Microsoft Office Student & Staff Advantage

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) is excited to announce the Microsoft Student and Staff Advantage program. Because of CMS’s enterprise agreement with Microsoft, students and staff are able to use Microsoft Office 365 applications on their home computers for free!

Who is eligible?

All current CMS student or staff member.

What happens when a student or staff member leaves CMS?

Once a student or staff member has left the district, their Microsoft Office ProPlus subscription will end. Students or staff may enroll in other available consumer or commercial offers. Many colleges have the same availability for students to get Microsoft Office while a student at the college.

What software can the student and staff member download?

Eligible students and staff members are able to download Microsoft Office ProPlus applications on up to 5 PC’s or Macs, and up to 5 tablets including iPads). These applications include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote*, Access*, and Publisher*.

*Publisher and Access available on PC’s only, OneNote is available for download for other platforms.

How to Access Office 365

1. Verify that your home computer has an active internet connection and Windows 7 (or higher) or Apple OS 10.5.8 (or higher).
2. Click http://portal.office.com. This will open in a new tab in your web browser.
   1. Students - Where it says to "Sign in with your work or school account" enter your CMS username in the format 9999999@cms.k12.nc.us where 9999999 is your student ID number.
   2. Staff - Where it says to "Sign in with your work or school account" enter your CMS email address including the “@cms.k12.nc.us”.
3. Click in the "Password" field, and your web browser will automatically redirect you to a special log-in site. Retype your username if necessary and use your standard CMS password that is used for the CMS computer logon. Click the "Sign In" button.
4. You are now logged in to Office 365, which provides access to download and install Microsoft Office software. Depending on your login you may see an option to:
   1. "Install Office on more devices" where you can then click options to install Office on a PC or Mac or on a smartphone or an iPad. If you see this option select the one appropriate to the device you want to install Office on. Or…
   2. "Install the latest version of Office" with a link below if you would like to "Review System Requirements". When you are ready, click the "Install" button and the installation will automatically take place. Follow the on-screen instructions and you will have the Microsoft Office software installed.
5. After the installation takes place, you should be able to start Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Office applications from wherever you would normally start your applications.
6. The first time that you launch one of the Office applications you will be asked to "sign in" again using the username and password you used previously.
7. If you want to deactivate the software from a PC that is no longer working or in use, you can click the “Deactivate” button from the website where you completed the install. For Mac, iPad, iPhone and Android phones follow the instructions on that device to uninstall an application.

If you’re experiencing issues trying to install Office on your PC or Mac, see Troubleshoot Office installation with Office 365 for business.

For additional information on this program visit the Microsoft Office Blog.