Tennessee Schools Choose Prey to Protect 1-1 MacBook Initiative

Gestalt Community Schools, located in the heart of urban Memphis, has chosen Prey as its partner for device security in its rollout of MacBooks to all students. Over the last 2 years, administrators at each of their five, K-12 college-preparatory charter schools, have gradually rolled out laptops, installing Prey on each device prior to putting them into each students’ hands.

Since 2008, Gestalt Community School’s co-founders, Derwin Sisnett and Yetta Lewis, have made it their mission to empower students to become citizens who will be college-ready, career-ready and community-ready. Developing community leadership to help revitalize the neighborhoods where it operates its schools, Gestalt seeks to provide what is best for their students, as well as the community it serves. The results are seen in Power Center Academy (PCA), their first campus to open its doors, earning the honor of being named the highest performing middle school in the state after only three short years.

Director of Information Technology for Gestalt Community Schools, Cole Conrad, comments, “Providing the best environment and resources for our students and surrounding communities, including technology, is what motivates us all at GCS. That was at the heart of our decision to implement the 1-1 MacBook initiative within our campuses.” He continues, “There are so many moving parts to consider when pushing an initiative like this, with safety and privacy among the most important. After evaluating a number of solutions, we chose Prey as our partner as we felt their solution was the best option to protect our technology and our students’ privacy. Because of Prey, we have been able to check those items off our list and focus on what is really important, our students and their education.”

Prey, a leading provider of cross-platform, anti-theft and device recovery, is being included in school district’s device management & security portfolios to protect their various tech initiatives. From MacBooks and iPads, PCs and Window’s devices to Android and Linux platforms, Prey offers features like hardware scans, device history, geolocation, lock & delete passwords; as well as the ability to lock and delete passwords or to take screen shots & photos from a device camera once a device is reported missing.

“It has been a pleasure working with Mr. Conrad and his team at Gestalt. We applaud them for the hard work they do to provide the best for their students. To be named the top-performing school in the state is a fantastic honor, one they have worked tirelessly to achieve,” comments Prey Co-Founder, Tomas Pollak. He adds, “At Prey, we pride ourselves not only on our software’s ability to protect students and their devices, but also providing the best possible customer service possible. We look forward to our continued support of Mr. Conrad and his team as they continue to roll out more MacBooks for their students.”