(NORTH SIOUX CITY, SD) Dakota Valley students head back to school Wednesday, and along with a backpack full of textbooks, high school students will also bring home a brand-new laptop.

Four years ago Governor Mike Rounds set out to put laptops in the hands of every high school student. The Classroom Connections initiative failed on the state level but Dakota Valley schools used the idea to create its new One-to-One Laptop Program.
  
Inside Dakota Valley High School the classrooms sit empty as faculty put the finishing touches on the One-to-One Laptop Program.

"Trying to prepare kids for 21st century skills in the world of work," says Jerry Rasmussen, DVHS Principal.
    
Every high school student will get a laptop to use in school and at home.
 
"It will be available at any point in time in the class period or any time in the day," says Shane Steckelberg, Director of Technology.
     
It's the last piece of the puzzle to bridge the digital divide at Dakota Valley.

"Their ability to use technology to the extent that they wanted to was hampered," says Steckelberg.

Teachers already use projectors and tablets in the classroom.

"A changing learning environment, an improving learning environment," says Steckelberg.

Now students can use laptops for homework and taking notes.
    
"So eventually students may get to a point where they're not carrying notebooks. All their notes, all their resources, all their papers, all their files, are with them in their laptop," says Rasmussen.

Dakota Valley is following in the footsteps of other districts, incorporating the best parts of older programs.
  
"So we're really not going into this blindly at all. We've got a pretty good understanding on what to expect. But every situation and every district is different," says Steckelberg.    

Teachers and students will sync up to a network, eliminating the ability to make up excuses for lost homework.

"It hopefully takes away some of the 'my dog ate it', well that's okay, we still have a copy of it, if you really did it," says Rasmussen.
  
Adapting teaching to the way kids learn today.

The program costs $130,000 a year and is funded by the school board, without raising taxes. The district will replace the laptops every three years.

Reported by Erika Thomas. You can contact her at ethomas@kmeg.com.