Information for Families
Millbury Public Schools is committed to using technology to enhance learning. Families that are looking for additional assistance in using technology at home may find the help they are looking for below or in our newsletter, The Network.
V1-The-Network.pdfFeature Article:
Screen-time, Social Media, and Parental Controls: Additional Resources for Families
V2-The-Network.pdfFeature Article:
All About Student Chromebooks
V3-The-Network.pdfFeature Article:
A Growing Interest in Computer Science
V4-The-Network(WEB).pdfFeature Article:
AI in Education
Home Web Filtering and Parental Controls
Student Chromebooks are filtered 24/7 while at school and at home. Due to the wide range of family values relating to what parents and caregivers wish to allow their children to access while at home, Millbury Public Schools filters all student devices for the following categories: Pornography, Drugs, Gambling, Other Adult Content, Social Media, Anonymous Proxies, Chat/Messaging, Hate, Other Search Engines (Non-Safe Search), Social Networking, Games.
This page is intended to provide some basic information for parents who wish to implement parental controls and additional filtering on their child's device while at home.
Please note: Millbury Public Schools does not evaluate, endorse, or support the products listed or linked on this page. This information is being presented as a convenience for parents in their efforts to filter their home networks.
There are a number of approaches available for parents who wish to implement parental controls on their child's devices. However, inorder to prevent conflicts with the District's management system and to prevent required functionality from being unintentionally disabled during the school day, no parental controls may be used that require installation on the device itself.
The preferred approach for parental controls of student devices is to filter and control Internet access using your home network. There are three main approaches to this - you may choose the approach that works best for your family:
Use your router's built-in parental controls - This is generally the lowest-cost method and is built into most routers, but in some cases, the setup may be involved. Please see the link for the manufacturer of your home router for more information: Apple AirPort, Cisco, D-Link, Linksys, Netgear.
Use a web-based service such as OpenDNS - This may be an effective option if your router does not have built-in parental controls. Depending on the plan you choose, there may be a cost involved.
Purchase a standalone product that plugs into your network, such as Circle by Disney, Google Nest WIFI, Eero, or another mesh networking appliance. This may be the easiest option to implement. However, depending on the product chosen, there may be a cost involved. When choosing a product, please ensure that the product does not require installation onto your child's device directly.
