IT News and Notes

March 2024
In this edition of IT News and Notes, our main emphasis will be on the various tools and methods available for communicating the fantastic events and achievements within our district to our families. We encourage everyone to explore the most suitable communication channels and to reach out regularly to share the incredible happenings in our classrooms, departments, schools, and throughout the district!
Share Your Story!
Hello, everyone! I hope you are enjoying spring break with family and friends! As we round the corner into the last nine weeks of the 2023-2024 school year, I am sure we are all looking to finish strong! Again this year, we have continued to provide a well-rounded, high-quality education for our students-- that wouldn't be possible without the hard work from all of you each and every day! We have a lot to celebrate in Mentor Schools- and I’d love to have your help sharing all of the awesomeness happening in your classrooms and each of our schools. Please feel free to use this form to upload photos and videos from this school year. This can include anything from a typical classroom lesson to a special event or activity to a club or team in action – you name it! We’ll keep this form open through the end of June, so please feel free to visit often and contribute as much as you’d like! Thank you! 
-Kristen Estes, Director of Community Relations
Our Newest Communication Tool
Loop is a communication tool the district purchased for all staff as a way to easily be able to communicate through email and/or text in a quick way to groups already populated from Infinite Campus. The program also allows phone calls to go out at the district level in emergencies to communicate key information to our families quickly. In past IT News and Notes, we have shared:
  • Why we chose Loop as our Communication solution (September 2023)
  • Information on Teachers and Coaches Piloting Loop (October 2023)
  • Sending and Announcement vs. Message (November 2023)
  • Email Notifications in Loop (December 2023)
  • Creating a Group in Loop (January 2024)
All of these past IT News and Notes can easily be found on the Technology Communication page. If you have not tried Loop yet, there is no better time to start than now. You can check out one or two of the articles above to familiarize yourself with the platform and try sending your first message or announcement.
Loop can easily be found under Staff Resources in Clever. You can click on the Loop icon and Sign in with Google.
Edlio
Did you know we send online newsletters from each school to families every other week throughout the school year!? We use our website platform (hosted by Edlio) to push out the news items and calendar of events in an easy to navigate format, which helps keep our school websites updated frequently as well. Great job to our building secretaries, those assisting them with content, and our principals for their messages in each newsletter! Please let your school office know if you have something to share in a newsletter! 
IT Tips and Tricks
Classroom Messenger in Infinte Campus has been a primary way for our staff to communicate with parents. In this month's IT Tips and Tricks, Todd shares with you the steps for creating a message in Classroom Messenger. This tool is particularly useful when supporting students with missing assignments.
This GIF shows how to create a Message from the Message Center in IC. This GIF is a perfect support for the IT Tips and Tricks video. Use whichever one to help take advantage of the Message Center.
A Little IT Humor
The phone call! We have come up with many new ways to communicate with our families. There is nothing like a phone call home! Find a reason this week to make a positive phone call home to the family of one of your students. This can change how parents, and especially students, view school!
Playposit
There is an important update regarding using the paid-for version of PlayPosit. After careful consideration and evaluation, the District’s Technology Steering Committee discontinued our PlayPosit subscription. This means that beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, the district will no longer be purchasing access to the premium features of PlayPosit.
You may continue to use the free version of PlayPosit. While the free version will have some limitations, it still offers valuable tools for creating interactive video lessons. Other programs staff may access, such as Nearpod and Explain Everything, have video integration.
We understand that this change may impact how you plan your lessons and deliver content, and we are here to support you through this transition. Should you wish to have an in-service workday dedicated to transitioning video bulbs in PlayPosit to other mediums, complete this form by April 15th, and we will arrange it.
Approved / Non Approved Programs
(In addition to District Purchased / Approved Programs)
District Approved / Non-Supported "FREE" Programs where a SDPA has been SECURED
While we prefer district-approved programs, we've also secured agreements for specific "FREE" programs. We have currently secured 51 Student Data Privacy Agreements (SDPA) for district-purchased / approved programs along with 34 "Free" programs (This increased by 10 since last month), and we have also secured SDPAs. The list of these district-approved / non-supported "FREE" programs is below.
Last month we began publishing a list of programs where they have DECLINED a SDPA. These programs should NOT be used by students. The main reason is a vendor that has yet to respond after multiple attempts or is unwilling to sign a SDPA.
APPROVED "FREE" Programs
  • Actively Learn
  • Blooket
  • Code.org
  • Common Lit
  • Conjuguemos
  • Delta Math
  • DESMOS
  • Edpuzzle
  • Eduflow
  • Explain Everything
  • Floop
  • Formative
  • GeoGebra
  • Gimkit
  • iXL math
  • KHAN ACADEMY
  • Lucid Chart
  • Mathigon
  • No Red Ink
  • Noodletools
  • Noteflight
  • Padlet
  • Peardeck
  • Pixton Comic
  • Quill
  • Quizizz
  • Readworks
  • Reflex Math
  • Sight Reading Factory
  • Starfall
  • Story Board
  • Teambuildr
  • Tinkercad
  • Tynker
  • Verso
  • Whiteboard.fi
NON-APPROVED Programs for Students
(Teachers can still use these programs, but students are not permitted to generate accounts)
  • EdCite
  • FluentKey
  • Github
  • Loom
  • Lyricstraining
  • Mentimeter
  • Photopea
  • Quizlet
  • Replit
  • Rocketbook
  • Toy Theater
  • TryHackMe
  • Wix
Failure to protect student and staff information can result in financial and reputational loss, including significant costs for resolving a data breach or cybersecurity attacks and loss of confidence in the district by the public. Our district will continue to focus on maintaining the highest system and data security level!
AI support was utilized in crafting this document.
Mentor Schools | Adapting, Balancing, Collaborating