Policies

Expectations

Computing at CCDS, whether on a personal or school-owned device, is to be used for educational purposes that serve the school’s mission. Community members are expected to follow the school's culture of character guidelines when working in gray areas not covered explicitly by the rules. All community members are expected to contribute to a safe, stable, and productive computing environment.

We expect that community members will be thoughtful and use good judgement when online. Community members should consider their personal reputations and the feelings of other members of the community before sending or posting. Before posting anything students should ask themselves: Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it kind? Would I say this to the person’s face? If the answer to any of those questions is no, students should refrain from posting.

We expect students will adhere to the school’s policy on Interpersonal Relationships as outlined in the handbook in online communications and representations and will refrain from bullying, harassing, or hazing others via electronic communication of any kind. This includes, but is not limited to, "sexting".

We expect that community members understand that all electronic communication is permanent and becomes part of their digital footprints that will follow them for the rest of their lives. Community members should guard their personal information while online and assume that everything they do electronically can be seen by the entire world. It has been said, “when you post, you publish.”

Inappropriate Behavior

The school’s culture of character guidelines extend to the electronic world including all forms of social media. The time of day, account, location, or device are irrelevant when a post affects the safety, well-being, or reputation of community members or the School itself.

* Students will be subject to disciplinary action if they…

* harass or bully others.

* steal or borrow intellectual work.

* access, send, or store inappropriate materials.

* disrespect teachers by “multitasking” during class (emailing, engaging in social media, doing homework, etc.)

* Students will not portray themselves, the school, or anyone associated with The School in a manner that is in conflict with the school’s policies and practices that concern respect, honesty, and integrity and the general standards for community behavior.

* Students will not play games or watch entertainment videos during the academic day (unless associated with a class).

* Students will not access or use other people’s accounts, computers, or folders, nor borrow computers or computer accessories without express permission from the owner.

* Students will not plagiarize. Electronic resources make it easy to use others’ work. Using the work of others without giving them the credit, even if they say it’s okay, is plagiarizing. Don’t ask others for their homework. Don’t cut and paste from the web without full citation.

* CCDS recognizes that the ethical and productive use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT is an essential skill for students and adults at CCDS and supports its appropriate use.  The same rules for all other forms of electronic tools applies to AI and when appropriate, must be cited.

* Students will not break copyright law by using unlicensed software or pirating audio or visual materials.

Student Requirements by Virtue of our Network and Program

* Check CCDS accounts (Email, HW portal, etc) daily. Students are expected to do so, just as they will be in every professional situation after graduation.

* Be aware of the distractions that your digital devices can present. Students are members of an amazing learning environment that extends far beyond the classroom walls. CCDS has placed the world at students’ fingertips, but given this “constant connectivity,” students need to make a conscious effort to limit distractions to improve productivity. This is an essential skill in today’s world. The business of school is to do well in classes and flourish in an academically rigorous program that prepares you for college and beyond.

* Take care not to neglect or abuse your tablet PC. Penalties are significantly increasing for both, since they drain our resources, and there are limited replacements for major accidental damage. Lock up tablets when they are not in use, and do not leave them unattended. Do not remove bump cases and do carry them in the school-supplied bags, as these are requirements of our extended warranty. Students must avoid situations where tablet PCs will get damaged, stepped on, cracked, etc.

* Return loaners promptly and treat them with respect. They are CCDS property, and it’s the only way to ensure they will be available when students need them. Students may be charged for damage to CCDS-owned loaner computers.

* Back up your work. Students must have OneDrive sync client installed and in working order. This offers secure backup and streamlines collaboration between teachers and other students. If a student computer has a critical failure, OneDrive ensures that all files will be safe and easily synced to the student’s replacement device. Every user at CCDS has at least 1TB of storage.

* Do not load non-standard software or plug-ins that will affect the functioning of a machine. Tablet PCs will be reimaged if they cannot handle your academic computing needs.

* Do not use a computer as an excuse. Save often. If a machine fails at home, do the work on paper or in some other way. Just get it done.

System Monitoring

Users should understand and acknowledge that they do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to the use of The School's System. The School may conduct direct searches of data and/or tablet PCs when there is a reasonable suspicion that electronic resources have been misused, policy has been violated, or when routine maintenance and monitoring of computers and the network reveal possible violations of policy. The school may cooperate with legal authorities and/or third parties in the investigation of any suspected or alleged crime or civil wrong. Cincinnati Country Day School may also on occasion access, read, copy, reproduce, print, retain, move, store, destroy and/or disclose information, including files, messages or documents stored in or sent over the System. Teachers and administrators have the ability to monitor use while on campus during school hours.

Hardware and software standardization are important factors with respect to the following issues:

• Teachers can plan more effective classroom technology use when all students have the same hardware and software features available on their computers.
• The burden of computer maintenance is substantially lessened when hardware is standardized.
• It is much easier to keep a functioning computer in the hands of each student every day when loaner units are available for a student’s specific computer model.

Our policy, therefore, is that all students in grades 5–12 are required to use a CCDS-standard tablet PC purchased through CCDS and no more than four years old.

When a student’s tablet PC needs to be repaired during the school year, that student will be issued a loaner computer of the same model. Under normal circumstances, loaners will not be issued during the summer months. It is not possible to exchange solid state drives in Microsoft Surface Pro computers, so it is very important that the student save his documents to OneDrive for Business so that the student may continue to access his own working environment on the loaner. The student is responsible for returning the loaner promptly when his repaired tablet PC is available. Failure to return a loaner in a timely manner may result in the assessment of late fees to be determined and applied at the school’s discretion. Students are required to take reasonable care of loaners in their possession. Repair of damage to a loaner in excess of normal wear and tear is the financial responsibility of the student’s family. Determination of such excess damage is at the school’s discretion. Prior to issuing a loaner to a student, the loaner will be checked for preexisting damage. Such damage, if any, will be recorded in writing on a form that the student and the school will sign.

CCDS does not provide casualty insurance coverage for tablet PCs. Students’ families who wish to cover their tablet PCs for theft or other total loss should contact their own insurance providers. Such coverage is usually available as an inexpensive, sometimes no-cost, rider on a homeowner’s policy. All CCDS tablet PCs do have a four-year warranty with coverage for accidental damage, although such coverage is limited in terms of monetary amount and number of incidents. This warranty provides no coverage for total loss. CCDS includes a theft deterrent package with all tablet PCs. There is a prorated loss guarantee that pays the owner $1,000 for any tablet PC lost and not recovered in the first year after purchase. The payment decreases by $200 per year thereafter, or $800 in the second year of service, $600 in the third year, $400 in the fourth year, and nothing thereafter. Coverage under the theft deterrent package requires filing a police report. The theft deterrent package does not apply to computers that are destroyed but still in the owner’s possession.

CCDS licenses the Microsoft software used on school-owned and student-owned computers under a subscription program called the Microsoft Enrollment for Education Solutions Licensing Agreement (EES). Under the terms of the agreement, CCDS users are entitled to use the latest versions of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office software as long as the agreement is in effect and they remain employed by or enrolled at CCDS. In addition CCDS employees using Microsoft Office on school-owned computers are entitled to use Microsoft Office on home computers that they own, one per employee. Home use rights do not apply to students. The EES agreement provides a perpetual license to the covered software for students who graduate from CCDS. That perpetual license applies to the versions of the software installed at the time of graduation. The perpetual licensing provision does not apply to students who withdraw from the school for circumstances other than graduation, and it does not apply to employees. The EES agreement requires that all students in grades 5–12 be covered, and with certain exceptions, all employees.

When students leave the school, they are no longer covered by the EES agreement. Except as described above for graduates, Microsoft requires that they either obtain another license to the software or uninstall it. Note that all tablet PCs purchased through CCDS are provided with a perpetual license to a particular version of Windows, but any major version upgrade performed under the school agreement, e.g. Windows 8 to Windows 10, would need to be uninstalled when leaving CCDS. Tablet PCs are not provided with any perpetual license to Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus, so that software would need to be uninstalled or another subscription license obtained. Note also that after leaving CCDS, students may be attending another institution covered by a Microsoft EES agreement or other volume licensing agreement. Students should contact that institution’s information technology department to determine if their installed Microsoft software is covered under such an agreement. When employees leave CCDS, their home use rights to Microsoft office terminate, and that software must be uninstalled from their home computers.

For more details, see Microsoft’s Licensing Resources and Documents website. More information about the Microsoft EES agreement is available here.