ST. MARY PARISH SCHOOLS

Implementation Made Easy

CHALLENGES:Meet Louisiana state technology standards.

Close security loopholes that technology expediency was forcing the district to keep open.

SOLUTIONS:Created a Gaggle deployment team inside each school to own the roll out of email and collaboration tools to students.

Used Gaggle Digital Lockers to restrict the use of external drives and non-monitored cloud storage.

RESULTS: Administrators and educators can now control what is happening via electronic communications in their schools with added protection from Gaggle’s Human Monitoring Service.

About St. Mary Parish Schools:

Founded in 1811, St. Mary Parish occupies

approximately 1,100 square miles in south,

central Louisiana. The 23 St. Mary Parish Schools

represent a highly progressive, dynamic,

educational organization focused on the

academic achievement of all students.

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Collaboration Tools • Email • HMS • Professional Development

Implementation Made EasyFor close to a decade, St. Mary Parish Schools

had been saying ‘no’ to a student email

application.

“We already knew that we weren’t fully

meeting Louisiana technology standards,

which stipulate that students should

understand how to use communication

media such as email in a safe, ethical and

responsible manner by high school,” recalled

Susan Dupre, District Technology Facilitator.

“When the state required that each student

be registered on a new career planning site

and that the registration included a student

email address, we had yet another reason to

move on providing student email.”

The district created a Gaggle deployment

team at each school and gave those teams

the power they needed to really own the

implementation, including deciding which

features they wanted to roll out first to

students. While allowing the schools control

their own implementations complicated

things, it created ownership among the

deployment teams. which responded with

tremendous enthusiasm.

To provide additional opportunity for

success, St. Mary Parish took advantage of

the necessary professional development

to get Gaggle off to a good start. This

training included initial behind-the-scenes

information, like student settings and

access rules, grouping options and account

functionality. What this training didn’t

address, simply because there aren’t enough

hours within the session, is the Gaggle user

experience.

“At the initial training, we were perhaps

halfway through the standard training when

a buzz started going through the class,” said

Gaggle trainer, Kim Ramsey. “By the end of

the day, the school lead was figuring out

when she could have me back.” Kim explained

that it’s possible to get enough training and

save money by understanding what each

Gaggle training covers and planning ahead to

schedule all the necessary sessions.

Gaggle has proven to be a great tool for

St. Mary Parish, allowing students access to

digital communication while still controlling

what is happening inside their schools. With

the addition of the Human Monitoring System,

Gaggle ensures that student-to-student

interactions are professional and safe.

Lastly, Gaggle Digital Lockers make the

school district’s IT infrastructure less likely

to be disrupted by malware and safer for its

students.

“We understand that children are going to

make mistakes,” said Susan, “but because

every mistake made is a lesson learned, we

need to provide them with a safe and forgiving

place to make those mistakes, explore their

boundaries and become virtual citizens. For

St. Mary Parish, Gaggle is that place.”

Collaboration Tools • Email • HMS • Professional Development