The Technology Department has a few updates and reminders for everyone. In the past, these updates were only shared internally. Going forward, these updates will be shared publicly on our district website.
If you have any questions about anything, please reach out to support@agawamed.org.
Student Information System Update
If you haven't yet read the announcement on the district website, we will be upgrading to the PowerSchool Student Information System next school year. This will replace the Rediker Platform currently being used.
Data migration has already begun and multiple PD opportunities are being scheduled. More information about PD will be emailed out when available.
Website Updates
The District Website Facilitators have been doing a great job sharing all of the content that teachers, students, and classrooms create. To help make getting content on the website easier, we have created website@agawamed.org. Teachers and staff simply need to send their content to that address and a Website Facilitator will be able to add it to the website.
All Website Facilitators now have access to our District YouTube Page. They are able to upload videos to be shared and added to the website.
We hope these changes will make it possible to share even more about the great events, activites, and work being done in Agawam Public Schools.
Chromebook Distribution and Updates
Over the past month we have been distributing more Chromebooks in order to have all grades on up to date hardware. We have completely replaced the Chromebooks in grades K, 1, and 7 and replaced older devices in grades 2, 3, and 4.
This latest round of distribution ensures that our 1:1 program will be ready for upcoming MCAS testing and be up to date for the 21-22 school year.
One quick reminder, please restart your Chromebooks devices when you have time (before MCAS). This allows for critical updates and patches to be installed. Simply closing the lid of your Chromebook does not power it off and restart.
Password and Account Security
There has been a recent increase of passwords being shared or discovered by other people. If we are made aware of a password being compromised, we will be resetting the password for security. A new password will then be issued to the user.
A reminder to all staff and students, that your @agawamed.org password is only for you, and please do not share it with anyone.
Network Drive Migration
In February of 2020, we began alerting staff about the migration away from Network Drives. We want to make this transition as easy as possible and provide plenty of time to adjust.
Network Drives are Windows computer drives that store data on a central server, not on the computer. These are typically called F: Drive or H: Drive in the district. We will be migrating from a local server network drive to a cloud based drive on Google Workspace and Google Drive.
If you are using a Chromebook for your work, nothing will be changing. Chromebooks only have access to Google Drive.
The District will be shutting down Network Drives at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. We encourage everyone to use Google File Stream and Google Drive. A good rule of thumb is…
If you can access the file on your Chromebook, the file is saved in the right place.
If you need help or further explanation, please submit a support request to the Technology Department. Anyone on the staff will be able to get you set up with Google File Stream and start moving files over. There is also a helpful document on Google File Stream.
Turning Off agawampublicschools.org
Several years ago, the district used @agawampublicschools.org for our email accounts. We have since migrated to @agawamed.org accounts. The domain name agawampublicschools.org has been kept active to allow people time to switch over to using their agawamed.org accounts.
During the summer, we will be deactivating and officially turning off the agawampublicschools.org domain. Please ensure you are using the agawamed.org account and other people know not to contract you at agawampublicschools.org
If you have any questions or concerns about any of these updates, please submit a support ticket.