Technology Services

Internet Essentials Free for New Customers: Individuals or families looking to sign up for Internet Essentials should call 1-855-846-8376 or visit https://www.internetessentials.com/covid19. Additionally, for all new and existing Internet Essentials customers, the speed of the program’s Internet service was increased to 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. That increase will go into effect for no additional fee and it will become the new base speed for the program going forward.

Xfinity WiFi Free For Everyone: Both customers and non-customers can access outdoor and small business-based Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots for free. Xfinity customers can download the Xfinity WiFi app and find the nearest hotspot on the map view. Non-customers can find their nearest hotspot by visiting https://wifi.xfinity.com and entering their zip code.

Farmington is transitioning from a cart based model to a take home 1:1 device model. All students are required to use a Farmington issued Chromebook for academics. The reason for the shift to a 1:1 approach is as follows:

• Ensures device and network security as well as ongoing monitoring of all devices
• Limits viruses and other issues associated with students bringing their own device
• Ensures equitable access for all students
• Allows the school district to quickly shift to remote learning at any time
• Allows the district to quickly and easily distribute software and features that can be used off-campus

A headset is a headphone and microphone combo. This recommendation was made to help students participating in virtual meetings by reducing background noise.

Our primary recommendation is a USB headset, as it will be useful for a longer period of time and is more compatible with devices. However, all of our Chromebooks currently have standard mic/headphone jacks. An old set of iPhone earbuds will also work with the Chromebook if necessary.

All students are issued Google accounts. The convention is typically "Year of Graduation (YG)" followed by last name and the first two initials of the student's first name. For example, a 4th grader would be the class of 2029, and may look like 29RossMa@fpsct.org.

Passwords are set by default to the student lunch PIN followed by fps (e.g. 12345fps).

If your student has forgotten their password, please contact FPS IT Support at (860) 673-8240. For account information for new students to the district, please contact the school main office.

Email accounts are reserved for students in grade 5-12. Email is introduced in the first few weeks of grade 5, and West Woods students may only email within the district (teachers/fellow students). Students in grades 7-12 have the ability to email outside of the network.

Due to privacy and internet safety concerns, students in grades PreK-4 do not have email enabled at all.

Chromebooks do not save any data locally (the device does not have a hard drive). Data is stored in the Google Cloud. The username on the screen is simply a shortcut or temporary pointer to the previous user. To reset the Chromebook back to factory settings, families can perform the following procedure:

PowerWash Chromebook

For remote learners, there are a few quick tips to make the experience run smoother.

• Close all unnecessary tabs.
• Choose either the Spotlight or Sidebar layout option (Settings - three dots in bottom right, Choose layout)
• Pin the teacher to the largest window by clicking the thumbtack icon.

If you still find your student getting kicked out of Google Meet, please perform a “powerwash” or reset of the device.