08/14/2020
https://www.facebook.com/100000100983800/posts/3851139391566056/
We have had many people contacting our Tech Services Department about broken iPads. Like any tech repair company, we need to schedule appointments for these visits. That said, there are limited hours in the day. This team is working incredibly hard, around the clock to help families and staff prepare for the new school year - in our buildings, with our teachers, repairing iPads, and answering calls. They are currently scheduling repair appointments out until next Wednesday. Yes, this is past the start of the school year. Our principals and teachers are aware of this and will work with families.
We ask for patience and grace with all of our operations team - technology, food services, building services, custodians, and bus drivers/helpers, as well as our secretaries. They are a critical part of the ECS team who need to be at their best as students return and many of them have been working long hours all summer. We understand that many people are anxious about the start of school, but becoming angry at the limitations of time is not something our staff can control. Please remember that we are all people, doing our best in difficult times. We are here to help as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.
While we're on the topic of Technology --
Regarding iPads.
If you have a new student, your school building will communicate with you about your child's iPad. iPads will come preloaded with the necessary apps and logged into your child's Google account. If your child accidentally deletes an app, look for the "Self Service" app - any preloaded apps can be reloaded. The software we use for on-boarding new students is experiencing some issues, which is causing a bit of delay. If your school has not contacted you yet, this is likely the reason. Please do not worry - our staff will be extending patience and grace to our students for the first few weeks of school while we work out the bumps for this new way of learning.
Regarding passwords.
PowerSchool - Every summer, PowerSchool rolls over our students to the next grade, which unfortunately wipes out students' PowerSchool passwords. Students will need to visit http://students.elkhart.k12.in.us , log in with their Google/Gmail credentials, then click on Menu, then PowerSchool Login Info. Here, they will see their Username and a 4-digit code for their Password.
Google/Gmail - If your child has forgotten their Google/Gmail password, they should contact their school building. Our school buildings can look up this information.
Technology-based communication.
Please be sure to complete our ABC: Annual Back-to-School Check-in. To do this, log on to PowerSchool and look for the ABC: Annual Back-to-School Check-in. This is where you can update your contact information to ensure you are receiving mail, phone calls, emails, and texts from the district. This process replaces the tens of thousands of printed forms we used to hand out at the beginning of the year. Just because we don't hand out those forms doesn't mean we do not need the information - we need it now more than ever. Please complete this process so we know how to reach you in case of an emergency: http://elkhart.k12.in.us/home/services/abc-annual-back-to-school-check-in/
Again, thank you for your patience. We will get through this together.
