Seeking laptop advice for kids

We bought our kids these little Lenovo notebooks that were great until they needed an update, then you have to plug in an external hard drive, and hope that the update works... it was more of a PITA than it was worth. Everything is integrated, and cannot be upgraded. Windows 10 takes up almost the entire hard drive.

The kids all have school-issued devices, but one of our kids' schools does not allow them to bring it home. This is a challenge for "remote days," or for any homework. He's been using another old laptop we have, but it suuuucks (Lenovo IdeaPad El-Crappo). Again, not upgradeable.

It would mostly be used for Office, teams, etc, and schoolwork online. It shouldn't be considered a gaming computer, but one kid is taking coding / interface design and they are working on a Roblox game. So it will need to be able to render the work without bogging down and making life miserable.

Any tips on what brands, specs, etc, to start the search? Any brands to focus on or avoid these days?
Would just be getting one laptop that they can share when needed. Budget is TBD, realistically expect $1299 minimum.