Karen Paletta, region president for Sprint, and Newark Public Schools (NPS) Superintendent Christopher Cerf announced that 4,000 NPS high school students will receive free mobile devices and high-speed wireless internet service from Sprint and the Sprint Foundation to help close the “Homework Gap”. In addition to Newark, the program will include six public school districts across the state.
Through Sprint’s 1Million Project, beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, participating high school students will receive either a free smartphone, tablet, or hotspot device and 3GB of high-speed LTE data per month for up to four years while they are in high school. Unlimited data is available at 2G speeds if usage exceeds 3GB in a month. Those who receive a smartphone can use it as a hotspot.
New Jersey will be one of 32 states for the nationwide rollout beginning this fall which includes, 118 school districts, over 1,300 high schools and 180,000 students. In total, Sprint will distribute close to 6,000 devices to school districts across the Garden State including:
Approximately 5 million U.S. families with school-aged children do not have broadband access at home1, yet, at least 70 percent of teachers assign homework that requires web access.2 During the next five years, 1 million high school students will join the 1Million Project program and receive a wireless device and service for up to four years in high school.
Anyone looking to support the program can visit www.sprint.com/give1mp to make a cash donation via credit card3. Used mobile devices can also be donated online or in Sprint stores. Devices will be recycled or resold with net proceeds benefiting the 1Million Project. Visit www.sprint.com/1millionproject for more information, and follow and support the program on social media by using the hashtag #1MillionProject.
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