Students received a handbook containing the rules and bylaws of the school which led some in the environmentally-conscious community to wonder why print it on paper instead of going green, and having it online.

On Monday, October 4th, ILS  administration sent a 73- paged booklet to every student as well as having sent it online a few weeks earlier. Faculty insisted for days for students to print, sign, and deliver online handbooks to assigned teachers. After already having it accessible online, why would the school want it on paper, too?

The answer is simple, as explained by Ms. Luisa Serratore, Assistant Principal who explained that their research led them to the conclusion that no student was checking the portal to see the handbook or that students didn’t take the time out of their day to download and look through it. Students were showing up at the office with questions that the handbook could answer, but they didn’t know the handbook was even available.

It became evident that by giving it to students, they would be much more likely to read it.

Some students will read the handbook and some won’t. This way, no one can claim the handbook is not available to them or they don’t know where to find it. It was given to everyone, even signed off when received. The handbook is a tool that students may eventually learn to use.

It has also been studied that reading on paper may even be better for development and comprehension.

The University of North Dakota’s Virginia Clinton investigated 33 previous studies that looked at print vs. digital reading, and found that paper readers were more efficient and had a better understanding of what they had read. (treehuger.com)

As an option to balance out solutions, students  wished to nominate using recycled  paper as a more eco-friendly option which the school will definitely take in mind for next year. This year they tested out having the handbook online trying to be more environment-oriented and to take advantage of technology. Clearly, this did not work. However, putting the handbook in the portal can be seen as a trial and error as every year the school will have a chance to improve the rollout.