Lake Washington School District is a nationally recognized leader in using technology in the classroom and has been for the last two decades. Today’s students have lived with digital technology from a very early age. Technology is a natural part of how they live every day. To engage these “digital natives”, the district provides reliable, contemporary, and integrated technology to enable teaching, learning, research, and service. Teachers must use technology as an integral part of their teaching strategies to stimulate the exchange and creation of knowledge students have come to expect. Technology will exist in an integrated environment that fosters an open, collaborative, and unifying culture.
- New student username FAQ
- Mobile Access for Students (MAS)
- In the Classroom
- Technology FAQ
New student username FAQ
New Student Usernames for Start of School 2024-25
24/7 Help Desk
Family Technology Access Support
ftaccess@lwsd.org
425.936.1322Lake Washington School District is changing the Microsoft account Username for all LWSD students in the 2024-25 school year. Moving from the “s-first initial last name” to each student’s unique 7-digit Student Number that is well known and used for several other systems, like library check out, lunch purchases and Skyward-Qmlativ. In addition to providing an established and unique identifier for their account username that eliminates duplicates, this change will improve data security and ease of management of student access to digital curriculum resources. The new usernames will be active beginning Monday, August 5. The student Microsoft username is the 7-digit student number and students will log onto district laptops using this new username. Email addresses will change to (7digitstudentnumber@lwsd.org) as the primary address, and messages sent to the previous “s-“ address will be delivered to the new 7-digit email address. Students will retain their first and last names as identifiers on the account as well so they can be searched and looked up by name on common applications like Teams and Outlook
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Why did the Lake Washington School District shift to using student IDs for email addresses?
A1: The shift was implemented to standardize student usernames across all systems, including Skyward and Microsoft, to ease access. The student ID is a unique identifier generated by the district, not used for external purposes. Our legal team confirmed that this identifier is considered directory information rather than protected student data, ensuring compliance with FERPA requirements.
Q2: What were the issues with the previous naming convention for student emails?
A2: The previous convention included initials and last names, leading to many instances of duplicate usernames. This required additional characters and numbers to be added, complicating account management and access for both students and IT staff. The new unique identifier resolves these issues, simplifying the process and ensuring consistency.
Q3: How does the use of student IDs as email addresses affect security, especially regarding financial transactions like lunch payments?
A3: We have safeguards in place, such as photo verification at the point of sale, to ensure the student matches the number entered or card displayed. This will be emphasized during training for our nutrition services team. In library access, the student ID is a username requiring a password for account access. We maintain stringent password conventions to balance security and access.
Q4: Did the district receive any financial incentives for this change?
A4: No, the district did not expect or realize any financial incentive from this change. It was solely implemented to support more equitable and sustainable student access to district-provided systems.
Q5: How does the district protect student data privacy with this new system?
A5: We take student data privacy very seriously and maintain strict contractual agreements with software providers and vendors. We do not share any data with external providers unless absolutely necessary and with a Student Data Privacy Agreement in place. We are also active members of the Student Data Privacy Consortium, partnering with other districts to secure additional safeguards for student data.
Q6: Are employee email addresses also updated to use employee IDs?
A6: No, employee email addresses are not being updated to use employee IDs. The decision to use student IDs as email addresses was made after careful consideration and consultation to ensure compliance with FERPA and to streamline student access to district systems.
Q7: Who decided to implement this change, and where can feedback be sent?
A7: The decision was made by the Technology Services team and district leaders after thorough planning and consultation, which included reaching out to several other districts who are using the same or similar naming conventions for student users. For further information we've created this FAQ to help answer some of the common questions about this change. For feedback, please use this online form to share any thoughts or questions you would like to share with Technology Services.
Q8: Are student usernames or IDs protected information under FERPA?
A8: According to our legal team, the student ID being used for the student username is considered directory information and not protected student data. This change maintains compliance with FERPA requirements while standardizing and simplifying student access to district systems.
Q9: How does this change impact students who change their names during their academic careers?
A9: This change ensures a consistent username throughout a student’s time in our system, even if the display name is changed. This avoids the additional complexities in account management that previously occurred when students changed their names, effectively also making name changes an easier process for the student and family.
Q10: What measures are in place to prevent misuse of student IDs for financial transactions especially lunch accounts?
A10: At the point of sale for lunch when students either type in or scan their ID, photo verification is used to ensure the student matches the number entered or card displayed. This will be re-emphasized in the training with our nutrition services staff leading into this school year. In other places that were already using this ID number, such as the library system, visual identification is also used as are passwords for any account access. The ID used for usernames is not used for financial transactions beyond lunch ID. We will continue to monitor for any fraudulent use of lunch balance in this way. This measure, along with stringent password conventions and limited security access based on user need, helps prevent misuse of student IDs for fraudulent purposes.
Password management and self-service password reset registration
- We recommend all secondary students (including incoming 6th graders) sign up now for Self-Service Password Reset options if possible. Secondary student passwords will expire every 90 days based on the district security cycle. Families can help student(s) start the registration process to manage their district password here.
- Students entering grades 6-12 in the 2024-25 school year will not have their district passwords reset in August. Passwords will continue to expire every 90 days based on the district security cycle. Ask students to be ready for the start of school by memorizing their password and signing up for the self-service reset option mentioned above.
- Students entering grades K-5 will have student email (Microsoft 365) passwords reset on August 23. Passwords will be available when school begins. For students needing access to this account before school starts, parents are asked to contact Family Tech Access by phone at 425-936-1322. Otherwise, classroom teachers will assist students with username and password setup at start of school.
Password guidelines
An acceptable LWSD password must:
- Include at least 10 characters.
- Include at least one character from three or more of the following categories:
- Uppercase letter (A-Z)
- Lowercase letter (a-z)
- Number (0-9)
- Special character (symbols or space)
- NOT contain any part of your own first or last name, login ID or email address.
- NOT be a previously used password.
Use a passphrase to help remember your password. Example: You're a Wizard Harry!is a 22-character password with five special characters.
Mobile Access for Students (MAS)
The program ensures students learn the information and communication technology skills in the student profile. The program was piloted in 2010 and implemented district-wide in 2012. This program is possible thanks to technology levies passed by voters.
Lake Washington School District strives to ensure academic success for all students by closing opportunity gaps. We do this by providing equitable and inclusive working and learning environments for all students, families, staff and communities. The MAS program is one example of how we provide equitable learning environments for all students.
Learn more about the MAS Program: history, process for implementation and process for selecting and purchasing student devices
What do students and families need to know about this program?
Thanks to the funding provided by the Capital Technology Levy, the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) provides and assigns students a laptop computer for use at school and potentially home to promote achievement, research information, develop academic and digital citizenship skills, and provide learning opportunities in core curriculum.
Secondary students will be issued a new LWSD laptop computer, pen and power cord/charger at the start of the school year in 6th grade and in 9th grade for the duration of middle school and/or high school. All students will comply with the LWSD’s Student Electronic Resources and Internet Safety Policy (2022P) and the LWSD Student Laptop Handbook. The use of the equipment can be restricted or revoked for inappropriate use.
Elementary students will use cart-based laptops in the classroom which are managed by the teacher. The use of district-provided technology requires students to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and all LWSD policies related to technology acceptable use. We ask that student/families read and acknowledge the Laptop Agreement for each student electronically through ParentSquare.
- Elementary Laptop Agreement Form| Español
Please review the student laptop handbook (Español): there is even more information contained there. As noted in the handbook, parents have responsibilities in this program.
Student laptops are password protected. Make sure that you get your student’s user name and password from them so you can monitor their computer and Internet use.
- Parent/Guardian responsibilities
- Internet access
Parent/Guardian responsibilities
- Review laptop rules andguidelines
- Review Student Acceptable Use Procedures
- Monitor student use when not at school
- Ensure laptop is properly cared for while student is away from school
Internet access
Need affordable home internet service? Access to the Internet is critical to students
for learning at home and to connect families with schools. Please consider the
following options:
- Everyone On (everyoneon.org) – List of national low cost or free internet access resources.
- Internet Essentials – Connect low income families to home Internet. Visit internetessentials.com or call 855-846-8376.
- Comcast Xfinity – Wifi hotspots across King County will be available to anyone who needs them for free.
- Lake Washington School District – Offers free cellular hotspots to families that do not have home Internet service. Check with student’s school office.
- 1 Green Planet (1greenplanet.com) – Donating personal computers for district students in need for online learning at home. Call 425-428-4414 for availability.
In the Classroom
In this district, the technology operations and technology integration work collaboratively. Technology operations implements, supports and maintains the infrastructure, network, systems, software and computers that enable teaching and learning. Technology integration works to help teachers learn to effectively use digital resources, content and technology tools for teaching and learning. Together, technology operations and integration provide teachers the tools and training needed to connect technology with learning.
In the classroom, you can expect to find the following equipment:
- Teacher computer
- An interactive Projection Board
- Document camera
- Audio amplification system
The technology integration group provides many resources for teachers to use this equipment effectively. Teachers can project materials on the interactive board. As the teacher and students work out problems or write answers, the teacher can save the work to the computer, bringing it back for reference at any time.
Technology FAQ
The video above and the information below will assist you in starting your laptop, adding a printer, logging into the Student Portal, and storing your documents on OneDrive.
- What if my laptop is not working properly or is broken?
- What do I do when I login, I receive a message ‘No login servers available’?
- How do I add a printer?
- What if a student forgot to charge their laptop and the battery is dead?
- What if my student forgot to bring the laptop to school?
- What happens if a student’s laptop is broken after check out?
- What if the laptop is stolen?
- My student is on a sports team and/or is taking PE. How will the laptop be kept secure?
- How are students kept safe online?
- I don’t allow my student to have a password on their home computer so I can monitor its use. How can I know what my student is doing on the school computer?
- Home Internet access is expensive. Are families required to provide Internet access at home?
- Can my student use their own personal computer instead of a district-issued computer?
- Can kids install printer drivers or connect with their home printer or do they have to accomplish it in a different way?
- I have been trying to help my student add a printer at home and have not had success. Can anyone help us?
- How do I get into the MAS device to add my custom home-network security settings?
- Why can’t students install software on the MAS devices?
What if my laptop is not working properly or is broken?
Follow these steps before turning it in for repair:
- Restart your computer from the Start icon/Power icon.
- Do not close the lid during this process.
- Check to make sure the wireless is turned on
- Make sure your battery is securely locked in place.
If you continue to experience issues with your laptop or if it is damaged, take it to the library, complete the Computer Repair form, and turn in the form with your laptop. You will be issued a loaner laptop to use while yours is in repair. You will receive an email when your laptop is repaired and ready for pick-up. Bring the loaner laptop back to the library.
What do I do when I login, I receive a message ‘No login servers available’?
If you receive this message upon login,
1. Make sure the wireless on your device is turned on.
2. If the wireless is on and you still received the message:
- Shut down the computer by going to the Start button, click on the Power icon and select Restart.
Should you continue to receive the message, shut down the computer and put it in for repair (as explained above).
How do I add a printer?
Launch the "LWSD Find a Printer" icon from your desktop. Enter the name of the printer in the name section then click on the printer to install it onto your laptop. LWSD printer names are labeled on each printer.
What if a student forgot to charge their laptop and the battery is dead?
One of the best ways to avoid this issue is to consistently (and constantly) remind students to charge the laptop at home every night. They are expected to bring the laptop to school charged every day. If they fail to do so, they may be able to borrow a spare power cable. Barring that, the student would have to charge their laptop in the school’s laptop location (often the library) and lose out on participation in the classroom laptop activities until the battery is charged.
What if my student forgot to bring the laptop to school?
If a student forgets to bring their laptop to school, the student may miss out on laptop-related instructional activities that day. Please help us help your student bring their laptop to/from school daily! Each school has a very small number of “loaner” devices. Priority for these loaners goes to students who experience equipment issues outside their control. When available, a student who forgot their laptop may be issued a “loaner” device by the school.
What happens if a student’s laptop is broken after check out?
The student will bring the broken laptop to school to turn it in. A loaner/spare may be checked out on the spot to minimize loss of instructional time. Once the student’s original laptop is repaired, the student will be notified to swap the loaner for the original laptop.
What if the laptop is stolen?
The loss needs to be reported ASAP to your student’s school. The student can then check out a loaner/spare until we settle the loss issue. It is critical that the student maintain good security for the laptop at all times! Please work with your student to reinforce the importance of taking care of the laptop.
Students should file a police report and give a copy to the school librarian for our records.
My student is on a sports team and/or is taking PE. How will the laptop be kept secure?
PE and coaching staff will instruct students on the specific procedures this week. A secure location will be made available for students in PE and on athletic teams to keep laptops safe during those programs.
How are students kept safe online?
When students’ use district issued laptops, while at school or home, they access the internet through district filtering and security systems. These systems are provided to help ensure students’ online safety as they explore the World Wide Web. They are also designed to meet the federal requirements outlined in the Children’s’ Internet Protection Act (CIPA) which the district must comply with.
LWSD computer filtering relies on security systems from Palo Alto Networks and Microsoft. These state-of-the-art filtering systems are used to block inappropriate or objectionable material and provide online computing environments for students which support their education. However, no filtering system is 100% reliable. It is reported that over 33,000 web sites are created each day and new sites with objectionable material for students can be missed or may have not yet been picked up for filtering. Students are responsible to help ensure their online safety and should report any inappropriate sites. The district’s Acceptable Use Policy and Acceptable Use Procedure prohibits the use of proxy bypass or other tools that can circumvent the district’s filtering systems.
General categories of sites which are blocked by district firewalls include: Alcohol, tobacco and abused drugs; nudity and adult content; dating; social networking; games, shareware and freeware; streaming media and music purchase and download; web hosting and web based email, online storage and backup; hacking, malware, and phishing; internet portals, personal sites and blogs, private IP addresses; proxy bypass/avoidance and dynamic DNS; and translations sites which can circumvent filtering systems; as well as other identified objectionable content.
District technology staff can block additional sites identified as containing inappropriate content. If sites within blocked categories are needed for specific instructional purposes, teachers can request those sites by opened for access.
As an added measure, at home, parents can add filtering to their home network. One option is using a free filtering service like the one from www.OpenDNS.com that will filter nefarious content from your home network on all devices, including the LWSD MAS device. If your student has accessed a website that causes you concern and that you feel is inappropriate, please forward the URL to webfilter@lwsd.org.
I don’t allow my student to have a password on their home computer so I can monitor its use. How can I know what my student is doing on the school computer?
Get the user name and password from your student. While we prohibit sharing passwords with unauthorized users, parents are explicitly authorized users. We encourage you to know what your student is doing on his or her school laptop.
Home Internet access is expensive. Are families required to provide Internet access at home?
No, we don’t require families to have Internet access, though it would be very helpful for students. You should know, however, about the Comcast Internet Essentials program, which provides basic Internet access to families with students who qualify for free or reduced price lunch.For more information visit InternetEssentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376.
The district offers free cellular hotspots to families in need. Contact your school directly for more information about how to check these out.
Can my student use their own personal computer instead of a district-issued computer?
There are several reasons why we are providing the same computing devices to all students in school. They include safety, instruction, technical support and equity.
Safety: we have installed web filters and have other safety precautions that help prevent students from accessing inappropriate or unsafe websites while at school or home. We can’t be sure that devices brought from home meet the same standard.
Instruction: we have purchased and installed several different software packages on district laptops that will not be available on outside computers. The same software, and even the same version, will be on each district laptop, so teachers are able to quickly and more efficiently teach entire classes and help individual students. Trying to teach a lesson with several different kinds of software and/or different versions of that software would be very difficult.
Technical Support: we can provide robust technical support through our technical support staff to a limited universe of computing devices. We can’t offer the same level of support to an unlimited universe of devices, which could lead to more computer downtime and lost learning opportunities. This practice is similar to the private sector, where employees are issued a company-owned device to ensure a predictable user experience and optimal technical support.
Equity: some families cannot afford the latest computer or even a computer at all. If all students are using the same device, they can focus on what they are learning with the device, not on who has which device and what else is on it.
Students are not precluded from bringing their personal mobile devices / computers to school, however, students who bring personal computers:
- Must also bring their district computer fully charged and available for use
- Must use the district device when required by the teacher
- May access the Internet only through guest wireless network, where filters are set to the level of protection needed by an elementary student.
- Will not receive technical support or assistance with personal computers
- May not access printing or charge their personal computer at school
- Do so at their own risk. The district is not responsible for lost or stolen personal computers.
Can kids install printer drivers or connect with their home printer or do they have to accomplish it in a different way?
Students can install drivers and print to home printers. To install a printer at home, follow these steps:
- If your printer is a USB printer it may work just plug and play – try it
- From the start button and selecting ‘Devices and Printers’
- Click ‘Add Printer’ then ‘Add Local Printer’
- Choose the correct port for your printer type (contact the manufacturer if you do not know) it is usually USB
- Select the driver from the list – if it is not present you will have to download the driver – (see below)
- Give the printer a name and select next
- Do not share the printer and select next
- Select ‘Set as Default’ printer if you want all jobs to print to this printer automatically and click ‘Finish.’
If the printer driver is not in the driver list you will have to download the driver:
- Visit the web site of the manufacturer of your printer and download the driver. You must only download the ‘driver only’ version of the software as the device will not allow you to install print management software
- Please note the location/folder you save the driver in
- At step 5 above select ‘Have Disk’ and browse to the folder where you saved the driver and select the *.inf file – click next and continue with the steps above
Please note that wireless and network printers require additional steps and possibly software that are beyond the scope of this document and may require manufacturer tech support. Also please note that students are not allowed to install software other than drivers on their computer so printers requiring print management software may not be compatible with the device.
Students are blocked from installing software for security reasons, which will also block the use of print management software. Check with the manufacturer to see if they offer a driver only solution.
I have been trying to help my student add a printer at home and have not had success. Can anyone help us?
Email ftaccess@lwsd.org describing the issues or call 425-936-1322 for 24x7 assistance.
How do I get into the MAS device to add my custom home-network security settings?
For security reasons, the District does not give students or parents Administrator rights to the devices. We set the MAS devices to work with the common security provided by most wireless networks encountered at businesses, libraries, or hotels.
If your home wireless security is more complex, we can offer the following recommendations:
- Add a segment to your network with less security for use by the MAS device
- Hardwire the MAS device directly to the home network and bypass wireless
- Open a hotspot for use by the MAS device separate from your secure wireless network
- Consider using standard security settings
Why can’t students install software on the MAS devices?
We are bound by the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) to filter Internet content to any devices accessed by students on the LWSD network, including the MAS devices. Some students dislike the filters. Given the opportunity, students could install security-defeating software to bypass this requirement. Some students also would also be tempted to use the devices for illegal file sharing. All of those actions violate the district’s Acceptable Use Policy.
