Technology & Learning

First steps

Chromebooks

Every student in grades 6-12 will receive a district issued Chromebook. Households with students in grades K-5 may also elect to borrow a Chromebook book if they don't have enough computers for students at home.

Vashon High School:

VHS will distribute School Packets, Chromebooks and Materials on Monday, 8/31 from 9am-12pm via drive-thru in the parking lot.

Freshman pick up by the Tennis Courts
Sophomore pick up by the flag pole
Juniors pick up in the Lower Parking Lot
Seniors pick up in the Lower Parking Lot

Remain in your car and please wear a mask.

If you need to schedule a different pick up time please contact the office at 206-463-9171. Please return any text books or school materials from last school year during your scheduled pick up time.

We encourage students to use school-supplied equipment to ensure compatibility. We do not recommend trying to work from a phone or tablet.

Checklist

Do you know when and where to pick up a Chromebook?
Have you tested the Chromebook to be sure it works?
If the Chromebook is behaving strangely (giant cursor, sideways screen, etc.) look in this collection of typical Chromebook glitches.

Forms:

McM and VHS Chromebook Assurance Form (EN | ES)

CES Chromebook Loan Agreement Form

Home network

You will need a network with decent speed, as many teachers will be teaching with video calls. Chromebooks require a wireless internet connection. The school district is committed to helping families get the help they need with their home networks.

Families without home internet access can check out wireless hotspots from the District. See this form for more details.

Comcast and CenturyLink have low-cost broadband internet for qualifying families:

Checklist

Check the speed of your home network with this speed test. If you are getting less than about 1 mbps download speed, you may have trouble, especially with more than one user at a time.

Forms

VISD Student Hotspot Checkout Program

Passwords

Your portal to student information, payment of fees, and other official school business, is Skyward. If you have forgotten your login information, you can click on “Forgot your Login/Password?” to retrieve or reset it. Your student, especially in middle and high school, will use Skyward to check on grades and course schedules; that will be a separate password. Also be sure that students know their Google login, which will be used to log in to a Chromebook and Google services.

Checklist

Do students know their Google logins? (These will be sent home.)
Do guardians and older students know their Skyward logins?
If no to any of the above, contact your school office (Chautauqua, McMurray, VHS, Student/FamilyLink)

Forms

Technology Responsibility Contract
VISD Google G-Suite for Education permission form (EN | ES)

Core technologies

For everyone

Google Meet

Google’s equivalent to Zoom will be teachers’ primary tool for face-to-face learning. You will need to make sure your student’s computer has a camera (Chromebooks do). If you have a Google account, you can try it at meet.google.com.

Chromebooks

Chromebooks are laptops that connect to the internet. Students sign into them with their Google accounts and get access to their school materials right away. They also connect to Clever, the all-in-one portal page for students. The school is providing Chromebooks to all students grades 6–12 and by request to grades K-5.

Clever

Students’ Chromebooks are set to open to Clever, a school-managed page that shows users what they need to see. The school is creating Family Portals, which will be ready in time for the new school year. If students are away from a Chromebook, they can go to clever.com/in/vashonsd.

Grades K-5

Seesaw

Seesaw is a tool for creating a digital classroom. Teachers can assign work, and students can create drawings, documents, photos and other media to show their learning. Parents can view their students’ portfolios and be notified when new work is available. Learn more about the parent’s side of Seesaw here. Your student’s teacher will send you an invitation.

Grades 6–12

Google Classroom

This is where your students will find their assignments, turn in work, and find links and announcements from their teacher. There will be one Classroom for each class. Parents are not invited, and in fact cannot be participants in a Classroom. However, you can opt to have Google send you a weekly or daily digest via email, reporting on the activity in all your student’s Classrooms. If you want to receive these digests, contact one of your student's teachers (signing on with one will sign you one with all of them).

Getting help

How to get help

Getting help with your tech issues depends on the nature of the problem:

If you need help with any of your own equipment (computers, network, etc.), you will need to contact your vendors of that equipment.

If you need help finding or understanding the material in classes, contact your teacher directly.

If you need help with Skyward, such as for paying fees, or finding grades and schedules, contact your school registrar: At Chautauqua, Gillian Callison; at McMurray, Terri Vickers; and at VHS, Deb Franson.

If you have a non-working Chromebook, or trouble with any other school-supplied equipment, contact your school and they will help arrange for help from our tech department.

Resources for home learning

If you want to go beyond the material of classes, the school has provided this collection of resources for distance learning.

Google has prepared Teach from Anywhere, which has many resources for parents.

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