Dear Parents,

We are looking forward to beginning our live instruction using Zoom on Monday.  Originally, we were asking students who are using school Chromebooks to join our Zoom meetings through the web browser.  Yesterday we were notified that Zoom placed their web browser in maintenance mode and took it offline. In anticipation of the possibility that it will not come back online in the near future, we have decided to install the Zoom app for Chrome on school owned Chromebooks.  There is nothing that students or parents need to do with the Chromebooks for this to happen. The next time students click a link to join a Zoom meeting, the app will automatically launch.

We want you to be assured that the same security measures that we had in place for the Zoom meetings prior to using the app are still in place.  We are controlling student access through a waiting room. Teachers have the ability to turn off microphones and cameras, and students do not have the ability to share their screens at this time.  In addition we are posting the links to join our Zoom meetings in Google Classrooms that require a password to access. These safeguards address the precautions laid out by the FBI in their most recent guidance around the use of this platform.

We anticipate that the addition of live lessons to our distance learning plan will benefit both students and teachers.  Please note that Zoom meetings, outside of teacher created meetings, are not monitored by our staff and are therefore discouraged. We encourage you to oversee your child’s use of Zoom outside of the school environment. If you have any problem connecting to your teacher lessons, please reach out to the helpdesk at hooksett.helpdesk@sau15.net. Thank you for your support in creating the best possible environment for your child’s learning.

Sincerely,

Matthew Benson
Principal