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Lenovo: Students Connect to Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School With Lenovo, IBM

^{Published on 2009-09-23 06:20:56 - Market Wire}
 

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwire - September 23, 2009) - Lenovo (HKSE: [ 0992 ]) today announced that [ Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School ] (PAVCS), a K-12 public cyber charter school in Norristown, Pa., deployed nearly 4,000 [ ThinkPad R500 laptops ] to equip its students with the technology needed to complete a high quality home-based public education.

The school has also entered into a partnership with [ IBM Global Financing ], the lending and leasing business segment of IBM (NYSE: [ IBM ]) to support a regular, environmentally responsible technology refresh strategy through leasing.

"The Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School views technology as a powerful tool to support an effective 21st century education, and after exhaustive research chose the ThinkPad R500 for our students," said Joanne Barnett, Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School Chief Executive Officer. "As the premiere provider of public cyber education in Pennsylvania we embrace innovation and equip our students with the instruments they need to succeed. We believe Lenovo offers the most innovative and affordable laptops for education, and we are excited to have our student use them."

PAVCS administrators selected the ThinkPad laptops for their exceptional reputation, high quality and durability. PAVCS specifically chose the ThinkPad R500 laptop for its affordability and performance. This is the school's first purchase of PCs enabling it to provide better service and consistency to its students. The school previously leased computers from its curriculum provider. The charter school also has a plan in place to access the latest Lenovo PC technology on a regular schedule. Leveraging IBM Global Financing's flexible leasing and technology asset recovery services will allow the school to upgrade older PCs every three years and to return used PCs for either reuse or recycling.

For students, the ThinkPad R500 laptop's large 15.4 inch high-resolution widescreen display makes it easy to work on assignments and class presentations. Equipped with an internal roll cage and air-bag like protection system, the laptop helps protect data from the bumps and bruises that frequently happen in a student environment. Along with the PCs, the school also provides each of its students with a printer and all curriculum materials. PAVCS purchased the ThinkPad laptops from IT Nest Inc., a Lenovo business partner.

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About the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School

Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School (PAVCS), an innovative independent virtual public school established in 2001, provides K-12 home-based public education to students throughout Pennsylvania. In addition to earning a five-year Pennsylvania Department of Education charter renewal in 2006, PAVCS was named Parents' Choice Best Public School in Pennsylvania by BusinessWeek and GreatSchools.net in 2009. PAVCS delivers differentiated instruction through traditional regular education and special education programs and through its unique Diamond Model Partnership provides a collaborative partnership integrating parents, teachers, family support coordinators and the K12 Inc. ® curriculum ensuring all PAVCS students reach their full academic and social potential.

About Lenovo

Lenovo (HKSE: [ 0992 ]) (ADR: LNVGY) is dedicated to building exceptionally engineered personal computers. Lenovo's business model is built on innovation, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see [ www.lenovo.com ].

About IBM Global Financing

IBM Global Financing (IGF), the financing business segment of IBM and the world's premier single-source provider for IT financing solutions, serves commercial clients ranging from small businesses to the majority of the Fortune 100. With assets of $34 billion worldwide, IGF provides project financing, commercial financing and asset-recovery services to 125,000 clients in more than 50 countries. Additional information can be found at [ http://www.ibm.com/financing ].