Students in Kansas City Public Schools Protected with Lightspeed Systems®

Austin, TX, Sept. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Students in Kansas City Public Schools are going back to school this year with Chromebooks filtered and monitored with solutions from Lightspeed Systems. The Lightspeed platform is a complete solution to filter, manage, monitor, protect, and analyze online activity in schools. The District evaluated, selected, and implemented the platform over the summer to increase safety, improve communication, and deliver more powerful reports.

For the last five years, every single Kansas City Public Schools student has been equipped with a laptop “in order to ensure that they are fluent in technology by the time they go to college and launch their careers,” explains the District web site. As the 1:1 program has matured, the District recognized the need to replace its firewall filtering solution with something that offered more holistic filtering, monitoring, and reporting both on and off campus.

After an exhaustive review of its options, Kansas City Public Schools selected the Lightspeed Systems. The platform gives the district internet filtering on and off campus; classroom management and screen monitoring; safety monitoring; reporting; and much more. In addition to the Chromebooks, Lightspeed works on other devices and platforms across the District.

“We looked at a lot of other products. However, Lightspeed was the only one that met all our needs in one product,” shared Joe Phillips, Director of Technology for Kansas City Public Schools. “Lightspeed offers the best multi-platform solutions to meet our needs to filter content, monitor use, analyze usage data for staff and students, and manage which apps and sites our students can use on- or off-campus.”

With students back on campus and classes in full swing, the District is already reaping the benefits of Lightspeed. “I have been most impressed with the ease of use for my staff to implement each of the features,” Phillips said.

Among the specific needs that led the District to Lightspeed Systems was a way to address parent concerns about the 1:1 program. In addition to the filtering and safety functions, Lightspeed Filter™ offers integrated and automated Parent Reports as well as holistic reporting on all user activity. Phillips explained: “Parents have a lot of concerns about privacy, screen time, and the value of technology for instruction. Lightspeed Filter is able to help us alleviate these with actual quantitative data rather than qualitative stories or concepts.”

Kansas City Public Schools joins more than 28,000 schools that count on the market-leading Lightspeed filtering and monitoring platform. Schools interested in better filtering, safety, usage reporting, classroom monitoring, and parent reports can request a demo to see it for themselves at: https://www.lightspeedsystems.com

About Lightspeed Systems
Lightspeed Systems partners with schools to make learning safe, mobile and easily managed. Partnered with 6,500 districts in the United States and 28,000 schools around the world, Lightspeed Systems offers integrated filtering, management, monitoring, and protection for schools through its groundbreaking platform. Headquartered in Austin, TX (with offices in Portland and the U.K.), Lightspeed serves over 15 million students in 35 countries. To learn more, visit https://www.lightspeedsystems.com

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Reimagine the inspired and interactive classroom for remote, hybrid, and in-person learning. Lightspeed Classroom Management™ gives teachers real-time visibility and control of their students’ digital workspaces and online activity.

  • Ensure all students interact with only the right online curriculum — precisely when they’re supposed to use it.
  • Push out vetted curriculum links to all students at the same time.
  • Block inappropriate or distracting web sites and apps.

Ensure scalable & efficient learning device management. The Lightspeed Mobile Device Management™ system ensures safe and secure management of student learning resources with real-time visibility and reporting essential for effective distance learning.

  • A centralized, cloud-based solution for infinitely scalable device, application, and policy controls
  • Self-Service App Library, where teachers and students
    can access and install approved curriculum and learning tools
  • Remotely deploy, change, and revoke hundreds of policies and educational applications, while reducing typical downtime and costs

Prevent suicides, cyberbullying, and schoolviolence. Lightspeed Alert™ supports district administrators and selected personnel with advanced AI to detect and report potential threats before it’s too late.

  • Human review
  • Real-time alerts that flag signs of a potential threat
  • Intervene quickly before an incident occurs.
  • Activity logs provide visibility into online activity before and after a flagged event

Protect students from harmful online content. Lightspeed Filter™ is the best-in-class solution that acts as a solid barrier to inappropriate or illicit online content to ensure students’ online safety 24/7.

  • Powered by the most comprehensive database in the industry built through 20 years of web indexing and machine learning.
  • Ensure CIPA compliance
  • Block millions of inappropriate, harmful, and unknown sites, images, and video including YouTube
  • Keep parents informed with the Lightspeed Parent Portal™

Gain complete visibility into students’ online learning. Lightspeed Analytics™ gives districts robust data on the effectiveness of any tools they implement so they can take a strategic approach to their technology stack and streamline reporting.

  • Track education technology adoption and usage trends, eliminate redundancy, and drive ROI
  • Monitor app and content consumption to facilitate early adoption and effective utilization
  • Assess risk with visibility into student data privacy and security compliance