are there any 'must have' programs for your laptop for school??

i had a Asus EEE probably the same one you have.

I used the following:
Flashnote - http://softvoile.com/flashnote/ - Why: Hot-Key to minimize/maximize program, Auto-save quick notes (no save button) change font size/Background (i.e Black on white = easy on eyes) and small program. Great for quick note taking.

Firefox
Digsby - http://www.digsby.com/ - Check (Every 1 min or your own specified time) unlimited hotmail, yahoo, gmail, AOL, IMAP/pop3 (your schools?) email while on IM: MSN, GMail Im, Yahoo IM, AIM. Check facebook, and twitter. Send emails inside digsby. Passwords are stored on Digsby server + settings, so you can use the account on laptop/home pc.
Great program!, highly recommended to check multiple email accounts rapidly and automatically.

Lastpass for firefox (toolbar) -http://www.lastpass.com - Stores your passwords on its server with one master password. Great for many passwords, only need to remember one, i currently have around 400 stored online, never a problem. I take portable firefox on my usb - http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable - and use firefox+lastpass on any public computer.

Irfanview - http://www.irfanview.com/ - Alive for 10+ years, very light universal image viewer, nothing else.

VLC http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ - View any video/audio file without problems (except quicktime and realplayer)

CCleaner - Top rated, really popular PC history/stuff cleaner. http://www.ccleaner.com/

Foxit Reader 1 small file - Alternative to Adobe's Huge PDF Reader.http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

IZarc (free alternative to Winzip/Winrar) - of course, to open zip/rar files - alive for a long time - http://www.izarc.org/download.html (1st one)