Optimum Lightpath Awards $100,000 to Help New Jersey Schools Deploy Educational Technology

JERICHO, N.Y., Nov. 10, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Though ongoing budget limitations remain a challenge statewide, ten New Jersey schools will have the opportunity to roll out ambitious, technology-driven learning programs in their classrooms as a result of $100,000 in grants being given by Optimum Lightpath®. Optimum Lightpath, a market leader in Ethernet-based communication solutions for New York metropolitan area businesses, today announced the recipients of its Transforming Education With Technology Grant Program at its New Jersey Education Technology Conference: New Strategies to Transform Schools & Classrooms, which was held in Somerset, New Jersey.

The following schools, which were chosen from among 166 applicants, will each receive a $10,000 grant from Optimum Lightpath:

• Arleth Elementary – Parlin, New Jersey (Middlesex County);
• Cresskill High School – Cresskill, New Jersey (Bergen County);
• Don Bosco Technology Academy – Paterson, New Jersey (Passaic County);
• Fernbrook Elementary School – Randolph, New Jersey (Morris County);
• Hawthorne Elementary School – Teaneck, New Jersey (Bergen County);
• Hope Academy Charter School – Asbury Park, New Jersey (Monmouth County);
• Lakeview School – Edison, New Jersey (Middlesex County);
• Memorial Elementary School – Montvale, New Jersey (Bergen County);
• Robertsville Elementary School – Morganville, New Jersey (Monmouth County); and
• Solomon Schechter Day School – Marlboro, New Jersey (Monmouth County).

"Technology has the power to transform the way students learn and prepare them for a world of opportunity," said Julia McGrath, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, Optimum Lightpath. "As more New Jersey schools take advantage of our value and performance-based communication services, Optimum Lightpath recognized the opportunity to help further introduce technology in the classrooms of the communities we serve. Each of the schools selected as grant recipients plan to roll out innovative projects that will truly advance teaching and learning for students."

The public and private institutions that received an Optimum Lightpath grant ranged from elementary to secondary schools. Programs that will be funded by the grants include distance learning, virtual field trips, remote access to cutting edge applications from the home, creation of a live-stream television studio run by students and advanced connection to the nature and practice of science. Goals of the program include increasing literacy levels, providing access to information in low-income neighborhoods, introducing students to a variety of cultures and improving overall student performance.

The grant program was available in specific areas throughout New Jersey and open to public and private elementary and secondary schools. Grants were awarded based on criteria that included how a school would use the awarded funds to:

• Leverage technology to improve instruction;
• Promote the use of technology to improve the overall education experience;
• Utilize new technology to promote distance learning; and
• Create new school initiatives centered around new technologies.

Optimum Lightpath works extensively with schools throughout New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area to deliver Ethernet-based communication services that transform education in the classroom. Schools that have deployed services from Optimum Lightpath's Education Services Suite have cut costs, considerably increased bandwidth and enhanced teaching and learning. For more information about Optimum Lightpath's work in the education sector, visit: http://www.optimumlightpath.com/education.shtml.

"The $100,000 in grants awarded to New Jersey schools today underscores Optimum Lightpath's ongoing commitment to creating new opportunities for educational institutions throughout the state on the heels of new, transformational technology," said McGrath. "We are excited to see the amazing programs we found so compelling actually implemented and will continue to look for opportunities to effect change for the students in the classrooms and schools throughout the New York metro area we serve."

About Optimum Lightpath

Optimum Lightpath, a division of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC), is an industry leader in providing advanced Ethernet-based data, Internet, voice, video transport solutions and managed services to businesses across the New York metropolitan area. Optimum Lightpath's Network is a highly reliable, resilient, and scalable fiber-to-the-business-premises network extending more than 4,000 route miles connecting more than 4,000 fiber-lit locations. Exclusively focused on meeting customer needs in the world's largest business market for 20 years, Optimum Lightpath has been continually recognized for its high level of customer service. For 12 straight years, the New York State Public Service Commission has given Optimum Lightpath its Commendation of Excellence. Optimum Lightpath has received many industry awards for innovation and leadership. For more information, visit www.optimumlightpath.com.

SOURCE Optimum Lightpath