Could you give up your email?
I am a little behind on my blog reading (so stop me if you have heard this one already) but a New York Times article (click here) talks about President-Elect Obama most likely having to give up his Blackberry because pretty much everything he will do as President is public record.
Not try to get political at all but I'm not so sure I could give up my Blackberry, Thinkpad, Twitter or Facebook accounts, etc.
Looks like I won't be President anytime soon 
Protecting family email addresses
I found an article on Freep.com that talks about Bloomfield Hills Public Schools struggle with keeping family email addresses private. (article here)
While St. Regis doesn't have to acknowledge Freedom of Information requests like a Public School district might, the article still raises some issues that are worth thinking about. Although no "formal" policy exists, I can say that St. Regis doesn't release any information obtained by parishoners or school families unless permission is granted by the family.
Student email ready to go
Today 5-7 grade students received a packet of information about the new student email program [in case you missed it].
Each student will receive an email address (@students.stregis.org) which will allow them to communicate with teachers, other students and pre-approved experts (NASA astronauts, historians, etc.).
We have been gathering questions that students and parents have been asking about the email program and we will post some of the useful ones later. You can see the Gaggle.net brochure for some information about the email program [brochure].
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Student email is coming to grades 5, 6, 7
Last year we were told that the State of Michigan would be doing major curriculum standards revisions. One of the things we found out is that our students will be expected to use email (introduced in Grade 3, mastered by Grade 5).
To stay ahead of the crowd we are starting our student email program this year with the 5-7 grades. We chose a solution offered by Gaggle.net. We met their President at the MACUL conference in March 2007 and were impressed with their offering.
There will be more to come about the email program. While you wait here is a link to their brochure which explains most of their offering [brochure].