CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
With her looted office behind her, Elizabeth Blake, vice principal at Myron B. Thompson Academy, showed a broken lock yesterday. Thieves stole all eight laptops used by school staff.
Isle ‘virtual school’
ripped off for realThompson Academy has an estimated
$20,000 worth of equipment stolen
Computers are the backbone of Myron B. Thompson Academy, the state's only online public school, which reaches out to students statewide via the Internet. Over the weekend, burglars nearly broke that spine.
They stole all eight laptop computers used by teachers and administrators at the school's headquarters in downtown Honolulu, in a squat office building next to Waterfront Towers.
"For us the computer is the classroom," lamented Vice Principal Elizabeth Blake yesterday. "We're really upset. All of the teachers' computers are gone. The principal's computer is gone."
She estimated the value of the stolen equipment, including a scanner, at $20,000. But she said the biggest loss is the information stored on the computers, including confidential records, e-mail between students and teachers, research and plans for the new school year, which started Thursday.
Still, administrators were thankful it wasn't worse. The burglars, who pried open the school's front door and swiped computers from several rooms, missed one classroom full of 30 student computers.
And they couldn't nab 300 new laptops that were supposed to be on the premises to start the school year but were delayed in shipping.
"It was a blessing in disguise because we'll have security in our building before that shipment arrives," Blake said.
Since it opened to students two years ago, Thompson Academy has grown exponentially. The "virtual school" just became the state's largest public charter school, with 660 students enrolled this year, a fivefold jump over last year.
The school appeals to an eclectic mix: straight-A students who get bored in regular school, students who need remedial help, and others who just relish the flexibility of scheduling school around jobs or passions like surfing.
Each student is issued a computer and follows an individual study plan. Students just click on their computers to attend class, whenever they want, consulting with their teachers via e-mail or telephone. In March the school began accepting elementary students, who work at home with parent educators.
Students go to school for special projects, physical education or if they need a face-to-face tutorial. More than 30 students came to campus yesterday, for example, to work on a water conservation project.
Nanea Ho, 17, was the first to arrive and noticed that the front door was open at 7 a.m.
"I thought it was kind of weird, but I just waited for a teacher to come," she said. "When they said we got robbed, I was pretty shocked. This is a school. People shouldn't come in and steal. It's not right."
Math teacher Kassandre Ramos, one of 18 Thompson Academy teachers statewide, felt lost yesterday without her laptop.
"I don't know what to do with myself," she said. "I need to get another computer. I have no idea if students or parents are trying to get hold of me."
The school just moved into the Myron B. Thompson Learning Complex on Pohukaina Street last month, where it rents 5,600 square feet of space from Kamehameha Schools. It also has sites on Maui, Kauai, Hawaii and Molokai.
The stolen laptops included six Compaq Evo N 1000 V models and two Acer Travel Mates, including a brand-new C100 Convertible Tablet PC. They had school labels on them that are easily removed, along with serial numbers.
"If someone's trying to sell you a laptop, look at the back," Blake advised. "If they've tried to scratch off the serial numbers, it's not worth it because that means they've been stolen."
Once hooked up to the Internet, she said, the laptops should be traceable. In any case, the thieves may not get too far because "they're not too smart," she said.
They left behind five of the cords needed to charge the computers. Anyone who tries to replace the cords must provide serial numbers, and the company will call the registered owner to verify the request, Blake said.
