Planned Internet Outage, late afternoon Oct 19th

There will be short, sporadic internet outages, late in the afternoon, after school is out of session, on Wed. Oct 19th.

1. Why?
We are in the process of switching between our current primary provider (State of Iowa) and our current secondary provider (netINS).

2. Are we dropping one provider and switching to another?
We aren’t dropping either service provider, we are simply switching them around… netINS will become our primary provider instead of ICN/State of Iowa.

3. Why does this need to be done?
In terms of outages/reliability, it makes more sense to have your primary provider be the one that has the most reliability and least amount of outages.  For us, that would netINS, so it’s in our best interest to make this switch.

4. How long will the outage be?
Instead of one long outage, there will actually be several shorter outages as we reconfigure our equipment to move netINS into the primary position.

5. What services will be impacted?
Just internet services… anything that involves browsing the web.

6. If I’m at school- will I not be able to use the computers at all?
If you are at school, you will be able to continue to use the computers – you’ll be able to log in, get to your network drives, print, etc…  However, any services that require internet will be impacted (visiting google, IFAS, etc)

7. When it’s finished – will we have more bandwidth? will it be faster?
Switching the two providers around will not add any bandwidth or increase any speeds – its sole purpose is to move the provider with the best reliability into the primary position.

District plans for moving to Microsoft Office 2010

Q1.  What version of Microsoft Office is currently used?
A1.  Most schools are using Office 2007, however, all new teacher laptops and machines that were just deployed to Crossroads Park all have Office 2010.

Q2.  When do other schools receive Office 2010?
A2.  As each school receives new computers – they will also receive updated software including Microsoft Office 2010.  Starting in Oct, we will start rolling out new machines to the schools with the oldest computers.  This will include: IH, VSW, WCC, CV, WH, WR, and the LRC 

Q3.  Our school is not receiving new computers this year…  will we have to wait for new machines? 
A3.   Once we are finished deploying the new machines, (estimated to be several months), then we will offer the other schools the opportunity to work with us on a roll out and training plan – and we will then upgrade their machines Office 2010. 

Q4.  So we will have a choice to get Office 2010 per building – but will we have a choice to get Windows 7?
A4. No.  Windows 7 is only available on new machines that are deployed. 

Q5.  I’ve heard that new laptops are on their way out to the schools –  is this true?  If so, what software will they have on them?
A5.  Yes, it is true that new student laptops and carts are heading out to the schools across the next few months.  All new laptops and desktops deployed will have Windows 7 and Office 2010 –  including the new student laptops/carts.