The School District of Lancaster, a large urban school district of over 10,000 students educated in 23 schools in central Lancaster County, Pa., serves both the City of Lancaster and Lancaster Township. Established in 1836, it is the second oldest school district in the state and serves a racially and economically diverse population of students, many of whom live below the federal poverty level.
In 2023, district stakeholders decided to upgrade displays across its facilities over a five-year period with the commitment to deliver the best available, best value technology that would improve learning behaviors and provide students with the ultimate learning experience. After considering all options, they chose the LG CreateBoard®, a Google EDLA Certified interactive display designed for collaboration, featuring a 5-year warranty, UHD IPS display, and 40-point multi-touch, along with additional LG digital signage displays and walls. The result is a flexible, seamless education solution for a district now proudly part of LG Schools – an ambassador program for testing, learning, and deploying commercial display technology.
The district initially purchased 200 units for use in high schools and conference rooms, the latter providing teaching staff, administrators, and principals an opportunity to test and evaluate the technology firsthand. Following a highly successful pilot, the district fast-tracked a full-scale rollout, resulting in the installation of nearly 900 LG CreateBoards across elementary, middle, and high schools within just two and a half years. The installations – carried out by the district’s internal AV team – primarily replaced outdated long- and short-throw projector technology. The majority of the displays installed are 86-inch models, now found in nearly every classroom district-wide, apart from two specialty buildings. Looking ahead, 60 additional units have already been purchased in preparation for a new elementary school set to open in November/ December 2025.
“Before we started the program, all of the existing technology was projector-based,” explained Sam Kochenberger, AV Supervisor at the School District of Lancaster. “We had short-throw projectors in three newer buildings, but most classrooms were still using older long-throw models. They were ceiling-mounted with no interactive features and only delivered 720p resolution, which made it difficult for students to see content from the back of the room. Over time, the legacy speaker systems had failed, leaving teachers to rely on basic USB speakers. There just wasn’t a consistent, high-quality display solution across the district.”
Kochenberger recognized the need for a comprehensive, “one-stop shop” educational technology solution across the School District of Lancaster – something interactive, equipped with built-in speakers, capable of both wired and wireless connectivity, and above all, intuitive for anyone in the classroom to use. LG’s solution was the logical choice.
“The first time I saw the LG CreateBoard, I immediately thought, ‘This is exactly what we’ve been looking for,’” he said. “It’s extremely intuitive – anyone can walk up and start using it right away. Before discovering the LG displays, I was simply looking for a digital whiteboard with wireless connectivity, and integrated speakers were also an important factor. LG delivered all of that and more and truly exceeded my expectations.”
The display’s versatile wireless connectivity works across both Google ChromeOS™ and Microsoft Windows, while built-in Android 13™ software includes LG CreateBoard Lab for lesson creation, LG CreateBoard Share for wireless student collaboration, and ConnectedCare DMS for remote management.
Kochenberger utilized the district’s summer internship program, where up to eight high school students worked closely with the IT department to build the easy-to-assemble LG-provided mobile stands for each of the displays, and there are currently approximately 700 stands in operation. He decided that all middle school and high school LG CreateBoard deployments would utilize these mobile carts, in order to give teachers the opportunity to wheel them around different spaces to reconfigure their classrooms more easily.
As well as the 900 LG CreateBoards, the District purchased and installed four 136-inch LG Direct View LED walls in each of its two auditoriums, plus more than 60 LG webOS UHD digital signage displays, deployed across a variety of classrooms and other educational facilities – and there will be at least two digital signage solutions in every single building across the District. Additionally, Kochenberger is also in ongoing discussions with LG to equip the District’s IT spaces and other offices with LG CreateBoards and smaller displays, with a goal of incorporating LG digital display technology across all areas.
“LG has been a fantastic partner throughout this entire process,” he said. “We’ve been able to leverage our relationship with them to ensure the displays delivered exactly what we needed. LG responded quickly and efficiently at every stage, helping us customize the deployment in ways that best supported our district, staff, and students. For example, they’re actively working to retrofit the latest LG CreateBoard software updates so they’re compatible with our existing units.”
Kochenberger added, “This relationship and the shared values we have with LG really matter to me. At the end of the day, I’m doing this for the school community, and I truly believe LG shares that same commitment. They’ve consistently met our requests and have shown they’re invested in our success. That kind of partnership is invaluable. And the fact that they also deliver a great product just reinforces why this collaboration works. It’s about more than just a display.”
“LG’s commitment to the education channel goes way beyond selling solutions,” added LG Electronics USA’s Education Director, Victoria Sanville. “We know that we are helping to shape the way students learn, and our success in doing so plays an important role in influencing the educational outcomes of students across all grade levels. We are proud of the work that the Lancaster School District is doing, and we are honored that they are a member of the LG Schools Program.”
While Kochenberger said it’s too early to evaluate return on investment from a curricular standpoint, he’s very pleased with how engaged teaching staff are with the technology. “It can take up to three years to fully assess curricular impact, but I’m already seeing a measurable shift in classroom behavior,” he said. “I can track the percentage of displays in use at any given time, and right now we’re seeing 60 to 70 percent daily engagement. That’s a strong indicator of success. The LG CreateBoards are clearly doing their job, and both staff and students are enthusiastic about using them.”
