Monte Vista Schools Technology Department
Guidelines for Internet Use
Dear parents, students, staff and faculty;
Monte Vista Schools is striving to utilize technology to improve education. This includes high speed Internet access, e-mail, multimedia computers and a curriculum designed to maintain our leadership in this area.
As of July 1, 2001, the Monte Vista School District is required to comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act. (CIPA) This Federal statute requires schools receiving Federals monies for technology purposes must install Internet content filters and develop a Policy to deal with Internet Use. This document is part of that policy. See Much Ado About Filtering below.
All users of the district network and the Internet have signed an "Acceptable Use Policy". This AUP states "inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges. The system administrators will deem what is inappropriate use."
The system administrators, after consulting with the Superintendent, building principals, and teachers, have decided that an evolving "list of Inappropriate Uses" (below) will be posted here for all to access. This list will be subject to change and should be reviewed on a regular basis. The user is responsible for keeping informed on this issue.
In general, "What you do at home is your own business, what you do at school is the school's business." This might be a good way for all of us to view how we use the school's technology. With this in mind you should remember that your use of the Internet and e-mail correspondence is not private and is subject to monitoring by District personnel.
There is a gray area between what is deemed "educationally appropriate," and activity that is definitely inappropriate. These would include accessing sites that have no real educational benefit but may not contain harmful materials. Since the goal of our schools is to provide a quality education, these types of sites will be dealt with individually and their relative educational/nuisance value addressed by district personnel.
In order to help clarify what is "inappropriate use," the following is a partial list of what the District deems "inappropriate use." Users are responsible for keeping informed on this issue. This list should not be viewed as a complete representation of all activities that could be considered inappropriate.
Inappropriate Uses
Use of another person's account or allowing someone to use your account will also result in a loss of network privileges.
Much Ado About Filtering
& Etc
The technology department has made several changes to our computer network this year. This document is intended to shed some light on the effects of these changes. If you have questions, comments or concerns about the following information or anything else regarding the technology department, please let us know. See the bottom of this page for our contact information.
Web Filter (LightSpeed)
The Children's Internet Protect Act (CIPA) requires public schools and libraries to disable viewing of inappropriate material that is available on the World Wide Web. There are several products available that attempt to filter out these sites. The product that we deemed best suited for our school is called LightSpeed. LightSpeed is a widely used web filtering software package in corporate America today. However, as you probably already know, it is not perfect. It does blocks some sites that it probably should not and doesn't block some sites that it probably should. Fortunately, we have the ability to unblock desired, appropriate sites and block undesired and inappropriate sites. In order to make the best of a less than perfect situation, we need your quantitative feedback. Please let us know when you cannot get to a site that you would like to get to. Additionally, let us know when you get to a site that you feel is inappropriate. You can copy and paste the URL that is blocked in an email to Michele Santi michele@monte.k12.co.us so that we get the exact address of the site. If you are uncertain of how to email Michele Santi, please contact her on the phone - 852-2212 ext 6113 and she will help you with this process.
Virus Filter - Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) provides real-time protection for your PC. MSE guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* (as long as you are running a genuine copy of windows) downloaded from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.
Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.
To minimize our exposure to unknown viruses, we have limited the types of attachments that can be received and sent through our email server. The types of attachments that are blocked are listed below. All other types of attachments are not blocked. If you are unfamiliar with attachments and their extensions and would like to know more about them, please contact Patrick for an "Attachments in a nutshell" explanation. If you were sent a legitimate but prohibited attachment, please request that the sender zip up the file prior to sending it. For more information on zipping and unzipping files, please contact Patrick or Michele.
July 24, 2013 - We are in the process of switching from Microsoft Exchange to Google. You will be notified as soon as this is done with instructions on how to set it up.
Michele Santi
michele@monte.k12.co.us
852-2212 ext 6113
Patrick Sewell
ptsewell@monte.k12.co.us
852-2212 ext 6115
Monte Vista Schools is striving to utilize technology to improve education. This includes high speed Internet access, e-mail, multimedia computers and a curriculum designed to maintain our leadership in this area.
As of July 1, 2001, the Monte Vista School District is required to comply with the Children's Internet Protection Act. (CIPA) This Federal statute requires schools receiving Federals monies for technology purposes must install Internet content filters and develop a Policy to deal with Internet Use. This document is part of that policy. See Much Ado About Filtering below.
All users of the district network and the Internet have signed an "Acceptable Use Policy". This AUP states "inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges. The system administrators will deem what is inappropriate use."
The system administrators, after consulting with the Superintendent, building principals, and teachers, have decided that an evolving "list of Inappropriate Uses" (below) will be posted here for all to access. This list will be subject to change and should be reviewed on a regular basis. The user is responsible for keeping informed on this issue.
In general, "What you do at home is your own business, what you do at school is the school's business." This might be a good way for all of us to view how we use the school's technology. With this in mind you should remember that your use of the Internet and e-mail correspondence is not private and is subject to monitoring by District personnel.
There is a gray area between what is deemed "educationally appropriate," and activity that is definitely inappropriate. These would include accessing sites that have no real educational benefit but may not contain harmful materials. Since the goal of our schools is to provide a quality education, these types of sites will be dealt with individually and their relative educational/nuisance value addressed by district personnel.
In order to help clarify what is "inappropriate use," the following is a partial list of what the District deems "inappropriate use." Users are responsible for keeping informed on this issue. This list should not be viewed as a complete representation of all activities that could be considered inappropriate.
Inappropriate Uses
- Chat rooms - Most will be blocked. Any use is prohibited unless specific arrangements have been made by a teacher for a specific instructional reason.
- Web mail and Free e-mail. Students: (This means you are required to use your district supplied e-mail account for all e-mail exchanged while at school. If you have other e-mail accounts you can "Forward" those messages to your district e-mail account or have your school mail forwarded to your other account. Hotmail, Yahoomail, and all other Web based mail services may not be accessed from school computers by students. Staff can access their WebMail.
- Conducting private business using district supported technology. The school's technology is here to support education. If you need an internet account for your home business, please contact a local ISP.
- Accessing Internet sites that promote violence, drug use, illegal activities, hate or violence towards anyone, and sites in general that have no educational benefit.
- Any illegal activity including:
- Transmitting or receiving pornographic materials.
- Conspiracy to commit a crime.
- Accessing "gang sites", "hate sites", or other antisocial sites without the specific permission of an instructor.
- Duplication or copying of copyrighted materials.
- Any activity that interferes with the academic mission of the school, including accessing streaming audio or video unless approved by the system administrator.
Use of another person's account or allowing someone to use your account will also result in a loss of network privileges.
Much Ado About Filtering
& Etc
The technology department has made several changes to our computer network this year. This document is intended to shed some light on the effects of these changes. If you have questions, comments or concerns about the following information or anything else regarding the technology department, please let us know. See the bottom of this page for our contact information.
Web Filter (LightSpeed)
The Children's Internet Protect Act (CIPA) requires public schools and libraries to disable viewing of inappropriate material that is available on the World Wide Web. There are several products available that attempt to filter out these sites. The product that we deemed best suited for our school is called LightSpeed. LightSpeed is a widely used web filtering software package in corporate America today. However, as you probably already know, it is not perfect. It does blocks some sites that it probably should not and doesn't block some sites that it probably should. Fortunately, we have the ability to unblock desired, appropriate sites and block undesired and inappropriate sites. In order to make the best of a less than perfect situation, we need your quantitative feedback. Please let us know when you cannot get to a site that you would like to get to. Additionally, let us know when you get to a site that you feel is inappropriate. You can copy and paste the URL that is blocked in an email to Michele Santi michele@monte.k12.co.us so that we get the exact address of the site. If you are uncertain of how to email Michele Santi, please contact her on the phone - 852-2212 ext 6113 and she will help you with this process.
Virus Filter - Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) provides real-time protection for your PC. MSE guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* (as long as you are running a genuine copy of windows) downloaded from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.
Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.
To minimize our exposure to unknown viruses, we have limited the types of attachments that can be received and sent through our email server. The types of attachments that are blocked are listed below. All other types of attachments are not blocked. If you are unfamiliar with attachments and their extensions and would like to know more about them, please contact Patrick for an "Attachments in a nutshell" explanation. If you were sent a legitimate but prohibited attachment, please request that the sender zip up the file prior to sending it. For more information on zipping and unzipping files, please contact Patrick or Michele.
- *.vbs - Visual Basic Scripts
- *.exe, *.com - Executable Programs
- *.scr - Screen savers
- *.htm - Web Pages
- *.mp3, *.wma - Music files
- *.mov - Movie files
- *.pif - Preference files
- *.bat - DOS batch files
- *.tmp - Temporary files
- *.dat - Data files
July 24, 2013 - We are in the process of switching from Microsoft Exchange to Google. You will be notified as soon as this is done with instructions on how to set it up.
Michele Santi
michele@monte.k12.co.us
852-2212 ext 6113
Patrick Sewell
ptsewell@monte.k12.co.us
852-2212 ext 6115