Our Lady of Tepeyac Schools

Google Apps Implementation

Summary and Notes

Summary
TransitionPhases
PhaseI:GoogleAppsworkshopwithelementaryschoolfaculty(August2013)
PhaseII:Application,approval,andsetup(Oct2013)
PhaseIII:Facultytrainingandaccountmigration(LateOct2013)
PhaseIV:Elementaryschool(grades68)Googleappstraining(NovDec2013)
PhaseV:Highschoolaccountmigration(Jan2014)
PhaseVI:Elementaryschool(grades4,5)Googleappstraining(Spring2014)
Currentstatus
Notes
EnablinganddisablingGoogleappsforspecificusers
Notofficiallysupportedforages11andunder

Summary
Asofthe20132014schoolyear,bothOurLadyofTepeyacHighSchoolandElementarySchool
aretransitioningtoGoogleAppsforEducation.GoogleAppsprovidesarobustplatformfor
learningandproductivitythattaketheplaceoflesseffectiveservicesandsoftwarepreviouslyin
use.ThosefeaturesincludeorganizationalemailbasedonGMail,groupsandmailinglists,
cloudbasedfilesharingandofficeapps,accountmanagement,andstudentsupervision.
Accordingtothevisionbehindthistransition,bothschoolsstudentsandfacultywillutilizes
computerandnetworkservicesthatarepredominantlycloudbased(althoughlocalfallbackswill
continuetobeavailable).

Transition Phases
Phase I: Google Apps workshop with elementary school faculty (August 2013)
Aspartoftheiryearstartorientation,elementaryschoolfacultyreceiveda2hourworkshopin
theuseofGMailandGoogleDocs,includinghowtocreate,share,andcollaboratewithcontent.
FacultywereinstructedtocontinueusingGoogleappsinpreparationforanAppsforEducation
rolloutlaterintheyear.

Phase II: Application, approval, and setup (Oct 2013)

Status:Complete

GoogleAppsforEducationisfreetononprofitK12schools.Afteraquickapplication,thereisa
briefwaitingperiodduringwhichGoogleassessesthequalifiedstatusoftheorganization.

Afterthewaitingperiod,wewereapprovedbyGoogletobeginsettingupourEnterpriseGoogle
Appsaccount.

Using*.csvfilessavedfromMicrosoftExcel,weuploadedtheemailaddressesofall
employees.

Phase III: Faculty training and account migration (Late Oct 2013)
Status:Complete
Despitetechnicaldifficulties,GoogleAppsprofessionaldevelopmentoccurredonOctober23rd.
Teachersfrombothschoolswereintroducedtothenewsystem,therationaleforthetransition,
andbasicstepsforloggingin.SeethePowerPoint.Thesubsequenttwoweekswerededicated
toassistingindividualteacherslogintotheirnewaccountsandmigrateemailsanddocuments
fromtheiroldaccounts.

Phase IV: Elementary school (grades 6-8) Google apps training (Nov-Dec 2013)
Status:InProgress
AsofDec.5th,Theteachersofmiddleschoolagedchildrenhavegiventheirstudentsaninitial
introductiontoGoogleApps,GMail,andDocs.Apartfromonestudentwholosthispassword,all
accountshaveworkedwithoutahitch.SeeNotes:Notofficiallysupportedforages11andunder.

Phase V: High school account migration (Jan 2014)

Status:ScheduledforJanuary2014
Currently,studentsofthehighschooldependuponpersonalGMailaccounts.Beginningin
January,highschoolstudentswillberequiredtologinusingtheirnew@ourladyoftepeyac.org

accounts,andmayreceiveassistanceinmigratingtheiroldemailtothenewaccount.By
February2014,allhighschoolstudentswillberequiredtoexclusivelyusetheir
@ourladyoftepeyac.orgaddresses.

Phase VI: Elementary school (grades 4, 5) Google apps training (Spring 2014)
Status:PendingReview
PendingadiscussionoftheusefulnessandimportanceofGoogleAppsforyoungerchildren,
theymaybeginlogginginasearlyasMarchof2014.Pointstodiscusswillbeanonymityand
childsafety,whethertheyshouldbeusingemail,andwhatdevelopmentallyappropriate
activitiestheirteacherscancreate.

Current status
FacultyandstaffhavecompletedtheirtransitiontoGoogleAppsrelativelyseamlessly,sincea
majorityofemployeeswerealreadyusingGMailaccounts.Theschoolsarecurrentlyonthe
cuspofacompleterolloutofGoogleAppstoallofthestudents.Basedonearlyexperienceswith
themiddleschoolchildren,theredonotseemtobewidespreadproblemswithaccountsetupor
use.

Notes
Enabling and disabling Google apps for specific users
ConcerningthequestionofwhethertoextendGoogleAppsaccountsasfardownasthe4th
gradestudents,itseemedbeneficialtodisableGMailforsuchaccountstoreducerisk.The
mechanismforthisfeatureisnotobvious.GoogleAppsdoesnotallowdisablingspecificapps
forspecificGroups.Instead,Googleadministratorsmustaddsuborganizationsto
ourladyoftepeyac.orgintherightsidepaneloftheUsersmodule.Thus,youngchildrencouldbe
addedtoaGMailDisabledsuborganization,andonlyhaveaccesstoGoogleDriveforcontent
creationandcollaboration.

Not officially supported for ages 12 and under

Googledoesnotverifytheageofusersupontheirfirstlogin.However,intheeventthatayoung
userforgetshisorherpassword,Googledoesaskforabirthdateduringthepasswordrecovery
wizard.Ifusersaged12oryoungerenterarealbirthdate,Googlewillpermanentlyblocktheir
account.Noteventheadministratorscanenabletheaccountnorevendeleteit.Theaccount
remainsstuckinadisabledstatusuntilitisautomaticallyremovedbyGoogleonemonthlater.
Incaseswhereveryyounguserslosetheirpassword,thesolutionistoinformanadministrator,
whocanthenresettheirpasswordwithoutsupplyingGooglewithabirthdate.Ifanadministrator
isnotavailable,afakebirthdateshouldbesuppliedtothepasswordrecoverywizard.