FAQs for Students & Families

In the 21^st Century, preparing students for modern careers and experiences beyond high school requires digital literacy, digital citizenship, technology proficiency, and online collaboration. WCSD believes it is critical that we educate students to use technology safely and productively. In addition, the Nevada Academic Content Standards (NVACS) include expectations around student technology use.

NetSmartz provides students with information for kids and teens about how to be effective, responsible, and safe while participating in online environments. Check out the links at the top of the page for kids and teens.  https://www.netsmartz.org/Overview/AboutUs

Digital Citizenship, simply stated, is the responsible use of technology and appropriate online behavior. Teaching Digital Citizenship skills is one of the most important ways to help keep students safe online. WCSD’s Digital Citizenship curriculum helps students to respect, educate, and protect themselves and others. All students will be taught Digital Citizenship principles and cyber safety. Refer to the Digital Citizenship section in our website for more information.

The best way to keep students safe and on-task is to have a parent/guardian present and involved. The parent/guardian may choose to: investigate and apply parental controls available through your internet service provider and/or your wireless router; develop a set of rules/expectations for device use at home; only allow device use in common rooms of the home (e.g., living room or kitchen) and not in bedrooms; demonstrate a genuine interest in what your student is doing on the device. Ask questions and request that they show you their work often.

Common Sense Media offers the latest research, tips, and tools on what really keeps kids safe: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/privacy-and-internet-safety.

WCSD Bullying and Cyber-bullying: Intervention and Resources: /Page/845. 

The FBI has also issued recommendations for parents and families related to educational technologies and cybersecurity.

Additional resources are available here: Digital Citizenship

WCSD is sensitive to parents’ concerns about their children spending time in front of screens. It is WCSD’s position that technology should be used for meaningful, engaging learning experiences, and to help students learn by experience how to use technology responsibly and effectively. WCSD distinguishes between “passive” screen time, and students’ active use of technology. Too much “passive” screen time—where students simply watch videos or play non-educational games—is not conducive to learning. However, when students are actively engaged in using technology for learning, for research, and for collaborating, they are developing skills to help them be ready for the careers and colleges of the 21^st Century. Common Sense Media has some excellent resources for parents seeking to find the right balance in their children’s technology use. See https://www.commonsensemedia.org/screen-time.

WCSD provides all staff and students with District-provided email addresses in accordance with Board Policy 7200: 21st Century and Digital Learning. All students have a Microsoft Office 365 email account that is controlled by the District. This account allows students to safely and effectively communicate and collaborate with District staff and students. This account also allow students and teachers to use the Office 365 digital tools owned by the District. These tools are the industry-standard tools students often used in the workforce. Students cannot access these tools without a District-issued Office 365 email account.

Some facts about District student email addresses:

• District-issued email accounts are substantially more secure than personal email addresses. 
• Students have “internal-only” email addresses, meaning they can only send and receive email inside the District.
• Students may receive “external” email addresses at the request of the school and only with a signed parental consent notification. External email addresses can send and receive email from inside and outside of the District.
• WCSD does not encourage students to use non-District email addresses for school purposes because the District cannot assure the security of these accounts. Additionally, WCSD has no ability to investigate abuses conducted through these accounts.

To facilitate digital learning opportunities, all students must have access to digital learning tools. In WCSD this occurs through the Microsoft Office 365 collaborative suite. The tools in Office 365 are integrated and require a District email address to access. Students without a District-issued email address would not be able to access these tools.

Your online privacy is very important. It's our job as a school district to help protect this. Only allowing you to email within the district allows us to protect you better. 

A good password is strong. To make a strong password, you should make sure to include the following:

• At least 8 characters long
• Include at least one capital letter
• Include at least one lower case letter
• Include at least one number
• Include at least one special character (like !, @, #, $, %, &, *)
• Don't ever use your name in your password

Oh, and don't write your password on a sticky note; memorize it! :)

There are staff members at each school who have rights to reset your password.  Start by asking your teacher or the office for your school district password to be reset.

No, parents have their own username and login for Infinite Campus. If they need help signing into Infinite Campus have them contact your school's office.

You can try resetting it from the Infinite Campus Sign In Page. If this doesn't work, go to your school's office for assistance.

Go to your Google Drive, and right-click on the folder you want to download. Students will have to download each folder separately. Docs, Sheets, and Slides will export as MS Office equivalents (docx, xlsx, pptx). Click Download. It may take a few moments for Google Drive to compress the file into a ZIP file, then the download will begin. Double-click the ZIP file to extract files. 

Each school makes the decision about when to allow student devices. Ask one of your teachers or the school office what your school's policy is for bringing personal devices to school.

School devices have a limited space for installed software. This space is used for applications/software that promote the use of technology for 21st Century Learning and academic standards. Most games should be used only while you aren't at school :) 

Unfortunately, not all schools have the same access to technology. While it is a priority for us to provide technology for students, it isn't always possible within the District budget. We are working as a District to get the best devices and the best pricing so that we can make sure schools have as much technology as possible. 

The term, 1:1 Program refers to a school-wide learning program focused on providing learner-centered 21st Century educational opportunities, digital skills, and innovative learning environments, where every student, without exception, is provided with a District-issued Internet-accessible device for their own use throughout the school day and at home.

WCSD presently has seven 21st Century Schools with full 1:1 Programs. These schools are Traner Middle School, Vaughn Middle School, Sky Ranch Middle School, Desert Skies Middle School, Herz Middle School, Poulakidas Elementary School, Bohach Elementary School, and Inskeep Elementary School. Hug High School at its new location will open as a 1:1 school in 2022-23.

WCSD takes student data privacy very seriously. We work diligently to ensure that we are protecting students through a wide variety of industry-standard best practices. Just as protecting a building is never a 100% solution, no networked system can ever be 100% secure. However, we take a comprehensive approach:

• WCSD deploys active Internet filtering, firewalls, encryption, network segmentation, and robust anti-virus protection to help secure the WCSD network and protect student data and other sensitive data.
• WCSD uses a variety of tools to undertake active monitoring of network systems, and to identify and address potential threats.
• WCSD educates users on data privacy and security, and is implementing policies to assure users maintain strong passwords.
• WCSD uses a comprehensive Digital Citizenship curriculum to help teachers prepare students to act safely and appropriately online.

The Washoe County School District conducts certain data analysis on the information we maintain. This analysis occurs within our data warehouse, the Business Intelligence Gateway (BIG), which is protected inside our District network. Access to this resource is restricted, and the data is not accessible to anyone without designated rights. Data analysis occurs to help us provide needed services to students.

In addition to the many safeguards installed to ensure that data is shared securely with third parties, WCSD provides annual, mandatory training to all staff on how to safeguard student data in abidance with FERPA, the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) and related state laws. Staff must take a test at the end of the training to ensure they have sufficiently learned the content. Further, in order to use data tools like Infinite Campus and the Business Intelligence Gateway (BIG) on school networks, educators must review and sign consent that they will abide by best practices and state and federal laws related to access student data when using these systems.

Digital learning tools and third party services are programs that may be used on an individual, class, school, or district level that are not housed directly within the District or created by the District. These tools are used by the District when they allow us to provide necessary services for students and teachers more efficiently and effectively than if the District created these tools. These services include, in part, adopted curriculum resources (see the Department of Curriculum & Instruction), digital learning tools and services designated as Contracted Service Providers Acting as School Officials in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

WCSD has a rigorous approval process for digital learning tools. This process ensures appropriate alignment with the Nevada Academic Content Standards (NVACS) where appropriate, and that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect student data.

When necessary to enable services to function effectively, WCSD works with service providers to share data, according to a contract, data sharing agreement, memorandum of understanding, and/or terms of service. WCSD works diligently to minimize the amount and types of data shared to only that which is necessary to provide the service. WCSD also works with service providers to ensure appropriate protections are in place.

All students and staff have a user name and password that is part of the WCSD Active Directory domain. The WCSD domain is a collection of all users and devices that belong to the WCSD organization. Unique user names are essential to ensure that individuals only have the access they require, including access to the digital learning resources outlined above.

In conjunction with a user account, all students are issued with an internally-accessible email address, which is required to access digital learning tools. These email addresses are restricted to only send and receive email within the District network. Some schools enable externally-accessible student email addresses (able to send email to and receive email from email addresses inside and outside of the District network). Schools only authorize this access once they have obtained parent/guardian consent. If you receive a request for your child’s email address to be externally-accessible, the school will provide you with reasons for requesting this.

Microsoft Office 365 is WCSD’s Digital Learning Platform, which allows students and staff to collaborate and create within a single set of digital services. Office 365 allows WCSD to provide safe and secure file storage, online collaboration and communication tools (such as Teams), and email services. WCSD does not upload or share any student data or information with Microsoft as this is not required for the use of these services. WCSD synchronizes only usernames and passwords from our domain to their data centers as these are necessary for users to access those services. Student data that lives in the Microsoft environment, such as student-created documents, files, and email, are not accessible by Microsoft and are protected by robust privacy agreements and Terms of Service. We do not share student data with Microsoft. Microsoft does not have access to any documents, email, or information regarding students. The only exceptions to this are 1) providing Microsoft with controlled access to help solve technical issues, and 2) responding to a legitimate subpoena or request from law enforcement in a health and safety emergency.

You can learn more about how Microsoft protects data at the Microsoft Trust Center.

WCSD uses data to aid in teaching and learning, and to ensure we can provide required services to our students. For instance, we use a student information system, Infinite Campus, to enroll students in appropriate educational programs, to facilitate grading and information to parents/guardians, and to ensure we can provide needed supports for student success. We also provide students with access to digital resources to empower important educational experiences, as mandated by the Nevada Academic Content Standards (NVACS). Some further examples of critical services to students that require the use of data are outlined below.

WCSD only shares data when we are mandated to do so, or when limited student information is needed to access and use digital curriculum materials and selected digital learning tools. For instance, Nevada law and the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) requires that we report certain student data to NDE and their contracted testing vendors who have signed privacy obligations for specified applications (e.g. SBAC, ACT) to facilitate transparent reporting, school monitoring, and efficient state testing. See the Nevada Department of Education website for further information. Some digital learning tools in the district also require a small amount of student information to improve the functionality and efficiency of tools in classrooms. On rare occasions, WCSD also contracts with external research and evaluation organizations like WestEd and the American Institutes of Research to provide limited, de-identified student data (no names, birthdates, addresses, student ids) to study the impact of certain district programs on student outcomes to support district decision-making about curriculum and program purchases.

When we share data with other third parties, we only do so in accordance with Federal and State law, and only to ensure we can provide important services to students and staff. For information about these services, please see our list of Contracted Service Providers Acting as School Officials and our list of Approved Digital Learning Tools.

Nevada SB403
Nevada’s SB403, enacted in 2019, establishes certain provisions to protect student data in Nevada schools.
https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/80th2019/Bill/6732/Overview
 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.
 

Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)
The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address concerns about children's access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet.
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act
 

Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA)
COPPA imposes certain requirements on operators of websites or online services directed to children under 13 years of age, and on operators of other websites or online services that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information online from a child under 13 years of age.
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule
 

A list of Approved Digital Learning Tools is available at https://approveddlt.washoeschools.net/.

A list of all contracted service providers acting as school officials under FERPA is available at Contract Service Providers Acting as School Officials.

In the event that a contracted service provider notifies WCSD of a breach of system data, WCSD will work with the provider to obtain information about the data in question and the nature of the breach. Should WCSD determine that any risk or potential risk to student data is present, we will notify the parents/guardians of affected users through the most appropriate means, which may include statements on the WCSD website, ConnectEd phone calls or emails, and notifications from school staff.