Acceptable Use Policy

_{Introduction and Overview}

Tandem Friends School promotes the use of information technologies as an integral part of its educational mission and advocates their use for resource sharing, innovation, healthy inquiry, collaboration, and creative expression. However, we recognize that many resources available on the Internet are not of educational value in a school setting, and as a community Tandem Friends School remains committed to cultivating mindful presence with each other while at school. To that end, the school’s computer network is provided for educational purposes, not as a public access service.
Academic use of technology takes priority at all times over any non-academic use.

Although our school provides certain technologies, we recognize that members and guests of our community also have their own technology devices that they bring to our campus and school events. Our policies address the appropriate use of both technologies provided by the school and personally-owned technological devices. Please read the policies below before using our network and computers, because by using our technology you agree to be bound by the terms, conditions and regulations below.

_{Student Responsibility}

School technology resources are both shared and finite. These resources include, but are not limited to, disk space, bandwidth, CPU time and effort, printers, software, and workstations. If a student’s recreational use interferes with another’s educational use, the student will be asked to refrain from activity or engage in the activity at a specified time. When interacting with technology, all members of the Tandem Friends community are expected to do so with kindness and respect and to refrain from engaging with materials that infringe upon those tenets. The use of school and personally owned technology on school property or at school events is a privilege not a right. This privilege comes with personal responsibilities and if you violate the responsible use of any school technologies, your privilege may be revoked and/or suspended. Any problems or disputes that arise will be resolved using the School’s established disciplinary procedures.

_{Students Must}

1. Ensure that they are backing up important files onto removable storage or to Google Drive or MS Office 365 OneDrive services provided by the school.

2. Check TFS email on school days to ensure they are receiving official school communications.

3. Choose a strong password for their accounts and not share their password with other people. Students will be held responsible for all activity that occurs under their account names.

4. Respect the rights of others to work in a quiet atmosphere that is conducive to learning.

5. Report violations of this policy to the Technology Director or another school employee.

_{Students Must Not}

1. Engage in illegal activities which include but are not limited to pornography, obscenity, threats, harassment, fraud, theft, vandalism, copyright violations (including improper copying of licensed software), and unauthorized access.

2. Send offensive messages or display offensive pictures.

3. Use file sharing programs to process, copy, and/or download files (i.e., music, video, etc.) that are copyrighted or are proprietary information.

4. Attempt to access another person’s account (including e-mail) or private files.

5. Misrepresent oneself as another person in electronic communications.

6. Attempt to breach system security or disrupt the normal operation of the network.

7. Install software or alter hardware or software configurations of school-owned devices without prior authorization.

8. Engage in plagiarism or other forms of cheating. Students should refer to the Academic Integrity section of the Parent & Student Handbook for specific policies and guidelines.

9. Use Virtual Private Networks to circumvent the firewall or content filter.

10. Use the school Internet network to access video or audio streaming sites that would deplete bandwidth availability.

11. Send unsolicited mass email messages or spam.

12. Distribute personal information (date of birth, address, phone numbers, etc.) over the network to anyone other than authorized school employees.

_{Internet Filter}

Our school adheres to the requirements set forth by the United States Congress in the Children’s Internet Protection Act. This means that all access to the Internet is filtered and monitored. All members of the school community must login and be authenticated to the network in order to use the Internet. This means that all Internet searches are recorded and accessible through the Internet filtering software. By filtering Internet access, we intend to block offensive, obscene, and inappropriate images and content including pornography, as well as to better balance and control the use of the school network and devices for educational purposes.

_Privacy

The school reserves the right to monitor and track all behaviors and interactions that take place online or through the use of technology on our property or at our events. We also reserve the right to investigate any reports of inappropriate actions related to any technology used at school. All e-mails and messages sent through the school’s network or accessed on a school computer can be inspected. Any files saved onto a school computer can also be inspected.

_{Bring Your Own Device}

Recommended devices: While we don’t recommend a specific device, there are some points that should be taken into consideration, as listed below. Also note that the desktop version of Microsoft Office 365 is not available on a Chromebook or tablet device. The recommended device should:

be lightweight and sturdy;
include a keyboard;
have several hours of battery power and easy options for recharging;
have wireless capabilities;
have access to cloud storage;
be capable of connecting to the projectors in our classrooms;
come to school each day with the student.

Basic student responsibilities with regard to the BYOD program: students are expected to bring their device to school each day fully charged and ready for use. As with any device on campus, students are expected to adhere to the school’s Acceptable Use Policy.

Note: Due to the evolutionary nature of technology, our policies regarding the use of technology in our community will also be evolutionary and may be subject to change.

Tandem Friends School is a co-ed Quaker day school for grades 5-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.