Providing Technology Support to Parents

Parents and families of Blair students are important members of our community.  The technology team fields support requests from parents when issues arise related to logging in to the parent portal or submitting health forms.  We encourage parents who are having difficulty with either logging into the parent portal or submitting required information to send an email to the Blair ticketing system so that a member of our technology team can be in touch.

Viewing Past Livestream Events

Blair Academy maintains a Livestream account for live streaming of many popular events.  The channel can be accessed at this URL https://livestream.com/blairacademy and includes a list of upcoming events.  In addition to live-viewing, archived past events can be viewed at any time such as Vocal Ensembles, Instrumental Ensembles, Guest Speaker Events, Commencement, Baccalaureate, and Skeptics.

Library Database Moves to the Cloud

Last school year the library database was moved to the cloud. For the first time, the technology team is able to bulk upload student information into the database.  This saves time since librarians are no longer entering student information by hand.  It is also easier to manage and rely upon since it is less dependent on local conditions such as power surges or black outs.

New Controls for AV in Clinton and Bogle

The classroom audio visual systems in several classroom in Clinton Hall and Bogle Hall have received a redesign thanks to Assistant Director of Technology Sean Lex.  The new controls streamline switching inputs, and incorporate an audio jack for connecting to sound without the projector.  Old VGA wire connections have been upgraded to HDMI ports to keep up with the changing design of newer faculty laptops.

CIC Makerspace Information Site

A new website is the place to go for information on Blair's CIC Makerspace.  The site, created by Mr. Garrant, includes links to frequently asked questions, equipment information, safety, and procedures.  Anyone can reach the site through this link.

Computers for the CIC Media Lab

Each summer the technology office receives deliveries of computers for new spaces or for the replacement of outdated equipment.  This July, we received a shipment of 15 iMacs and a MacPro that will be installed in the Media Lab in the new Center for Innovation and Collaboration.  We are in the process of unboxing the computers, installing software, and preparing them to be connected to our network in time for the building's opening.

Automating Teacher Recommendation Forms

The technology team recently debugged issues with the teacher recommendation forms used in the college application process.  Teachers were experiencing many software-related issues and generating tickets to correct a malfunction in the PDF file.  In conjunction with College Counseling, technology office team reviewed the existing system, analyzed potential solutions, and created an automated process to address the issue.  The system combines the use of Google Forms, Google Spreadsheets, Google Docs, and Gmail. Teachers submit a Google form, a script creates a Google doc in the correct format, generates a PDF, and emails it as an attachment to both the teacher and college counselors. A final form is automatically saved in Google Drive and the information is stored in a Google Spreadsheet.