of Information Technology at Calvert County Public Schools. “Students would minimize the screens when the teachers walked by and they’d have no idea what students were doing.” 

Lack of visibility into student activity

“We want students to use their laptops to boost productivity, efficiency, creativity and to develop problem-solving strategies,” Poteet says. “But if teachers aren’t able to monitor or facilitate the online activity of their students, then we run a severe risk of turning these very awesome - and expensive - devices into machines of distraction".

The hassle of filter requests

When teachers needed access to specific websites for their classes or individual students, they were required to submit a formal request to the IT department.

From there, the IT team would review each request to determine whether the district could safely change the filter policy across the entire district. “There was no way to customize that access for teachers,” Poteet says.

The solution: Implementing Classwize with Linewize Filter

To address these challenges, Calvert County implemented Linewize’s classroom management solution, Classwize, which integrates with Linewize Filter to give their teachers the ability to:

  • See each student’s screen in real time
  • Message individual students or the class to give directions or feedback
  • Set ‘Focus’ sessions to minimize distractions
  • Unblock educational websites during class
  • Use the intuitive dashboard to see online activity for the whole class at a glance

“The implementation team at Linewize genuinely cares about our success. The customer service has been fantastic.”

Matt Poteet
Director of Information Technology

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The outcome: Increased 1:1 adoption, decreased digital distractions

With teachers now confident that students are using the devices for creativity and productivity, adoption of Classwize and the 1:1 program increased significantly across the district. “It’s been transformational, says Poteet.

“Price-wise, classroom management is a drop in the bucket compared to how much we spend on the 1:1 laptop initiative here,” Poteet reflects.

“With Classwize, we’re able to give teachers the leverage and autonomy to open up most websites without having to go through a cumbersome process.”

Matt Poteet
Director of Information Technology


Teachers can see student screens

Before Classwize, teachers had no way of monitoring students’ online activity during class. Now, Calvert County’s teachers have a user-friendly dashboard at their fingertips, where they can see every student’s screen in real time and close distracting websites with a single click.

Teachers can unblock websites without using IT resources

Through Classwize’s integration with Linewize Filter, teachers can easily unblock certain sites for individual students, classes, or groups without waiting (or draining IT resources). “It has been a critical time-saver,” Poteet notes. The filter integration enables IT to set specific filter policies that teachers are allowed to change, without impacting district-wide settings.

IT can spot student workarounds

Savvy students will always look for ways to get around a filtering tool. Poteet says that in addition to Red Flag Alerts in the Linewize Filter, his team uses Classwize’s screenshot reports to investigate student workarounds.

“Classwize has helped us find infractions that were historically very hard to uncover. It’s working so well that the number one high school student search last year was for ‘how to get around Classwize,’” Poteet says. As a result, the district sees fewer issues with students accessing inappropriate, harmful, or distracting content.

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Get the PDF version of Calvert County's success story using Classwize.

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US_LWZ_2025_Calvert County Case study-v5 (1).pdf-1

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Increasing teacher adoption of 1:1 laptops

Matt Poteet, Director of Information Technology, explains that teachers weren't using student laptops.

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