PHS PC Tech Committee Topics of Interest
---------- Below is copy of Mike Johnson's 1/23/08 Letter from PHS to Parents about Powerschool Implementation:
January 23, 2008
Dear Parent or Guardian,
Portland High School is pleased to announce the opening of the parent-portal of PowerSchool, a web based student information system that will allow both you and your student on-line access to schedules, attendance, assignments and grades. Throughout the semester, you will be able to log in and view the progress your child is making in any one of his or her classes.
The back of this letter shows you the layout for your student’s PowerSchool page. Below you will find login and passwords for both you and your student. In addition, we urge you all to review the guidelines for use which are included with this letter. It is important to note that teachers vary in their styles and methods of grading and that time must be allowed for teachers to regularly update their grade books (particularly at this transitional period between semesters.)
On Monday, February 4 from 3:30 – 6:00 P.M. in Room 232 here at Portland High, we will be offering PowerSchool training for parents. You are invited to drop in anytime between these hours to get help logging on or to answer any questions that you might have. Please bring your login and password information with you.
We look forward to having this powerful tool up and running. If you do not have email or web access please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teachers or the guidance department by calling the school at 874-8250.
Sincerely,
Michael Johnson, PHS Principal
Web Site: http://pschool.portlandschools.org/public
Student<First_Name> <Last_Name>
Parent / Guardian Username
<Parent_Web_Id>
Parent / Guardian Password
<Parent_Web_Password>
Student Username
<Student_Web_Id>
Student Password
<Student_Web_Password>
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Parent Access Guidelines for PowerSchool Gradebook, 1/23/08
PowerSchool is a web based student information system that includes student attendance and grades. The information provided is PowerSchool is for the convenience of students and parents/guardians. It is not an official record and should not be viewed as one. Please read the following statements to help make this an effective communication tool between your child, teacher, and you regarding their progress in a class.
Your child’s grades are only a ‘snapshot’ of his/her academic standing.
Please remember that teachers place different academic weight on assignments and grade differently from one another.
As new assignments are graded and added, the overall average will be recalculated.
Parent/guardians need to allow teachers time to correct and enter grades before expecting to see assignments on PowerSchool . Please allow a week from the time an assignment was turned in for it to be entered in PowerSchool. A longer time may be needed for projects and term papers, as they take longer to correct.
To Log On: us the following web site: http://pschool.portlandschools.org, OR go to: www.portlandschools.org
Choose PARENTS, then click on POWERSCHOOL to get to the login screen. In either case bookmark this site for ease of access.
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Below is the text of a letter sent by the PHS Parent Connections Steering Committee on Dec. 13 to D.Green of the School Dept. IT Dept., and copied to Supt. JWV, School Comm., and PHS Administrators:
December 13, 2007
Ms. Donna Green
Head of Technology
Portland Public Schools
Portland ME
Re: Portland High School’s need for school-wide wireless access
Dear Ms. Green:
The PHS Parent Connections group, and its Tech Subcommittee, has defined its top priority as helping to improve the fundamentally unacceptable and almost nonexistent use of computer and wifi technology at PHS. We reviewed this issue in detail at a recent meeting.
Portland Schools Spring 2007 Wireless Plan:
One of our members was told in mid-October that two of your staff had put together a Wireless Plan for the Portland Schools last spring – please email me a copy of that written plan.
Portland High School Wireless Plan:
Background: The PHS faculty received Apple laptops in early Fall 2007. Several “carts” of Apple laptops were also supplied. These were to be used on a “spot” basis by wheeling them into a classroom. PHS has no wireless routers or “hubs” to service these laptops.
Priorities Defined by Users: Based on our discussions with PHS faculty, the faculty appeared to define the “tech” needs there as:
1) Making the building entirely Wi-Fi equipped, so that the teacher and “cart” laptops can actually be used to communicate by Wi-Fi for internet access and other purposes; so that the goal of widespread student use of and access to the internet can be achieved.
2) Acquire LCD Data Projectors, which will allow teachers to use the laptops to project lessons onto the “white board” for the class to view.
(Other less important tech needs were obtaining wireless “mice”, and obtaining a new version of Dreamweaver, which might help update PHS’ antiquated current website.)
Need for School Department Quote for PHS Wireless Plan:
We have made repeated requests that your Department provide the “quote” and “plan” for their building-wide PHS Wireless Plan. In your October 25, 2007 email, you stated that your staff had done a site survey at PHS. In your October 29, 2007 email, you said that “we will have the preliminary PHS Wireless Plan done on Thursday – at least the cost estimate part.” On November 11, 2007, Donna Crook (PHS Tech Coordinator) said your Department had told her that we would have an Enterasys quote soon [presumably on several of the one or two Enterasys larger “hubs” which may be contemplated for use in the building.] On November 30, 2007 you stated that, “We are working up a quote for the total, and will share that as soon as we get it.” We still don’t have a quote.
As we have repeatedly indicated, the PHS Parent Connections Group has been interested in helping to get PHS entirely Wi-Fi equipped. (This is substantially due to the fact that the Parent Connections Group has reached a consensus that “tech” equipment and tech education generally are high priority shortcomings at PHS, and that the School Committee’s high priority goal of keeping and attracting families to Portland can best be achieved by these overdue “tech” upgrades.) As we have indicated repeatedly, we have an interest in attempting to work with the School Department in an effort to raise funds which might help in this “tech” effort; these requests have repeatedly been made of you for at least two months. Grant application deadlines, which might have allowed us to apply for funds, have passed during this two-month period, and similar deadlines will shortly pass.
[A quote is necessary to make a credible “ask” for funds: rare is the donor who will just open his wallet without a written, cogent plan for the spending. Moreover, application for grants requires a reliable written quote.] Please let us know the status of that written quote.
Opportunity to “Wi-Fi” all of PHS by Installing “First Generation” Apple “Airports”:
As you know, Apple’s proprietary “hubs” - which have equipped the Portland Middle Schools for some 4 years already - are called “Airports.” We have been told that our Middle Schools had their “first generation” Airports removed last school year, and replaced by brand-new Airports. We have received multiple credible inputs suggesting that those “old” Airports would certainly be usable, right now, by PHS. [Our understanding is that there were some 30 to 50 such “old” Airports taken out of the Middle Schools last year.] We have repeatedly asked that you define how many of those hubs there are, their current condition, and where they are located, since we have concluded – based on our discussions with other tech people – that we ought to make a good effort to utilize those old Airports, for the following reasons:
a) They are “free” to PHS;
b) It is the “sustainable” and “green” thing to do; and
c) It allows us to potentially use whatever funds can be cobbled together for other fundamental needs, such as acquiring the LCD Projectors defined by the faculty as the other priority tech piece.
You have repeatedly refused to even inventory those old Airports. As you indicated in your most recent email:
….we will not be exploring the use of the old airports at PHS--nor will they [any tech experts we had offered to review the issue.] So it doesn't matter where they are and what the model #s are, really. As I have mentioned a couple of times, we have a network standard here and those devices do not meet that standard. Other places may have different standards.
We would appreciate a written explanation as to why the PPS “network standard” requires that you reject out-of-hand any effort to re-use these currently unused Airports at PHS. You have repeatedly emphasized how over-burdened your staff is (and we support that conclusion), and we think this is one area where the staff has not had the time to think creatively. As we have indicated, we have extremely credible sources who suggest that those used Airports would be “fine” for PHS use, that it would take but minutes to install them, and that the use of those “used” former Middle School Airports at PHS might present the need for only very minor (and inexpensive) tweaking.
We would have been impressed had your response on this issue been something like: “you know what, let’s figure out how we can get this done, and see what we can do to use those first-generation Airports.” We endorse the widely accepted notion that the broad use of Wi-Fi –communicating laptops, combined with LCD projectors for classroom instruction, will very significantly improve daily learning for each of the 1000 students at PHS. We seek to create a school-wide PHS network. While we appreciate your concern with “network standards”, we think focus should remain on the fact that, from the perspective of a PHS student, there is currently no such network at all.
2006 GMS Report Gave PHS an ‘F’ on Tech/Computer issues:
The Great Maine Schools report of Summer 2006 was embarrassingly critical and blunt about the extent to which PHS (now 18 months ago) then failed to meet any acceptable standard of technology use and education. It is appalling that the past Central Office administration blithely chose to ignore this objective and damning third party criticism. There are other experts with who we have spoken, who are very knowledgeable about the Southern Maine high school tech usage and prevalence, who describe PHS’ tech equipment and learning situation as a “laughingstock.” The prior administration is obviously responsible for much of this sorry state of tech affairs at PHS, preoccupied as it was with other, more new-fangled things. This has resulted in a completely unacceptable absence of tangible “tech-related” educational opportunities and is just one of several major shortcomings at PHS which continue merely because - unlike other high schools –literally half of the PHS student population (ESL and Alt Ed) is a segment which oftentimes does not effectively have a “voice” with which to protect its’ interests. It is sadly ironic that this is the very student population, which might most benefit from having widespread student computer-related exposures on a daily basis.
The evolution of this PHS Wireless Plan issue is a manifestation of Portland Public School’s habit of “aggressively ignoring” Portland High School. The appearance is that Portland Public Schools not only has failed to appropriate the funds but also lacks the interest, determination or imagination to seize every opportunity to move quickly to remedy this major educational shortcoming. We ask that you entertain suggestions to tweak the system in order to allow the use of (apparently perfectly suitable) used and recycled, no cost wireless Airports at PHS and also support obtaining creative input from all sectors. In our opinion the effort to entirely Wi-Fi-equip PHS deserves expedited and primary priority.
We look forward to hearing from you concerning these issues. You can respond directly to Alison Andreasen at aandreas@maine.rr.com. Thanks for your work on this topic.
Respectfully,
Parent Connections Steering Committee Members
Alison Andreasen Sue Russo Ann Weber
Sue Korobkin Carol Schiller Bill Wilson
Barbara Peisner Helen Ward
HS Parent Connections Steering Committee
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Definition of Issues and Summary of Tech Comm. issues as of 11/19, with update from the PHS PC Tech Subcomm. Meeting of 11/13:
1. Powerschool Issues: Implementation schedule re: addition of various functions, leading to parent access to daily grades, attendance, and the student's ability to access homework, forms, worksheets, etc. Staff and parent training
11/19 Update: Mike Johnson and Donna Crook report that the Powerschool "parent portal" will debut on a small "pilot basis" in mid November. Fifteen parents will be chosen to participate, and will have one classroom teacher with whom to communicate through that Parent Portal. (This will allow access to the student's grading and attendance data, among other things.) The plan is to "work out some kinks" over the next couple months, and to fully implement the Parent Portal for all parents - assuming all goes well in the Pilot - by Second semester in January 2008.
2. PHS Website
PHS Website Issues:
--- Updating of Information: e.g., statistics listed are outdated
--- Daily schedule of PHS events, for both parents and students
--- Teacher/staff participation in feeding such information to central source
--- Creation of "safety/security notification capability: allowing parents to sign up for electronic notification of snow early days, bomb threats, security threats etc.
--- Utilization of volunteers and staff, including City of Portland staff
--- Allowing/encouraging each club/sport/function to have its own web page.
--- Podcast or video to explain Powerschool for parents; to explain college process
Update as of 11/19: We are assessing Donna Crook's suggestion that the PHS website be entirely replaced with a new one, and are actively seeking suggestions/names of IT-knowledgeable people - either parents or members of the Portland business or other community - who would be willing to help with building such a new website, and perhaps donating some software to accomplish that. Please contact Bill Wilson at baskahegan@yahoo.com with any suggestions or volunteering notions.
3. Hardware/Software Needs
Definition of Issues:
--- Wireless Routers/Airports: We are refining an estimate for equipping the entire PHS building with "routers" ("airports") which will provide wireless communication capability for the new Mac laptops which the faculty has received in the last month. DHS, CBHS, and PATHS all are outfitted already with such school-wide router/airport/wireless capability. Donna Crook is working with Central Office to come up with a rough estimate re: the cost of outfitting PHS appropriately. Our intention is to explore avenues for raising money to fund the purchase of that equipment. (A very rough estimate is that it might cost $10,000.)
Below is the text of a 11/18 email on this topic from Supt. Jeanie Whynot-Vickers (who responded lightning-fast to my 11/16 email, with two emails on 11/17 and 11/17): "Did a little follow up after your query: Deering funded 6 routers with its local budget. That building is more friendly to wireless because of its construction, so there won't be as many needed to finish the building, but at this time the whole building is not wireless.
As you know the State gave laptops but no routers. PATHS bought routers last year and some this year. Casco Bay makes use of the CO and PATHS routers or they wouldn't have wireless yet.
Portland is going to need a significant number of routers to get the building wireless. There are a few being purchased that will get at least a small area up and running, but it will take a significant out lay of money to get the whole building wireless, so it will have to be step by step this year.
Hope that is helpful."
Other pending issue:
--- Videocamara
--- Dreamweaver and other Web-creation/maintenance software
--- Data LCD projectors
--- Printers
--- Tech Education Improvements long-term: Great Maine Schools Report
4. Consolidation of School IT with City IT
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Report from David Grant, Technology Integration/Curriculum Development Person at King Middle School
--David revised the website last year to make it better.
--There are two new tools available to teachers in the district this year:
(1) WordPress Server – Each teacher can have own website and manage own files for site. Can keep coursework, etc. online. This became available this fall. Blogs.portlandschools.org for WordPress;
(2) AJAX now available. About to be online. Directory of folders for each staff member. Teachers can put anything on it to help students. Students just need the teachers’ addresses. It’s an online teacher-controlled directory. Kids can access this from home.
There is also a blog server for WordPress…can go to a teacher’s blog and link to AJAX
Teachers use WordPress to put own information about homework.
David used to be the only one putting information on the web site. Now teachers do their own parts at King. Dave’s position is unique to King Middle. He had been doing a gifted-talented program with a focus on teaching kids how to use media.
David suggested that in order to improve PHS website, we need to focus on how teachers, parents, and students will all benefit from taking care of an online environment. Focus on the benefit to everyone. A clerical person could be in charge of organizing things.
Students at King produces videos, articles, photos, etc. for the site and manage web blogs for each House at King.
If there is a person at PHS who does a media class, maybe students could manage the development of the online website.
Teacher aides at King Middle post the homework updates….the teachers themselves do not do this.
We would need to look at positions at PHS and see who could help maintain the site.
David said that PHS could use King templates for the site.
King will also have PowerSchool – teachers have been keeping grades on it but parent can’t access the information yet.
The athletic director at King Middle gives the sports schedules to David --- pdf files, typed as Microsoft documents.
A parent who is a designer helped design some banners for the site.
Using parent volunteers to work on the site can get messy, David said, especially if you have people who aren’t completely comfortable with it.
Valerie Green teaches web design and web construction at PATHS. Kids there have to manage a website. She might be able to help out and would be a good contact person.
There is no “safety alert mechanism” on the King website (Bill, you had specifically asked about this). They would not want to put any “alarmist information” on the site. David suggested PHS could have a school wide private list serve to let people know if there’s a bomb scare, etc.
David said that there does not need to be just one person doing the work on the website….but one person should be in charge.