St. James Day School

Internet and Computer Policy

OVERVIEW

Computers and technology are an integral part of a St. James education, and our graduates are known for their computer skills and understanding of technology as they matriculate into various schools at the completion of their 6th grade year. With the rapid changes in technology, as well as our own student population increases each year, we continue to move forward with our Transition to Teacher Technology (TTT 2000) program this fall of 2004. Our teachers have been training and practicing to develop the knowledge and expertise for incorporating the teaching of computer skills into the teaching of basic curriculum. Continued development of computer skills will be an additional benefit of teaching with technology.

Technology is expensive, and unfortunately, it's not a one-time expenditure but an ongoing expense due to the rapid changes which take place in hardware, software, and societal use. With the growth of our program as well as the growth of the school, it is imperative that much thought be given to using all our computers in the way that is most beneficial to all our students. This is the purpose of putting a written procedure in place for our technology plan and equipment. What's best for our students is always our #1 priority in all policies of the school.

HARDWARE Ownership of Computers

*All existing computers and technology equipment are the property of St. James Day School, and as such, will be distributed to individual classrooms and individuals so that each computer is best utilized for the good of the students of St. James.

*In the event that a teacher brings his/her personal computer from home to school, and retains ownership of said computer, that teacher may determine the location of his or her personal computer within the classroom. The school, however, cannot be responsible for any maintenance, repair, or installation of software for said computer.

*Teachers who request computers through the Parents Club Wish List should also indicate how the computer will be used. If the computer request is granted, the technology coordinator, along with the Headmistress shall determine what computer the teacher will receive; it may be a new computer or it may be one from another campus location.

Donated Computers and Placement

*We welcome and desperately need donated computers to help offset the tremendous cost of an up-to-date technology program. Computers donated to St. James become the property of the School, and are not the property of any individual teacher or employee. Any computers donated to St. James should be delivered to the Middle School Computer Lab so that:

We are a Macintosh School, with a Mac network of over 80 networked computers. Because of time limitations and a small technology support staff, we simply are unable to maintain PC computers or compatibles which are given as donations. We do accept other pieces of hardware (monitors, printers, etc.) which can be configured to work with a Macintosh.

SOFTWARE

* Software may be installed on any campus computer only by technology staff. Most applications will reside on the school SERVER. If a teacher desires something other than designated school software on a specific computer, it should be approved by administration before installing.

* Students may NOT bring software from home to use on school computers. This includes CD Roms as well as floppy disk media. ¥ Students may not copy school software to take home. Those applications for which we own home distribution licenses will be distributed by the computer or homeroom teacher. As of August 2000, this only relates to MicroWorlds Logo, LogoWriter, and various shareware applications.

* All software used at St. James should be educational in nature, and used to enhance, teach, or review the St. James curriculum. Because of the limited time we have to teach curriculum, software should not be used for busy work or strictly entertainment.

TEACHER SUPERVISION of STUDENT COMPUTERS

Computer and Internet Responsibilities

INTERNET

* A teacher must be in the room if any student is connected to the Internet.

* Students may use only the St. James Web site and St. James Links unless the teacher has a specific reason for leaving our site. In that event, the teacher must be at the computer with the student.

* Students may NOT use any search engine unless the teacher is working with that student at the computer. No exceptions.

* Students may SAVE information from the Internet, but may not PRINT from the Internet. SAVED information can then be opened into a word processing document and cut to contain only the information needed before printing. If it is necessary to print whole pages from the Internet, this must be a decision of the teacher. Rather than printing multiple pages from the Internet, teachers should encourage students to find specific facts on which the student can take notes.

* Students may respond to web site requests on the Internet only if directed to do so by the teacher, and the teacher should have a thorough understanding of what the student is sending and why.

* Absolutely no personal information (name, address, telephone number, etc.) may be sent over the Internet or email by a student. Other

* Students should have clean hands when working at any computer, and may not have food or drinks of any kind near the computer workstation or in the computer lab. Likewise, there should be no rough-housing or playing around computer stations.

* Students may use the computers only for educational purposes, not for recreational game playing or listening to audio CDs.

TEACHER USE of COMPUTERS

Computer and Internet Responsibilities Classroom and Lab Computers

* All computers are to be used for the benefit of our students, including the teacher's computer when needed.

* Teachers should not have food or drinks near any computer station.

* Teachers are responsible for seeing that all computer cables are out of the way and cannot easily be disconnected from the computer, or pose a safety hazard in their classroom.

* For obvious health reasons, teachers should see that the computer keyboard is cleaned frequently.

* Any computer questions and/or problems should be reported by email to the technology coordinator, LS computer facilitator, or the part time technician. If you cannot use your email, please ask another teacher to email the problem, or call the school secretary in the office and ask her to relay the message.

INTERNET

* When individual teachers find a web site that would be beneficial to any part of our school curriculum, please email the web master (currently Dee Miller) with the site address so that the link may be put on the St. James Link page and made available to students and other teachers.

* Teachers looking for specific material for their curriculum should look first at the designated links on the St. James Sites. These are updated weekly with new and useful links. If, in the process of looking at St. James Links, a teacher finds a link which is either inappropriate or no longer available, the teacher must also notify the web master so the link can be removed.

* Teachers should give careful thought to what they print from the Internet in order to save expenses on both printer toner and paper. Graphics printed from the Web require a great deal of toner or ink, and should only be printed when absolutely necessary for your lesson.

* Teachers shall discuss copyright issues concerning information found on the Internet with their classes, and require students to give proper credit for any material found on the Internet and used in class work. Suggested rules for citing Internet resources are attached as a separate document.

* If a teacher has prepared an internet related lesson, that teacher shall have visited the sites to check for appropriateness before sending the students there. The teacher should also make sure that students have specific goals for finding information on that particular site.

* All classroom teachers will update their respective web pages with current information each week. Class web sites are a major method of communicating with our parents, and as such, the update should be done by the teacher, not a teacher's assistant. To place - or replace- a picture on your page, please send the picture to the webmaster to be scanned and placed on your page, or email the picture in digital format to dmiller@stjames.txk.org

* Both parents and students shall be made aware of the timely information they can find on your school web page regarding classroom activities and class assignments. Please make known the availability of this resource for information and teacher/parent communication.

EMAIL

* All teachers are asked to check their email in the morning and again before leaving school in the afternoon. Most teachers have a computer and email which can be left connected, with periodic email checks. If this is the case in your room, this is the method by which you will receive any notice of phone calls, packages, parent messages, etc. throughout the day.

* Be advised that the computers, software, and email system on this campus

*The Internet isn't always secure and one can't assume personal communications will be delivered to the correct address.

*St. James computers are for educational purposes, and any student or teacher using them in an illegal, abusive, or even questionable manner will be given a formal warning. After a second infraction disciplinary measures may be taken.