Students will get PPS email accounts

Portland Public Schools is giving every student his or her own email account — as well as shortening all email addresses to “@pps.net” — as part of a big technology upgrade.

High school students will receive email accounts this fall; other students will follow. The switch takes effect July 25, so only employees will be affected.  In general, email addresses include the first letter of a first name and the entire last name. So "Jane Doe" would be jdoe@pps.net.

More upgrades coming soon

Throughout the next school year, PPS will roll out online tools to make it easier for teachers, students and parents to communicate and work together.  For students, that will mean access to advertisement-free, academic-focused email, along with online storage and online Microsoft Office.  “We want every student to have communication and collaboration tools that prepare them for the future,” says Jenna Mason-Steinberg, a PPS technology support manager.  Families will be able to view their students’ attendance, grades (including grades for individual assignments), class schedules, upcoming assignments and due dates. They will also be able to receive email alerts when students’ progress changes.

Select families have already used the parent services through the “EdBox Viewer” pilot project. Starting this fall, these tools will be available to all families.  The Microsoft services are part of the company’s free-for-education Live@edu software. PPS expects the adoption will reduce costs by $100,000 annually.

‘Digital divide’ still an issue

Not all PPS families have easy access to the Internet.  Knowing that, the school district will continue using phone calls and print-outs for important information.  Schools and teachers will decide how they use email and Microsoft Office. Mason-Steinberg says the new services will not replace anything.  “Email and collaboration tools will simply be another option in the teacher tool belt,” she says. “We are confident that school administrators and teachers will use them in ways that make sense for their students.”