Located in Los Gatos, California, Raymond J. Fisher Middle School is the only school in the district with a 1:1 take-home Chromebook initiative. Serving 1,271 students across grades 6–8, the middle school needed a technology platform that would monitor bullying, self-harm, and other risky behaviors on the school-provided devices. The school started looking around for a service that would quickly clue it in to inappropriate communications and situations in real time—not after the fact.
To help ensure student safety in the online world, the school adopted Gaggle, rolling the student safety platform out across all of its grades in January 2019. Before implementing Gaggle, administrators introduced the platform first to its school advisory council, which is made up of parents. The next step was providing staff with a lesson on how to use the platform, followed by a parent letter explaining the process as well as a parent information night.
“We also did a couple of video announcements to students, showing them what Gaggle is and what to expect,” said Principal Matt Baldwin. “By the time we rolled it out on January 7th, everyone was well aware of what Gaggle was, what it meant, and the purpose behind it.” Citing student safety as the school’s number one priority, Baldwin said the platform provides an additional layer that allows administrators to ensure that students are safe both on and off campus.
Having a student safety management platform in place also allows the school’s teachers and administrators to educate students on the cornerstones of good digital citizenship. “We tell them that we’re not here to discipline them, but that we’re here to help educate them on how to appropriately address situations in Google Classroom,” Baldwin said. Read our case study to learn how Gaggle has helped Raymond J. Fisher Middle School streamline its safety process while guiding students to become responsible digital citizens.