1. Make sure you are signing on as the correct user. You should see your student's name and a place to type in the password below it. If your student account is not on their Chromebook, please click here to instructions on adding user profiles.

2. You must enter your full email on the first Google Screen: firstname.lastname@student.nisdtx.org

3. On the second screen "Northwest ISD Portal," enter your: Username(first part of your email): firstname.lastname

4. Enter your password

5. Click GO or NEXT

If you are a K-2 user using a QuickCard QR code to logon to your Chromebook, please click here to watch this video on QuickCard Chromebook Login & Portal Access

You may need to update your Chromebook to ensure your device is performing at the most current version Chrome OS. Follow these instructions to check for and update Chrome OS in four easy clicks.

If you need to check out a district issued Chromebook, we are happy to help. Please complete the following steps:

1., Fill out our Usage Agreement Form here.

2. Create a Helpdesk request here.

• If students choose to forego the district-issued device, they can utilize their own personal computing device as long as it follows the BYOD Guidelines. While we recognize cell phones are often used in the learning environment, they are supplemental devices and should not be the student's primary educational device. Instructions for connecting to the district wi-fi are as follows:

• BYOD for Windows

• BYOD for iOS

• BYOD for MacOS

• BYOD for Chromebook

• BYOD for Android

NOTE: While we fully support BYOD in the instructional setting, in order to comply with state and other organizational requirements for testing, all students are required to take some assessments on districted owned and managed devices.

The Portal at portal.nisdtx.org is your "one-stop-shop" for educational tools and websites where you can easily access your learning materials with one click. Once you log into the portal with your NISD username and password, you have access to almost all of your learning resources without having to log in again or remember the links to other sites! Portal works best on Chrome browser on a computer or Chromebook, but can also be used from ipads running iOS 11 and newer Android devices.

Please watch our YouTube video on the NISD Portal here and learn more about the portal and other digital tools on our Digital learning Resources page.

Each student in the district has a district generated email address through Gmail that is the same as their district username followed by @student.nisdtx.org. Students can login to their email through the NISD Portal, by clicking on Gmail icon on their Chromebook, or by navigating directly to Gmail and logging in with their district email. Student email and password credentials will be initially issued to students as:

• Email: firstname.lastname@student.nisdtx.org

• Password: FL123456 (first and last initial; capitalized + Student ID#)

For example, if a student's name was "John Smith" their email and password would be john.smith@student.nisdtx.org and JS123456

This is happening because the Chromebook is likely brand new and needs to update the operating system (Chrome OS) to the current version. Once it does this, you should be able to access these resources without issue. Here are two ways to do that:

1. Simply wait. If the Chromebook is turned on and left on it runs updates automatically in the background and should be updated shortly depending on the speed of your internet connection.

2. Parents can follow these instructions to check and update the Chrome OS in four easy clicks.

Sometimes it takes a couple of seconds for ClassLink to work its magic and sign you into Seesaw. If you click on the sign in screens in the middle of the sign in process, it could break the sign in and you won't end up in the right place. Please follow the example in this short video to see how to log in to Seesaw through the NISD Portal.

Remember: click, wait 10, then touch again.

If your class or meeting has a need for Your teacher will either post the link in their Seesaw/Canvas or send you a link for any Zoom meetings. All you need to do is click on a Zoom link to enter the meeting. Depending on the way the teacher has it set up, it may require you to put in a password (provided by the teacher) or log in with your NISD username and password. It's important to remember not to take or post a picture during Zoom conferences.

Northwest ISD takes digital security and privacy very seriously and we have taken steps to use Zoom with these in mind. In order to better inform our educators about the use of this tool our legal counsel and instructional technology team joined together and sent out both a legal FAQ and an infographic regarding settings to use in order to best protect students through use of the program’s settings. These considerations include:

- Don't post the link publicly

- Require a password when setting up conferences

- Change the settings that require permission to share screens

- Enable the waiting room for admitting others

All of these settings, among others, are ones controlled by the meeting host. There is nothing you need to do on your end from a technical standpoint in order to increase safety and security. From a digital citizenship standpoint, the best thing you can do is be present when your student is joining a meeting so you can monitor their online interactions and intercede if you feel it necessary. We understand this may not always be an option for all parents, which is why we have taken the steps above to educate our staff for the protection of our students.

For more information on Zoom security, visit Zoom's security page. Zoom keeps privacy and security top of mind for all end users. Find additional resources and features on how Zoom secures data and protects user privacy here.

We know how important internet access is right now and we want to make sure to seek out solutions and also provide resources of companies that are offering free services during this time. On the Northwest ISD coronavirus website, we have a link to companies that are currently offering free internet. In addition, you may consider some of the following options:

• Apply for a district issued hotspot by filling out the HelpDesk request form and choosing "Request Hotspot" when asked

• Contact your cell phone carrier about getting a “Hot Spot” on your phone.

• Ask your neighbor if your child could access their Wifi for a limited time each day.

• Consider using one of the NISD Free Wifi Zones.

• Locate businesses in your neighborhood that would have internet near their building.

As other opportunities for access become available, we will make sure to share them with you. If you would like to report issues with your internet access to the district so that we may address this issue as more opportunities become available, please be on the lookout for a phone call from a Northwest ISD number to report this to the Help Center, or please enter a Student HelpDesk ticket here.

You can use any wireless network you have access to, including personal hotspots. For a tutorial on how to connect your Chromebook to a wireless network, click here. For a tutorial on how to connect to an NISD issued hotspot, click here.
If your hotspot is not functioning correctly you can contact T-Mobile Parent Connect Line: 844-341-4834

Home Access Center lets you stay connected to your grades, attendance, and more! All password reset instructions can be found here. Home Access Center can also be accessed via web or the eSchoolPlus Family App, available from the App Store or Google Play. Please click here for more answers and information about HAC.

HAC Parent Access Instructions

A short video showing student password reset instructions can be found here.

Looking for information on district digital tools such as Lexia, Imagine Math, Google Classroom, Moodle, and many more? Access the sub-page from this site on Digital learning Resources here for more information about these tools and how to access them all through the NISD portal. Home Access Center can be accessed via the eSchoolPlus Family App, available from the App Store or Google Play.

Click here to view a video on adding your TCC Google profile to your district Chromebook.

After you leave Northwest ISD, students' login credentials are inactive although your Google Drive content will remain archived for up to 6-months before being permanently deleted. For this reason, it is best practice to transfer ownership of your digital resources from your NISD Google Drive to a personal account.

• Transferring Ownership of NISD Google Drive and Documents

• Transferring Ownership of an ePortfolio in Google Sites to a personal account

For questions regarding access to your google drive content please call the Helpdesk at 817-698-1000 or email helpdesk@nisdtx.org

The Northwest ISD portal works best on a Chromebook or laptop. Please try the following fixes:

Sign out of all non-NISD Google accounts - Tutorial

Clear Cache - Tutorial

Reset Browser Settings - Tutorial

Remove and Re-add User Profile (Before you do this, make sure you have your home wireless information because you will have to reconnect to wireless.) - Tutorial

1. Click on the three dots in the top right corner of your browser.

2. Choose "Settings"

3. Scroll to the bottom of the settings page and click "Advanced"

4. In the System section, find "Use hardware acceleration when available" and toggle the button next to it to the off position.

5. Close your browser and re-open it for changes to take effect.

Please check out the Google tutorial here.

For this, you will want to remove and re-add your user profile to your Chromebook. Click here for those instructions.

Please try the following fix:

Manual Restart - Tutorial

• Student contacts: All student contacts are synced from eSchool. If they need to be updated, the parent/guardian should contact the front office and update it that way. It will take a day to sync back with ParentSquare.

• Non-parents/guardians receiving notifications: Only parents and guardians receive notifications, because the information being shared can be private and protected. We cannot make an emergency contact a parent or guardian in ParentSquare. If they are entitled to that, they’ll need to work through the school and also get it updated in eSchool.

• Any data questions: Data takes at least a day to be synced, so if a change was just made, the submitter will just need to wait until the next day for it to take effect. That includes students being added to classes or classes changing in some way.

• Unsubscribing: Parents/guardians can turn off notifications by logging in, clicking on their name in the top right, going to “My Account,” then “Notification Settings.” They can turn everything off if they want.