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National Ranking Reveals Which Schools Keep Students Safest When Searching the Internet

Posted on: Wednesday, 22 October 2008, 09:00 CDT

A top 100 national ranking of school districts, indicating which districts keep students safest when searching on the Internet, was released today. The 2007-2008 school year Educational Safe Search Index was broken out by small-, medium- and large-sized districts. For the second year in a row, Forsyth County Schools in suburban Atlanta finished first for the large-sized districts, with over 7 million safe searches for the 2007-2008 school year. For the mid-sized districts, Blue Springs School District in Missouri led with 2,615,184 searches and Dupage County School District 45 in Illinois came in first with 629,401 searches for the small-sized districts.

The Educational Safe Search Index was administered by Thinkronize (http://ntdi.nettrekker.com/?page=2008_top100), a leader in the digital delivery of K-12 educational resources and developers of netTrekker d.i., the #1 safe K-12 educational search tool. netTrekker d.i. is now used by over 12 million students, 600,000 teachers, and 21,000 schools in all 50 states in the United States.

Educators are increasingly seeking out web-safe digital resources and tools that help students achieve. Thinkronize's expert team of educators reviews each resource for academic integrity, age appropriateness, and safety -- eliminating links to any pornographic, offensive, useless or commercial sites. The result? Fast and easy access to netTrekker d.i.'s 300,000 engaging lesson plans, videos, images, learning games and manipulatives.

"Every day teachers make a difference in kids' lives. We also strive to make a difference by providing teachers with the digital search tools they need to help every child learn in a safe and rich environment," said Thinkronize CEO Randy Wilhelm. "We congratulate and thank Forsyth County Schools, Blue Springs School District and Dupage County School District 45 -- and all of our top 100 school districts -- for stepping up and providing kids with safe, contextually-relevant digital resources."

Forsyth County Schools, the top district overall, will be awarded with the equivalent of a $5000 prize package, including two days of professional development integration workshops, additional online training, and assorted netTrekker d.i. premium items. Blue Springs School District and Dupage County School District 45 will both receive a $2500 prize package, including a one-day professional development integration workshop and assorted netTrekker d.i. premium items.

"Forsyth County Schools is proud to receive this recognition for the second year in a row. We attribute our increased usage -- as well as the new levels of teacher creativity -- in part to the exceptional Integration Workshop which Thinkronize provided as a part of our prize package," said Forsyth County Schools Director of Instructional Technology Jill Hobson. "netTrekker d.i. is an integral part of our strategy for providing digital content aligned to standards as well as a student-friendly, safe search engine that is available to our teachers and students 24/7/365."

"Most search engines can be overwhelming with students spending too much time surfing. We are so happy with netTrekker d.i. and how it enables our students to use their limited time to research topics more efficiently," said Kelly Knudsen, Library Media Specialist, Delta Woods Middle School, Blue Springs School District. "Our teachers love the ability to make folders and share them with students to access specific web sites and information. The numerous tools available in netTrekker d.i. help students and teachers alike with their daily work. And the best part is students can access it all from home and school."

The top three school districts in each category include:

 Large-Size: 1.      Forsyth County Schools, GA 2.      Sacramento City Unified School District, CA 3.      Greenville County School District, SC Mid-Size: 1.      Blue Springs School District, MO 2.      Pflugerville Independent School District, TX 3.      Valley View Community Unit School District 365U, IL Small-Size: 1.      Dupage County School District 45, IL 2.      Jonesboro Public Schools, AR 3.      Woodridge School District 68, IL 

About Thinkronize

Founded in 1999, Thinkronize is a leader in the digital delivery of K-12 educational content and is dedicated to enhancing the education of today's youth with highly effective technologies that deliver the rich educational value of the Internet to every child in a safe, relevant, easy-to-use format. With the mission to help every child learn and a belief that technology can transform education, Thinkronize was first to market with a standards-based educational search engine, utilizing the services of Academic Benchmarks (www.AcademicBenchmarks.com), the premier provider of comprehensive standards-based K-12 educational databases, alignment tools, and integration products. Thinkronize's flagship product, netTrekker d.i., is the #1 educational search tool in K-12 schools and is currently used in over 21,000 schools nationwide. In 2007, netTrekker d.i. was named the Best Education Solution in SIIA's CODiE award competition. In addition, Thinkronize was named to the 2007 Inc. 5000 and 2006 Inc. 500 lists as one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States. The company was founded by Robert Reinders and currently serves over 12 million students in all 50 states, including adoptions by key districts and states nationwide. For more information visit www.Thinkronize.com or phone 877-517-1125.

 Agency Contact: Audrey Mann Cronin Mann Cronin PR 914-861-2009/o 914-260-9651/m Email Contact

SOURCE: Thinkronize, Inc.

Source: MARKET WIRE

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