Countdown to Summer School

38 days and counting...

Come join the summer fun! 

Current number of registrations to date: 2,726

For more information visit: Summer School

Help with Finding Things in the Infinite Campus New Look

Searching in the New Look of Campus

Infinite Campus provides a unified Search menu, allowing you to quickly and easily search a multitude of data. Simply click the magnifying glass icon, select the type of data you wish to search (i.e., Student, Household, Tool, etc.), and enter your search criteria. Results will appear below the search box.

The search menu also remembers your last search results, allowing you to quickly toggle back and forth between the list of tools within the Main Menu and search results without losing your place in either screen. Search results also remain visible within the left panel while you interact within a tool you got to by selecting a search result.

Selecting a tool which requires context to be selected (such as a tool showing information for specific course or person) prompts the user to initiate a search to locate this contextual information.

For example, if a user selects Course Information, the user is asked open the Course Search and locate the course for which to show information about. 

New Telephone System Rollout has Begun

After years of planning, the Department of Technology and Innovation is thrilled to announce that the implementation of our district’s new telephone system has begun. Since the passing of the last referendum, our department has been working with our staff and vendors to select, plan, and program the system. Our new system falls under the category of ”VOIP,” or Voice-Over-Internet Protocol; thus, the system uses our district’s existing data network and connections. Our new phone system will provide an updated platform for telephone communications and will allow us to add integrated safety and security features that work with new systems being implemented along with Build 220.

Because the primary infrastructure and hardware for the system is housed at Barrington High School, BHS is the first building where the system has been launched. Similar to our previous analog phone system, we are using a variety of different phone devices to best meet the needs of each location.

Other Barrington 220 building implementations will follow. The Department of Technology and Innovation will notify a building about 1 week in advance of the phone system rollout and provide training materials and videos so users can get learn about new features in advance and be ready to set up voicemail and other features when the new phones arrive. 

If you are interested in seeing some of the materials in advance, please check out the website.

Infinite Campus "New Look" has Launched!

As we announced in last month's newsletter, you may have noticed that your Infinite Campus account now shows the "New Look" automatically.

Some of the features include:

• A simplified navigation structure
• Responsive UI design
• A user-created menu of favorite tools
• Quick access to recently used tools
• Intuitive related tools toolbar
• Navigable breadcrumbs
• Robust in-tool person search
• A unified search menu for quickly searching a multitude of data
• A useful person information card

As we make the transition, you can still click on your Profile and toggle back to the old look. Each Monday you will be returned to the New Look. To return to the classic view of Infinite Campus, select the person icon in the upper-right corner of the screen and click the Try New Look toggle to OFF. The screen will refresh and you will return to the classic view of Infinite Campus. 

For more information, check out Infinite Campus New Look.

Say Goodbye to Jamboard

Late last month, Google announced that the Jamboard app would be discontinued soon. Here's the timeline and what you need to know:

October 1, 2024: The Jamboard app (on web, iOS, and Android) will enter "view-only" mode. You'll no longer be able to create or edit Jams.

December 31, 2024: The Jamboard app will be completely shut down, and you will lose access to your Jam files.

Why is this happening?

Google is focusing on partnerships with third-party whiteboarding tools that offer deeper integration with Google Workspace.

The Recommended Alternatives

Luckily, Apple launched the Freeform app in 2022. Freeform offers various drawing and sketching tools and is simple to use. Students and teachers who know how to use Keynote, Pages, and Numbers will find the workflow and user experience very similar. The app integrates well with the Logitech Crayon and allows for the integration of audio, video, drawing, and photos for powerful multimodal notetaking, brainstorming, collaboration, and idea sharing. 

What do you need to do?

Export or Migrate Your Jams before December 31, 2024.

Contact your building LTA if you need help preserving your Jamboard work. 

Let me know if you'd like any additional information or have questions about the transition!

Important Update on Temporary iPad Keyboard Redistribution

For the first time ever, SAT testing at the high school level is mandating the use of physical keyboards for all students. This means that over 700 students will be using physical keyboards on iPad for testing in April. To meet this requirement, we are temporarily reallocating a large portion of our district’s Logitech iPad keyboards to Barrington High School, ensuring our students are fully equipped for this exam. 

Here's What's Happening

• iPad keyboards from buildings throughout the district are being redirected to Barrington High School to support SAT testing.
• This redistribution will last through April, with iPad keyboards returning to their original locations in mid-May.

Why It's Important

This temporary shift means that each building will not have the same number of physical iPad keyboards as usual. Teachers are encouraged to work with their LTAs to coordinate access to the iPad keyboards that remain at each building and to understand the variety of text-input methods available on the iPad. 

Looking Ahead

The reason we are not simply purchasing the necessary keyboards for high school testing is that the scheduled iPad refresh that begins next year. The current Logitech keyboards that are compatible with our current iPad (Generation 9) will likely not be compatible with the next iPad model we purchase (iPad Generation 9 is the last iPad to use the Lightning connector; all new iPad models use USB-C ports). After the iPad refresh next year, we will evaluate and address our district-wide keyboard needs with the updated iPad model specifications in mind.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation during the testing period. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to tgorman@barrington220.org.