Welcome! Technology Overview
Welcome to Newburyport
Newburyport Public Schools is a Google Suite district. We use all the Google tools provided to us at no cost including Google Docs, Drive, Gmail and many others. Whenever possible you are encouraged to use these tools with your staff and students.
Students all have Google accounts providing them with the same tools available to you with some exceptions. For example, the district has decided that students in K-8th grade will not have access to email.
Our Google environment uses the schools internal servers for password authentication. This allows us to choose the complexity required for passwords and for us to be able to maintain them and sync them across multiple applications throughout the district. For example, your computer log-on, Google Suite, Destiny, and Microsoft Office 365 all use the same account information. Since we control the passwords they can only be managed inside the district on one of our computers. If you are locked out of your account or want to change your password, you will not be able to unless you physically go into a school, sign into a school computer and choose “change password.”
First Day
When you arrive at your desk you will need to log in to your computer. Traditionally, your username will be your first initial and last name. For example, John Smith’s username would be jsmith. Your password will also be your username for this initial login. You will get a pop up telling you that you need to change your password. This password is entirely up to you but we ask that you choose a secure password that someone will not be able to guess. Your account is vulnerable to the whole world and the only thing securing it is your password. We recommend you visit...
https://howsecureismypassword.net
...and check how long it would take a standard desktop computer to crack your password. If you would like to change your password, simply press ctrl-alt-del and click “change password."
In the Google Suite, you can also turn on “two step verification.” This will send you a text message every time a new computer tries to access your account giving you the opportunity to deny it.
The next item on your list is to log in into your Google Suite environment and agree to Google’s “terms and conditions.” The quickest way to sign in is visit our Single Sign on Page.
http://sso.newburyport.k12.ma.us
Sign in with just your username and the password you chose. After you agree to the terms Google Drive will load. This is the default for the district and cannot be changed.
To make your day more productive we suggest you use Google Chrome as your default browser. If you sign into Chrome with your school Google account all of your bookmarks, saved passwords, extensions etc. are synced with your GSuite account. It will also negate the need to sign in every time you wish to check mail, calendars etc. If you choose to sign into chrome on a new device (ie home computer, laptop) all of your information will be brought down and synced across all devices.
Mailing Lists
To simplify communication each school has its own mail group. To send an email to everyone in a building, address an email to the group and all will receive it. The groups are:
Bresnahan: ftbstaff@newburyport.k12.ma.us
Molin: upperele@newburyport.k12.ma.us
Nock: middle@newburyport.k12.ma.us
High: high@newburyport.k12.ma.us
Central: central@newburyport.k12.ma.us
These groups can be used by anyone in the district but drop all mail from outside. For example, a teacher at the High School can email the Bresnahan School but a parent cannot use these lists. If an outside person/group wants to use these lists, they need to send an email to someone inside the district and have it forwarded. There are many groups setup by buildings, teachers admins that you can find in the…
Address Book
Every account in the district is in your address book. Begin typing the name in the “To” box and a search will begin. When you see the right account click on the name and the “To” box will be filled in.
Students are also present in the address book. To differentiate between students and teachers they have different domain names. All staff have accounts that end in @newburyport.k12.ma.us and all students end in @newburyportschools.com. Also MOST (not all) student account names end with the year of graduation. John Smith’s as a student would have an account similar to jsmith21@newburyportschools.com. When addressing emails look out for the domain name and that grad year.
Follett Aspen X2
For security purposes, usernames and passwords are maintained inside Aspen. There is no syncing between accounts. Usernames and passwords will be given out separately. To request info please use our Ticketing system.
How To Get Help
We have an automated ticketing system that will contact everyone in the tech department to ensure the fastest service. Emailing a technician directly can result in delays if the tech is out of the district, working on another problem etc. To get help please submit a ticket through our NPS Technology Helpdesk.
While you can submit a ticket without signing into our helpdesk, we recommend using the Google login option and signing in with your district email. This will allow you to track the status of your tickets, submit updates, etc, without anything getting lost in your inbox.
When submitting a ticket, please tell us what the issue is, being descriptive as possible. Include any error messages and any troubleshooting steps you might have performed. Also, include what room you are in and what time you are available for support. Submitting a ticket and then entering a parent meeting or leaving for a half day will result in the techs having to visit you more than once. To maximize our technician’s time we try to prevent as many return trips as possible.
Often we can fix problems remotely so even if you don’t see a technician keep an eye out for emails and messages from the helpdesk. They could be requests for more information, a request for you to perform a task such as rebooting the computer, or notification that your problem was solved.
If you need immediate support, our number is: 978-465-4440 ext. 5555. We do, however, recommend using our ticketing system in 99% of cases, as this will ensure the entire department sees your request and that it can be quickly directed to the right person.
Microsoft Office 365
Your school-provided equipment will come with Microsoft Office pre-installed but all employees and students have access to Microsoft Office 365. You can use Office’s web environment that is similar to Google Docs or download and install the full suite on up to five personal machines. To login go to:
Your username will be slightly different from other accounts but the passwords are the same. Using John Smith as an example:
Username: jsmith@newburyport.onmicrosoft.com
Password: The same one used to access Google and our computers